Houston’s Best Private and Public Schools
You’re fortunate if you you have the ability to choose a school for your child. Either you can afford upwards of $25,000 a year for private school or you have the ability to move into a certain neighborhood or apply to a desirable public school. Either way, you’re right to want the best for your child. But what does it mean to be the best? What should you be looking for in a new school?
At General Academic, we don’t believe in a singular definition of, “best.” We don’t think that schools can simply be ranked on a single list that will work for every family, for every child, at every single stage of their life.
Instead, we have analyzed the available data in areas that you might find important. But this quantitative analysis—these numbers and percentages—should just be a starting point in your search. Ultimately it’s the qualitative aspects—the warm and fuzzy feelings—that will likely make your decision for you.
Houston’s Top Schools Lists
Houston’s National Merit Semifinalists for 2020-2021
The 2021 National Merit Scholarship Competition was a great year for Houston-area high school seniors. There were 438 area students who scored in the top 1% on the PSAT to earn the celebrated "Semifinalist" designation. Versus 386 Semifinalists in the previous year, there were [...]
Houston Private School Survey 2019
What if you could build and run the perfect school? (Or even better--someone else's money built the school, and someone you trusted ran the school?) What grades would you serve? What type of curriculum would you teach? How much would you charge? General Academic [...]
Top Houston Schools by National Merit Semifinalists 2020
The 2020 National Merit Scholarship Competition generally represented a good year for Houston-area high school juniors. There were 386 area students who scored in the top 1% on the PSAT to earn the celebrated "Semifinalist" designation. Versus 365 Semifinalists in the previous year, there [...]
The ISEE vs. The HSPT Admissions Tests
Even in middle school, a student’s time might not wholly be one’s own. Preparing for two exams could hinder the student’s schoolwork and extracurricular activities. The question then boils down to: “With limited time, on which test should one focus one's attention?” Below, we provide some [...]
Houston’s Richest Private Schools by Endowment Value
Of the 15 Houston private schools reporting endowments, the average value is $24 million or $40,000 per student. Assuming schools are able to apply up to 5% of this amount towards annual expenditures, that amounts to $2,000 per student in support provided by their [...]
Best Houston Public High Schools by AP Scores
AP stands for Advanced Placement, which is a national curriculum for very smart high school students administered by the College Board. The College Board is the same non-profit organization that administers the SAT college admissions test. The College Board offers AP curricula in 38 [...]
Top Houston Public High Schools by SAT Scores
Together with the ACT, the SAT is one of the most widely administered college admissions tests in the United States; more than 3 million high school students take these tests annually. As such, these scores are among the best to use when comparing the [...]
Houston’s Best Public Schools by STAAR Results
The State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) tests are the primary, quantitative measure of academic performance for Texas public schools. All public school students in grades 3-12 take some number of STAAR tests. The tests are administered every spring in core subjects [...]
An Academic Timeline from PreK to College
For first time parents, the unknowns about academic deadlines can be stress inducing. In this section, we aim to alleviate some of that stress by alerting you to potential milestones for which you may want to prepare. Conversely, we hope that by knowing when [...]