Parents who are looking to choose a magnet school for their children now have a new tool to help them make their selections. The Magnet Matrix Calculator determines whether a student is qualified for inclusion in the lottery for some magnet secondary non-vanguard and fine arts schools. The calculator is based upon the matrix many schools use to determine student eligibility.

Not all schools will be using a matrix to determine if a student is qualified, but all schools who do use a matrix will use this one. For schools that do not use the matrix calculator, everyone who applies is entered into a lottery for seats at that campus.

To use the calculator, parents must have information such as core class grade average, and math and reading scores for STAAR and Iowa on hand. After entering their data, users will receive a numerical score and a list of schools that the score qualifies the student to apply for. Students who were not in HISD last year and may not have all the appropriate scores available should contact the school they are applying to, as this calculator will not provide the correct results for them.

“Parents can select up to ten campuses on their children’s magnet applications, but if your child is not qualified to apply to a particular campus, you might waste a selection on that school when you could have picked another one,” explained Assistant Superintendent of School Choice Mark Shenker. “This tool is designed to help prevent that scenario, so parents won’t end up frustrated.”

Please note that the calculator does not guarantee qualification for any magnet program. Individual campuses still have the final say on which students will be accepted into their program.

To read a step-by-step on how to use the Magnet Matrix Calculator, please click here.