Have a question about magnet notifications? We have answers here

More than 50,000 applicants were notified Friday of the status of their magnet and vanguard school applications for the 2014-2015 school year. The Office of School Choice offered a hotline to answer questions from 5-7 p.m. and will continue to take calls 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday or to respond via email at magnetonlineapplicationhelp@houstonisd.org.

There’s a chance, though, that your question is the same as others we’ve been receiving. Here’s a list of the most Frequently Asked Questions:

Have all notifications gone out?
At this time, all notifications have been sent to those who applied by the deadline of Dec. 20, 2013. If you applied by the deadline and have not received any notifications, contact the Office of School Choice at 713-556-6947, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday or via email at magnetonlineapplicationhelp@houstonisd.org.

My child was deemed “not qualified.” What does this mean?
Each school has its own set of qualifications, and in the letter/email that you received, there is a section detailing what the qualifications are for the school to which you applied. If that portion of the letter is missing, contact the magnet coordinator from the school for which you applied. You may meet with the school’s magnet coordinator to discuss why your child did not meet the requirements to be considered for the program.

I do not understand what the status on my dashboard means. Whom should I contact?
For the status of your application, refer to the notification that was either emailed to you or sent via the U.S. Postal Service, if you applied by submitting a paper application. If you have not received a notification via email or U.S. Postal Service detailing the status of your application, please contact the Office of School Choice at 713-556-6947, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday or via email at magnetonlineapplicationhelp@houstonisd.org.

My child was placed on a waitlist. If I accept at another school, will I jeopardize my child’s position on the waitlist? Will I be notified when he/she moves up on the list?
Yes. If you were placed on a waitlist, you may accept another school without a negative impact on the waitlist order on other schools. You will receive a notification each time your status changes on each school’s waitlist. For example, if you are on the waitlist for three schools, you will receive three separate notifications each time your order changes on the waitlist. You may also log in to the HISD School Choice Parent Dashboard at (Houstonisdschoolchoiceapplication.com) to check the status of the waitlist.

My child’s placement on the waitlist is different in our email notification than the one at the school to which he/she is waitlisted. Which one is correct?
If you are applying to an entry grade level (PK, K, 6, or 9) and received an email from HISD’s online application system giving you a number on the wait list, the number is incorrect. It is the wait list number that was generated BEFORE sibling preferences were applied. This means that if your child has a sibling attending the same school for which your other child has been waitlisted (and that was designated on your application), your number will be smaller (toward the top of the wait list). If your child has no sibling attending, your wait list number will be larger (further down the wait list). A correction has been made on the School Choice dashboard, and you will receive an automated message once the number displayed is corrected.

How can I access the Gifted/Talented matrix details for my application?
All vanguard matrices will be mailed by Postal Service or can be accessed by contacting the school’s magnet coordinator directly.

I believe there was an error processing my child’s application/notifications. Whom should I contact?
If you believe there was an error in processing your application, please contact the Office of School Choice at 713-556-6947, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.Monday-Friday or via email at magnetonlineapplicationhelp@houstonisd.org.

I am not satisfied with the results of my application. How can I file a complaint?
If you are not satisfied with the application process or the results, please contact the magnet coordinator at the school to which you applied.

My child did not get accepted into a magnet program of my choice. What are my options?
There are many magnet schools with open availability for the 2014-2015 school year, and we encourage you to apply for the second round of lottery. To see which programs have open spaces, follow this link.

Have more questions? View other frequently asked questions for more answers.

20 thoughts on “Have a question about magnet notifications? We have answers here

  1. Cathy Garza

    If we are on the waitlist and will receive notification each time our order changes on the waitlist, how often can we expect the waitlist to be updated? Will we be receiving notifications daily or will you be waiting until April 11th to let us know of our new status on the waitlist?

    1. HISD Communications Post author

      Every time a space opens, a student who is on the waitlist will be granted admission. This largely depends on the decision of students who were granted admission. For example, when a student who was granted admission to three schools, accepts an admission offer to one school, he/she declines admission to the other two schools therefore opening two spaces on the waitlist of those schools. We recommend that applicants check their School Choice dashboard frequently to get an update of their waitlist number.

  2. Ciandra Jackson

    QUESTION 1 – If my student does not get into our choice magnet program, my assumption is that we would apply to the Magnet Program again next year. Will we keep our current wait list number or do we start over again?

    QUESTION 2 – Is the wait list number specific to your grade or total school capacity?

    1. HISD Communications Post author

      ANSWER 1 — Yes, you may apply to the magnet program again next year. You will NOT keep your current wait list number.

      ANSWER 2 — The wait list number is specific to the grade to which you are applying.

  3. AZ

    We are zoned to a Magnet school. We applied to our zoned school as a Magnet application along with other Magnet and Vanguard schools. Our Magnet application to our zoned school was accepted. We were also accepted to a few other Magnet and Vanguard/GT programs. We would like to know if we can accept the seat at one of the other schools and later change our mind and enroll at the school we are zoned to.

    1. HISD Communications Post author

      Please contact the Office of School Choice at 713-556-6974 to discuss your specific situation.

  4. Blucomet

    If we accept the offer from one magnet school and then next year decide to transfer to another magnet school, can we do that? If ever how do you do that?

    1. HISD Communications Post author

      You would have to go through the application and lottery process to move to another magnet school. For more information about doing that, please contact the Office of School Choice by calling 713-556-6974.

  5. Stephanie Tolson

    I have not seen the waitlists move at either middle school my son applied to. I have heard the same from other parents regarding waitlists at elementary and other schools. I know you say “check back frequently” but are you updating the waitlists or not until after April 11?

    1. HISD Communications Post author

      Wait lists are updated as soon as parents decline spots at the schools. If Sam Smith has been accepted and his parents decline the spot and Johnny Jones is next on the waiting list, Johnny will then be considered accepted to the school and his parents will have to accept or decline the spot. If you have questions about a specific school, please contact the school’s magnet coordinator or the Office of School Choice by calling 713-556-6974.

  6. Meena Al Hasani

    On the parent dashboard it says that the status is “Submitted and Qualified”, but it gave me #147 on waiting list on the lottery placement tab for that school. Does this mean I got accepted or I got on the waiting list?

    1. HISD Communications

      It means your child is qualified for whichever that school you have applied to and you have sucessfully submitted your application to that school, but he or she is on a waiting list.

  7. prem

    my child has a wait list # 344 what are his chances of getting in to this school. does it move rapidly

    1. HISD Administrator

      The number indicates that 344 students must decline their seat to that school, before your child is offered a seat. Depending on the school, it is not likely that the student will be offered a seat. Movement is dependent on parents accepting/declining offered seats.

  8. Pp

    My child has a waiting list 28 for a magnet middle school. How long we should wait to know the final status for that school. 1. Will the phase 1 waiting list process go till the school reopens for the new session in August? 2. When should we contact our zoned middle school if we don’t get a spot in magnet school.

    1. HISD Administrator

      Magnet coordinators can contact students from their waitlist until two weeks before school starts. Parent can contact zoned school at their earliest convenience.

    1. HISD Communications

      Here is an answer to your question. You might want to also follow up with the school you are selecting:
      Q: What if I have accepted one school, but another school calls me from the waitlist. May I accept this second school?

      A: Yes, you will have three school days from the date that the seat was offered to take the following documents to the school whose offer you want to accept:

      Proof of current residence.
      Proof of age (if your child is entering Pre-K or kindergarten).
      The school will be able to provide you a copy of an entrance agreement that you will be required to sign.
      Complete the campus enrollment process.

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