Houston ISD Magnet Waiting Lists (Bellaire, Wharton: 2015, lease, house)

[houston-nomad]

Originally Posted by chicagonyc

Ok, this is a key question that you seem to be answering.

IF we are zoned for a magnet school AS a neighborhood school, then there is no separate "track" or "school within a school"?

This may vary from school to school; there may be special programming available to kids on magnet admission that is not available to zoned kids. But my understanding is that HISD favors magnet-programs-for-all, so for example at Parker, it used to be that you could be a zoned kid and not do music there. You had to get into the magnet program to do music. But now they've changed it, and all incoming kindergarteners get music (though they may not all be admitted to their first choice instrument).

So you should double check for the schools you are interested in, but chances are, zoned kids are getting the same offerings as magnet kids. (call the magnet office of each school--maybe AFTER things settle down a little!--and ask).

You will love the Westbury/Meyerland neighborhoods. Great part of town for families!!

[Meyerland]

Kolter, Parker, Herod, Lovett, Twain....have no difference for zoned /magnet kids. I think Twain's magnet will be disappearing soon due to the popularity of the campus. I would send my child to any of those campuses without a shadow of a doubt. ( I taught for years at one of the most highly rated campuses in KatyISD, which is highly regarded. The elementary programs at these campuses are comparable.)

Also something to consider...if you are zoned for Pershing or Johnston for middle school...you have Pin Oak MS as an option for boundary or magnet. It's one of the best Middle schools in Houston.

[chicagonyc]

Ok, now we're getting somewhere. This is precisely the question I'm interested in.

This information seems very hidden if we have to solicit from forums and phone calls to harried administrators ... nowhere on any web site.

Originally Posted by houston-nomad

This may vary from school to school; there may be special programming available to kids on magnet admission that is not available to zoned kids. But my understanding is that HISD favors magnet-programs-for-all, so for example at Parker, it used to be that you could be a zoned kid and not do music there. You had to get into the magnet program to do music. But now they've changed it, and all incoming kindergarteners get music (though they may not all be admitted to their first choice instrument).

So you should double check for the schools you are interested in, but chances are, zoned kids are getting the same offerings as magnet kids. (call the magnet office of each school--maybe AFTER things settle down a little!--and ask).

You will love the Westbury/Meyerland neighborhoods. Great part of town for families!!

[chicagonyc]

THANK YOU! This is very helpful.

There may be an advantage in accepting a magnet admission to one of these schools if the commute is short enough from Meyerland.

Originally Posted by Meyerland

Kolter, Parker, Herod, Lovett, Twain....have no difference for zoned /magnet kids. I think Twain's magnet will be disappearing soon due to the popularity of the campus. I would send my child to any of those campuses without a shadow of a doubt. ( I taught for years at one of the most highly rated campuses in KatyISD, which is highly regarded. The elementary programs at these campuses are comparable.)

Also something to consider...if you are zoned for Pershing or Johnston for middle school...you have Pin Oak MS as an option for boundary or magnet. It's one of the best Middle schools in Houston.

[Meyerland]

All those campuses are very close together. Twain is the farthest, but I can get there in 10-12 minutes easily.

Look on har.com under the school section. Click on your favorite campus. Then scroll down and search for homes in the boundary section. They will pull up every home for sale that's zoned to the campus. It's a little different on the website vs. the app., but it should be similar.

[geolvl]

Also, if you register to some schools late, July is considered late, the school may not have room. This is the case at Twain. You may want to ask the school about actually having a spot if you show up with your proof of residence a month before school starts. Just see how full the K class is. 3rd grade will probably have more room... Just don't want you to have a big stupid surprise!

[WRM20]

Originally Posted by hbcu

that's why I despise HISD and magnets....you can never really have a neighborhood school...I know kids who lived in 1 community their whole lives but never set foot in a zoned campus...they spend more time getting to school and busing than a commuter driving on 290 5 days a wekk

Magnets are how HISD complies with anti-discrimination laws, and the main driver for people not moving to the suburbs.

[Memorialite]

HISD Board Discusses Proposed Budget Cuts – Houston Public Media

[Houmove]

Originally Posted by chicagonyc

Ok, this is a key question that you seem to be answering.

IF we are zoned for a magnet school AS a neighborhood school, then there is no separate "track" or "school within a school"?

That wasn't clear to me at all. So I thought to get the benefits of the magnet program at Kolter, I'd have to apply via the magnet process EVEN if I lived locally. You seem to be saying that's not the case. That's very important to know.

I think we'll try to rent first because our ability to househunt is limited by kids to maybe a few days. Thinking we'd look to buy after we moved, though at the cost of 2 moves.

As far as I know for all but a few Vangurad programs (like Travis) you are in the same program as everyone else whether you are zoned or magnet. There might be schools however that have a separation that I don't know about.

[chicagonyc]

Cool tools!

Originally Posted by Meyerland

All those campuses are very close together. Twain is the farthest, but I can get there in 10-12 minutes easily.

Look on har.com under the school section. Click on your favorite campus. Then scroll down and search for homes in the boundary section. They will pull up every home for sale that's zoned to the campus. It's a little different on the website vs. the app., but it should be similar.