HOUSTON — Students in the Houston Independent School District received their school choice application results Tuesday.
According to the district, more families than last year applied for HISD’s unique programs and schools during phase one of the school choice process—and more families were matched with their preferred schools.
“As a district of choice, HISD gives families an array of options for where their child can go to school,” said Chief Academic Officer Kristen Hole. “We were thrilled to see more families apply for our robust programs this year, and are pleased to offer more families a seat at the school they’ve identified as the best fit for their child.”
In HISD, students are able to apply to any school in the district and enroll based on the number of available seats and other criteria. Families can choose from schools that are more convenient than their zoned campus, such as those that are closer to where a parent or caregiver works; schools with specialty programs of interest; or magnet schools centered around a particular theme like music, fine arts, science, or engineering.
This year, 19,114 students participated in the school choice process, which is up from 18,881 students last year. Of those applicants, 14,518 students received a seat at one of their selected schools for the 2024-2025 academic year. That is up from 12,816 students in the 2023-2024 academic year. This year, 69% of families who participated in the school choice process were matched with one of their top three campuses, as compared to 60% last year. The increase is primarily due to the fact that this year 49% of families received a seat at their first-choice school; last year, just 41% of families were matched with their first choice.
Families who were matched during phase one have until April 9 at 11:59 p.m. to accept an offered seat and secure placement at their preferred school. Offers will expire after this date. All families who receive an offer at a campus will be automatically placed on the waitlist of campuses they ranked higher than the offer they received. The decision to accept the seat they are offered does not impact their ability to remain on the waitlist at a higher ranked campus. HISD is notifying 4,086 families they cannot be matched at this time and were placed on waitlists for their selected schools. This is a decrease from the 4,492 families who were not matched during phase one last year.
Phase two of the school choice process also opened Tuesday. In this phase, families who are still considering their options for next school year—or those who may not have been matched with their preferred campus in the initial lottery—may take the following actions at the schools or programs in which they are eligible. Parents can apply for up to 10 additional schools or programs during phase two. If a campus still has available seats after the lottery, parents can apply in phase two and will be offered a seat on a first come first serve basis. If the lottery process resulted in a campus having a waitlist, families can add their student to the waitlist. HISD is hosting a School Choice Fair on April 13 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Yates High School, where parents can learn about schools that still have seats available.
If space becomes available at schools or programs that are at capacity as a result of the phase one lottery, families on the waitlist will be notified if they receive a seat. Families should not try to reapply to programs in which they are currently waitlisted during phase two as it may result in them losing their current spot. Phase two will close this summer; the exact date will be announced in the coming weeks.
For more information on the school choice process, including phase two applications, families can email the school choice team at schoolchoice@houstonisd.org or call HISD’s school choice hotline at (713) 556-6734. The hotline is open extended hours—from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.—through this Thursday, March 28. It will reopen for normal operating hours next week, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Families can also visit the District’s school choice website at https://www.houstonisd.org/schoolchoice.
