School, Clearly

Free resources for Houston families

Find your next school-choice step.

Start with the question in front of you. These guides bring together school options, application routes and practical costs, with links to the sources so you can check the details.

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Illustrated miniature town of Houston school choices, with lit paths between small school buildings

Four guides

Choose and compare

Begin here if you are weighing school types, planning a move, or comparing schools against a 504 plan or an IEP.

Model of one lit path forking to three different school buildingsArticleMagnet, charter or privateWhat changes between the three applications, entry rules and costs.Compare the three → Model of two different small schools side by side with a table holding a blank clipboard between their pathsArticleCompare two schoolsA fit checklist for the school day, the cost, the entry rule and the deadline, with tour questions.Use the checklist → Model of a house with a small moving van at the curb, boxes on the porch and a lit path up to a schoolArticleMoving to HoustonThe address, the six calendars and what to have in hand on day one.Read the guide → Model of a small brick school whose entrance has both steps and a ramp with a handrail, a bench beside the lit pathArticleA 504 plan or an IEPHow HISD School Choice treats the plan, what private schools are and are not bound to do, and what the state account adds.Read the guide →

Six guides

Apply to HISD

Find the guide that matches your application stage, from pre-K and gifted testing to a missed Phase 1 and the bus.

Model of a brick school beside a table with a lottery drum, a blank calendar and formsArticleHISD magnet applicationThe phases, the published 2027-28 dates and how the lottery works.Read the guide → Model of six different small school buildings along one lit footpathArticleHISD magnet schoolsTwenty campuses with grades, theme, school type and entry rule.Read the list → Model of a school with its side gate open and a bench of small chairs, two of them emptyArticleMissed HISD Phase 1What Phase 2 and the waitlist still allow after notification day.Read the guide → Model of a small school for young children with a picket fence, a slide, a sandbox and three tricyclesArticleHISD pre-KWho qualifies for free, what it costs otherwise, and the separate application.Read the guide → Model of a small school desk and chair on a lit path in front of a brick schoolhouse, a card of plain shapes and a pencil on the deskArticleHISD gifted and talented testingThe September request, the October test and what a Vanguard magnet needs.Read the guide → Model of a small yellow school bus with its door open at a covered stop, two backpacks on the bench and a lit path up to a schoolArticleHISD bus transportationWho gets a bus in 2026-27, where the stop is, and how to request one.Read the guide →

Four guides

Charter and private schools

Follow each school's own application route, from charter networks to Montessori, and check the full cost, including what the state account pays.

Model of a stone wall with five separate gates, one lit path to eachArticleCharter schools in HoustonTwenty campuses across five networks, each with its own application.Read the list → Model of three school buildings on ascending stone terracesArticlePrivate schools in HoustonTwenty campuses by grade band, with the campus to check and a next check for each.Read the list → Model of a private school beside a desk with an open record book, a sealed envelope and coinsArticleTEFA, the Texas voucherWhat the Texas Education Freedom Account pays, who qualifies and when to apply.Read the guide → Model of a small schoolhouse open at the front on a child-size classroom with a tower of pink cubes, wooden puzzle maps, a rolled mat and two small chairs at a low tableArticleMontessori schools in HoustonHISD's three Montessori magnets and the Houston Montessori schools in the TEFA finder, with any tuition they publish.Read the list →
Model of a private school beside a desk with a calculator and papers

Free tool

Put tuition into perspective.

Pick a Houston private school and see the listed tuition with and without the 2026-27 TEFA award. Fees and other school-day costs need a separate check.

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Personal help with the decision

Bring the options together for your family.

The $195 School Decision Report compares schools around one focus child, one school year and your family's practical needs. Start with the free fit check.

See if this report fits your family