October 7, 2014 by Sarah Craig

Upcoming HISD Events Showcases Magnet Program Options

Magnet programs – specialized academic offerings open to any student living in the district – are one of HISD’s notable strengths. More than 40% of HISD schools have schoolwide or school-within-a-school magnet programs. Some magnets focus on STEM; some on the arts; some on world languages; some on specific career trajectories. Still others are dedicated to specialized curricula like Montessori and IB, and a handful are Vanguard magnets which provide accelerated instruction to Gifted/ Talented students.

The magnet application process officially begins on November 1, when the application period opens. Parents can submit applications to as many as 10 schools; when the application period closes, spots at each school will be filled by a lottery process. At many HISD magnets, the applicant pool considerably exceeds the number of spaces, so it is wise to apply to as many programs as possible to increase the odds of being accepted to one.

For a month before the application opens, and periodically during the application period, HISD will host Parent Information Nights to showcase middle school and high school magnet programs and give parents a sense of their options. The first such event occurred on October 2, but there will be many more throughout the fall semester – as detailed in the table below. HISD will also host a general Magnet Open House, showcasing all magnet programs, at Northside Mall on November 1.

Of course, if you don’t want to wait for the next Parent Information Night, you can always get a head start looking at magnet programs online. Our sister publication, the Houston School Survey, profiles a number of HISD’s top magnet schools and provides detailed advice on the magnet application process.

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Date and Time	School Level	Host School	Host School Address
October 9, 2014 – 6pm	Middle	Berry Elementary	2310 Berry Rd, 77093
October 13, 2014 – 6pm	High	Revere Middle School	10502 Briar Forest Dr, 77042
October 16, 2014 – 6pm	Middle	Walnut Bend Elementary	10620 Briar Forest Dr, 77042
October 22, 2014 – 6pm	High	Pershing Middle School	3838 Blue Bonnet Blvd, 77025
October 23, 2014 – 6pm	Middle	Red Elementary	4520 Tonawanda Dr, 77035
October 28, 2014 – 6pm	High	BCMA at Ryan	2610 Elgin St, 77004
October 30, 2014 – 6pm	Middle	Whidby Elementary	7625 Springhill St, 77021
November 17, 2014 – 6pm	High	Stevenson Middle School	9595 Winkler Dr, 77017
November 18, 2014 – 6pm	Middle	Crespo Elementary	7500 Office City Dr, 77012
December 2, 2014 – 6pm	High	Forest Brook Middle School	7525 Tidwell Rd, 77016
December 3, 2014 – 6pm	Middle	Shadydale Elementary	5905 Tidwell, 77016