School staff discusses magnet options with parents at a school choice fair in September at Westbury High School.

Parents have a wide variety of choices regarding where to send their students to school in HISD, but time is running out to be in the first round of consideration.

Parents who still aren’t sure which school they want their child to attend next year are invited to the final School Choice Fair from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Dec. 3, at Sterling High School (11625 Martindale Road, 77048). Representatives from HISD magnet schools will be there, and attendees can get help submitting their application.

The deadline to apply is Dec. 9 for guaranteed consideration in the first round. Any applications received after the Dec. 9 deadline will be considered only for schools where space is still available.

The 2017-2018 HISD magnet application is available online, and paper applications can be picked up at all magnet campuses. Online applications provide more options for tracking and staying up-to-date on the latest developments.

Paper applications can be hand-delivered or sent by U.S. mail to the Office of School Choice at 4400 West 18th Street, Houston, TX 77092. Another option is to scan the paper application and e-mail it to magnet@houstonisd.org, along with the required documents.

Parents will learn the status of their application on March 24, 2017, when results will be available online and also sent by mail. If their child has been offered a seat in a program, parents have two weeks to provide proof of residence and sign an entrance agreement. If their student is placed on a waiting list, parents can monitor changes in application status throughout the summer, at which time they may be able to submit additional applications to programs with available seats.

For more information about the magnet application process, HISD school choice tours, and the final fair, visit HoustonISD.org/SchoolChoice or call the Office of School Choice at 713-556-6947.