By To HISD parents:
The Office of School Choice would like to keep you informed of upcoming dates, deadlines, and other important information.
K-12 Phase 2 Updates
The School Choice Phase 2 application is currently open at choosehisd.my.site.com. Families may continue to apply to attend non-zoned schools. Families on waitlists are continuing to receive acceptances on a rolling basis as more seats become available. If you are currently on a waitlist, please ensure that you regularly check your email, you will have five days to accept a seat once notified. If you are on a waitlist, please check your email regularly. Remember, you will have five days to accept a seat once notified.
The School Choice Phase 2 deadline for currently enrolled HISD students is August 2nd, 2024. This means that families have until August 2nd to add themselves to school waitlists or enroll in non-zoned schools where there is space available. After August 2nd, any student new to the District may still apply and will be accepted pending space at their campus of choice.
The current waitlist will retire (removal of applicants) on August 9th, 2024. Any student on a waitlist will be removed on this date.
Please note these dates are later in the summer than in prior years to provide HISD families additional time to consider their preferred programming options for their student(s).
Hardship Transfers
In the event that a parent, student, or family is experiencing an extenuating circumstance, families may apply for a Hardship transfer via the School Choice application. The Hardship transfer is for students in grades K to 12.
There are five ways to qualify for a Hardship transfer:
- Parents work within a 2-mile radius of the requested school.
- Student has a sibling that is currently attending and returning to the same school.
- Family has moved and student wishes to finish with final cohort (only applies to those entering 5th, 8th, or 12th grade at their current campus).
- Families require before or after school care near the requested school. Care may be provided by the requested school, daycare, caregivers, or other family members.
- Other extenuating circumstances, as described on the School Choice website.
The Hardship transfer option is available at all campuses with a designated attendance zone. All hardships will be verified before approval by the requested campus and The Office of School Choice. Although the applicant may qualify for a Hardship under one of the five qualifiers, their acceptance is based on space availability. Additional qualifications such as report cards, attendance or behavior records are not required as a qualifier. Transportation is not provided for Hardship transfers and the transfer rolls over for the next school year at the same campus.
Language of Instruction Transfer
Parents zoned to a campus that does not offer a Bilingual Program (Transitional or Dual Language), and who have a student who qualifies for the Bilingual Program, may request a Language of Instruction Transfer. Parents should communicate this request to their zoned campus, who will process the transfer.
Parents zoned to a campus that offers a school-wide Dual Language Program but are not interested in the Dual Language model may also request a Language of Instruction transfer. Parents should communicate this request to their zoned campus, who will process the transfer.
Transportation is provided and the transfer rolls over for the next school year at the same campus.
Pre-K Phase 2 and After Lottery
The phase 1 applications for Pre-K closed on April 22nd. There were 22,003 submitted applications for 7,003 student applicants. You will receive the results of the lottery on May 10th. Please visit the Parent Dashboard through choosehisd.my.site.com for more information. Parents offered seats on May 10th will have until May 30th to accept their offered seat. Please note, accepting a seat does not remove your student from a waitlist.
Parents can apply for Phase 2 options from May 10th until November 1st, 2024. The waitlist for Pre-K will retire on November 8th, 2024 and all PreK applications on a waitlist will be removed. After November 1st, any new to district Pre-K student may still apply and enroll, pending space availability at the campus and meeting TEA (Texas Education Agency) eligibility requirements.
For assistance or additional information, please see our website at houstonisd.org/schoolchoice or contact School Choice via email at schoolchoice@houstonisd.org or via phone at 713.556.6734.
