| Are you moving to Houston Texas and wondering | | | | district. |
| about the quality of its' educational system? | | | | |
| If so, then this article is going to help you | | | | Two options that are often confusing to |
| know what to look for while choosing a school | | | | families are the charter and magnet schools. |
| and it will identify the top rated schools in | | | | A charter school, just for your information, |
| Houston. | | | | is a public school that has been exempted |
| | | | from the typical public school regulations. |
| The fact that you want to know about the | | | | They have a charter agreement with the school |
| caliber of schools in Houston, in order to | | | | board and enrollment is voluntary meaning - |
| determine where you want to live, is a | | | | it is not bound by school district |
| significant indicator of your commitment to | | | | neighborhood school lines. A magnet school is |
| your child and to her education. Research | | | | also another option that a public school |
| has shown than families who care about the | | | | district can offer to residents of the school |
| choice of schools are also the same families | | | | district. Most often magnet schools focus on |
| who will get involved in their child's | | | | a specific area of learning such as math, |
| education thus promoting a better outcome for | | | | science, art, music. They often have |
| their child and the community at large. | | | | different structures such as mixed age |
| | | | groupings and run on a 12 month cycle. Just |
| Houston is a huge school district. There are | | | | as the charter school, magnet schools must |
| 739 Elementary Schools, 319 Middle Schools, | | | | accept students regardless of their district |
| and 211 High Schools. There are 332 Private | | | | affiliation. |
| Schools. So, the question is - how do you | | | | |
| start the process of discovering what schools | | | | Many times the openings for both of these |
| in Houston are the best for you and your | | | | types of schools are limited and families may |
| child(ren)? | | | | be placed on a waiting list. Families may |
| | | | want to investigate private education |
| The first place to start is to identify what | | | | opportunities in the area they are |
| you want your child's education to be like. | | | | considering living as well as perhaps home |
| It is important to take your child's own | | | | schooling networks. |
| personal likes and dislikes, talents, | | | | |
| abilities and disabilities (if appropriate) | | | | You will be able to compare schools with one |
| into consideration when defining what you | | | | another and this should help you narrow down |
| want. Consider the answer to these questions | | | | your choices. When you have selected a few |
| as you determine the size of school you want | | | | schools to investigate a bit further, look on |
| your child to attend, the size of class, the | | | | their website to see if there is a section |
| focus of the school etc. | | | | for parent reviews. This is a good way to get |
| | | | a feel for what the parents feel about the |
| When you have a sense of what is important to | | | | school and their sense of trust. |
| you, check out the neighborhood school to see | | | | |
| if it fits the description of what you want. | | | | The last step of this process is to visit the |
| If you are not sure what school is in the | | | | schools you have decided meet your criteria. |
| neighborhood you are considering moving into, | | | | If it meets the criteria you have been |
| contact the administration office of the | | | | looking for, then you know that you can look |
| school district covering the neighborhood. | | | | for housing in the community. If you can not |
| When you call the administration office, you | | | | find a good match in one community, go |
| might also ask them about their policies for | | | | through the same process until you find a |
| students attending magnet, charter and other | | | | community and school district that fit. |
| schools both inside and outside of the | | | | |