New parents over here and I believe we're at the stage where we should be thinking about schools for our 16 month kiddo. We live in Montrose and don't have plans on moving to the burbs anytime soon. The elementary and middle school we're zoned to are rough, but we are zoned to a good high school (Lamar).
Trying to figure out our options and it seems like Magnet schools are the best bet if we are to stay in this home and area. Any parents have experience with the testing and lottery system for HISD magnet schools? Should we start putting our little boy into a daycare with curriculum (Esperanza or Kipling) so he's ready for this test? Any feedback is appreciated!
Sort by:
Best
Open comment sort options
Best
Top
New
Controversial
Old
Q&A
There are a lot of HISD schools that call themselves magnet schools that have zero business doing so. There are a few worthy of the title but you need to do your homework on which.
Man, education in the innerloop seems like a clusterfuck. Another point to the suburbs.
From my experience:
Zoned to magnet school
Child entering kindergarten with 80 spots open. 40 was for magnet and the rest were for kids zoned. Had to wait in line to make sure my kid got in even though we were zoned. So yah its a clusterfuck.
I’m assuming this registration process is all done in person and hasn’t moved online yet, huh? Since you were zoned to the school and an automatic shoe-in, do you know how different the process is for those that aren’t zoned?
Even though we were zoned. There was only 40 spots. So it was be in line at 7 in the morning or go through the process of finding another school.
The HISD lottery system is real and works as described.
Aside from that, any school is as good as how you make it and how well you support your kids and the school and the teachers. In my experience most of the HISD teachers care about the kids and want to do a good job. You have to be involved with what your kids are doing at school. Be an active member of the PTO. Donate money and volunteer time when you can. Many schools need volunteers to sometimes just make copies or file paperwork. Get to know the teachers and administrative staff and principal and that can go a long, long way to helping you when your kid needs help at school, or if you need something special like requesting a specific teacher for your kid for a specific grade.
fyi lamar isnt a good hs just a heads up
They have a 16 month old. A lot can change in the next 13 years before they have to worry about it
Went to Lamar, can't complain honestly looking back now. Made life long friends within good socio-economic groups. Within HISD, it's Bellaire/Lamar/Memorial
Man,I hear so many mixed reviews on Lamar I don’t even know what’s true anymore. This is where I read that it was a #1 HS (albeit for the wrong reasons, new building ≠ good school).
It’s not a #1 high school, but it is a pretty solid neighborhood school. It’s head and shoulders above pretty much any neighborhood school that isn’t called bellaire.
I went to Lamar and I got a great public education.
We threw into the magnet lottery and came up empty. We were waitlisted at all of our school choices too far down the list to even have a shot. Thankfully, we are zoned to Sinclair, which is a magnet school. It’s frustrating because my son scored high on the Vanguard test, but apparently doing well doesn’t have much value in terms of moving you up in the Lottery. Additionally, most elementary programs don’t differentiate between their Vanguard or nonVanguard kids. They say that the Vanguard kids get an extra project to do, but, in reality, everyone in the class does it.
Since you mentioned Esperanza, I’ll say that they did well by my boy and really helped him come to like school after a bad experience somewhere else. Great program, but get signed up now.
TL;DR: fucking magnets, how do they work?
That’s what I’m saying, after this I’ll have a full manual ready for y’all on how to rig the system and get your kids into magnet schools.
I'm not even married yet and it sounds like I should get on a list!
I teach at a magnet high school in HISD; my recommendation is do your best to contact the principal or an administrator and meet in person. It’s supposed to be a lottery, but a lot of principals/administrators can bend the rules, especially when the school year starts.
The process is actually really murky and every magnet school is different.
As for quality, a lot of neighborhood schools in the montrose area are pretty competitive with magnet schools. Lamar HS is pretty solid and just as rigorous as a lot of magnet schools.
Let me know if you have any questions?
The lottery system is controlled by central admin in HISD, not the schools, so the principals can’t be bribed in any way to let you in.
This is especially true if the school is 100% magnet like HSPVA, Debakey, Carnegie, etc.
If you’re at a school with a magnet program where you have both neighborhood and magnet kids, once you’re at the school, the process to transfer into the magnet program is very different.
The magnet application process works exactly as they say it does.
I'm a month late to this discussion, but this is almost true. Almost. There is something called a principal's transfer. It is the principal's privilege to approve a transfer from a locally zoned school into his or her campus. The option is on the paperwork, and I've seen it done.
That does not exist for schools that are 100% magnet. And there are strict dates applied to when that can happen.
I'm not trying to be contrary. My child was admitted into a 100% magnet solely on a principal's transfer. It was during the magnet time window, though. He was 382 on the wait list when they did the transfer.
It was a total disaster and I pulled him out after first grade.
Is the entry process for each school on their website? Where would you get more info on the process for each school? A lot of the websites are crap so I’m having a hard time actually finding valuable info.
We are zoned to Gregory-Lincoln (PK-8) or MacGregor (PK-5), any feedback on those schools? Ranked fairly low on the scales I’ve seen but I’d like to get your 2 cents.
Aside from how I should start stalking potential principals and becoming their friend, your feedback is really helpful!
