Category Archives: Magnet/School Choice

Don’t lose your slot: Acceptances to magnet, Vanguard programs due Friday

Deadline is Friday, April 11, for students who applied to a magnet or Vanguard program for the 2014-2015 school year to accept a place at a school for which they were offered admission.

Parents must notify the school directly or accept via the school choice online dashboard. Their acceptance will be final once they complete the steps outlined when they make their selection.

“A student’s acceptance does not remove him or her from the waitlists to other schools,” said School Services Officer Dr. Lupita Hinojosa. “However, they will decline all other offers when they accept the school of his or her choice.”

Continue reading →

Hartman MS dedicates new medical wing

A new wing of Hartman Middle School will not benefit only students – the community is also welcome to enjoy some of its new offerings.

Hartman, a health and medical science magnet program, dedicated a new medical wing on Thursday. The area features a hospital lab where students can receive hands-on patient care training and a fitness center that is open to local families.

Continue reading →

Magnet notifications are in. What’s next?

As student notifications hit inboxes and mailboxes, parents began to wonder what’s next. When a student is accepted to a school of his or her choice, parents must notify the school by April 11 in order to keep that spot for the 2014-2015 year. If a school agreement was included with the notification, parents must follow all the instructions and complete the acceptance process for the school of choice.

Continue reading →

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:

Continue reading →

Notices to go out Friday for nearly 50,000 HISD magnet applications

A new online application process and computer-generated lottery have been completed and nearly 50,000 notifications of the Houston Independent School District magnet programs including Vanguard placements for 2014-2015 will be sent to families by email (after 5 p.m.) and postal service Friday.

Continue reading →

Board of Education votes to repurpose Jones and move Dodson

Jones to become specialized Futures Academy; Dodson students will move to Blackshear, Lantrip, and the Rusk School

The HISD Board of Education on Thursday voted 6 to 3 to repurpose Jones High School into a specialized Futures Academy with trustees Rhonda Skillern-Jones, Anna Eastman, and Paula Harris opposed. Trustees also voted 5 to 4 to close Dodson Elementary. Anna Eastman, Rhonda Skillern-Jones, Wanda Adams and Paula Harris were in opposition. These votes come after weeks of debate and conversation including nearly 75 comments from concerned citizens during the board’s meeting and the removal of three schools from the original closure and consolidation proposal.

Continue reading →

Magnet school notification date coming up

The big day is almost here. HISD is in the final stages of processing nearly 50,000 applications in preparation for magnet notification day on Friday, March 28. The district has received 16,747 more applications this year than last, with the majority of those applications received through the new online application system.

All students who met the qualifications and December deadline will be offered spaces in the order assigned by a computer-generated lottery. The lottery randomly assigns spaces for applicants and their siblings.

Parents who are waiting anxiously to find out which magnet school their child will be attending next year will be notified on March 28 by mail or email, depending on how they filed their application. If they applied online, they will be notified by email on March 28 (after 5 p.m.). If they applied with a paper application, letters reporting the status of their child’s application will be mailed on March 28.

Continue reading →

Decisions, decisions: School Choice Week celebrates variety

Kolter ES students are excited about School Choice Week!

The fourth annual National School Choice Week (NSCW) kicks off its Whistle-Stop Tour across the nation in Houston at 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25, at Union Station at Minute Maid Park, 501 Crawford St. The event provides an opportunity to learn more about HISD’s School Choice program and the portfolio of educational programs offered by the district’s many magnet and vanguard, International Baccalaureate, Montessori, and early college high schools, Futures academies, and charter schools. Despite the December deadline for first-round consideration for magnet applications, there are still many openings in great schools across the district.

Continue reading →

Deadline to apply to HISD’s magnet programs is Dec. 20

Parents who want their children to attend one of HISD’s magnet programs for the 2014-2015 academic year need to submit their applications before the holidays.  The deadline to apply, either online or through the paper application, is December 20 for guaranteed consideration in the first round.  Applications received after this date can only be considered at schools in which there is still space available.

“This year parents can even apply from the comfort of their homes using our newly adopted online application option,” HISD Assistant Superintendent of School Choice Dave Wheat said.  “To date, more than 27,000 applications have been submitted using our new online option, and thousands more are in progress.”

Continue reading →