I know this is an old post, but it's not so old that I won't chime in. Gregory-Lincoln is a disaster. MacGregor is a solid option if your kid doesn't get in somewhere else. My home used to be zoned to MacGregor, and I was hugely pissed when they shifted the zoning and I ended up zoned to Lockhart. Lockhart makes Gregory-Lincoln look almost functional.
Yeah! All of the information should be on their individual websites and well as the HISD magnet page. Gregory Lincoln is an improving school; I met the principal and she seemed very focused on taking steps to strengthen the academics there. One of my coworkers has a kid at Poe and says it’s super.
Each Magnet School should have a magnet coordinator and a principal listed on their website. Principals are general pretty good at responding to parent emails. I would look at the websites and try to craft an email that appeals to the culture of the school. Schedule a visit if possible and attend the magnet open house (they should have this listed on their website).
Ive learned with hisd magnet program it cant be your primary option for your school, at least in Heights area. You need a primary option either zoned school or private and magnet is backup. There are way more people trying to magnet than there are spots at magnet schools. I am not sure if this is case in Montrose area but my guess is yes.
We got lucky our zoned elementary school is great so that was always our primary plan. Magnet was just a secondary option if we got in. We got into zero schools we applied for with magnet, this was 2 kids.
Also encourage anyone to tour their zoned school to see if its right for you.
I'm zoned to MacGregor. Luckily got into very good magnet for our daughter. It's a complete crapshoot, and there's very little you can do. Two bits of advice: first, get a practice test to prepare a bit to ensure your could qualifies for vanguard (that increases chances, but only a bit), and second, look at how many lottery slots various schools had in recent years. There's no point wasting one of your chances on a place like Roberts, as good as it is, that may have one, two, or even zero slots each year.
I attempted to navigate HISDs system and gave up when we were waitlisted for our zoned school.
My kids are at KIPP, hooray for a PreK3 program, they get to start school a year early, and the teachers care just a little more.
What are the difference btw KIPP and magnet schools? I have a friend that teaches for KIPP that said great things but the closest one is too far from home.
The biggest difference is the district. Magnets are run by HISD, whereas KIPP is it’s own district. In my personal experience the teachers care far more. Parent involvement is better at KIPP, parent teacher relationships are strongly encouraged.
My kids started at the neighborhood elementary then went to a magnet middle school and then Carneige. Most of hisd elementaries are pretty decent. Our neighborhood elementary school was a magnet until they had too many local kids and no room for the magnet. I wasn't impressed with the program and I don't think it added value. Middle school was in majority black magnet school and it was a positive experience. Carneige is apparently the apex public high school and it is not for every kid. Lots of homework, stress and a very like college experience (as in you are responsible for teaching yourself like in university). We were zoned for bellaire and would have been happy with the kids going there. It was luck for the middle school, they had just opened it and didn't have enough kids, Carneige was a lottery for the Kids tagged as GT.
I don’t remember teaching myself at university. I remember going to classes, listening to lecturers, reading books, and writing papers.
I completely agree that Carnegie is not for every kid. Most often parents send their kids there because it’s the best, not because it’s the best school for their kid.
no, you did teach yourself. do you really think the TA teaching a fish class with 200 students is really teaching the students? the students are teaching themselves. at most major universities, freshmen and sophmores get large classes filled with TAs teaching. they have to learn how to learn. Carnegie, while not as large, does the same thing. If you are not a self-starter, its not a good fit. that is why you can have a U of H and a U of st. Thomas, one helps the students along, one is survival of the smartest (or best adapted to thrive in that environment)
What exactly is your definition of teaching? We aren’t talking about trade schools here or where content is typically hands on. A lesson cycle is pretty straightforward. The teacher picks an objective for the students to master and introduces new material to teach that objective. Students will do activities to apply (not always hands on, think group work and discussion) what they have learned and then they’re tested over it with either a typical test or a project or essay.
Teaching yourself how to learn is not the same as teaching yourself the content for each course. There are different types of learning styles and students who figure out the best way to learn (and study) are going to be far better at school than those who don’t. And schools don’t teach how to learn because there is no time.
When you say teach yourself, I equate that to selecting content you want to learn and reading and applying it yourself with no guidance. My friend’s kid taught himself how to read at the age of 4. No one helped him. That’s teaching yourself.
I completely agree that if you don’t know how to study and learn, you will struggle at Carnegie. The students who are organized and don’t procrastinate too much are successful. But the kids who go to tutorials and ask for help really excel.
Amen on Carnegie. One of my brighter students was non-renewed at Carnegie due to grades, but is doing really well at my campus. She always talks about how competitive and stressful it was.
it is unfairly stressful, but if a student can handle the excessive workload and stress, then pretty much any state university will be a cake-walk.
Definitely true!
Esperanza and Kipling have extremely long wait lists, so if you are seriously considering those get on the wait list now.
Do you have your kids in either? Worth it? The tuition is so ridiculously high too...
No kids....just passing along the info from people in my neighborhood. On NextDoor there are many posts about these schools, and that is the number one issue about those schools.
Adderall prescription ASAP