Top Houston Public Schools

Public schools are taxpayer-funded, governmental institutions. Compared to private schools, public schools must follow generally strict anti-discrimination guidelines and be able to adequately educate any student that walks in the door. Any student living within a “zoned” school’s geographic area of enrollment may automatically attend that school at no cost and with very little hassle.

However, there are some special, “magnet” schools, that do cater to specific types of students and require an application to attend. This site focus on these select public schools. Public Magnet School programs in the Houston area are usually structured in three different ways:

  1. Schoolwide Magnet – All students, zoned and applicants, benefit from this specialized program; no application necessary for zoned students to benefit.
  2. Dedicated Magnet – No students are zoned to these schools; everyone is admitted based off of their qualifying applications.
  3. School-Within-A-School (SWAS) – Admitted students benefit from a specialized program but may also take normal classes; zoned students generally may participate in the special program without applying.

For families residing within the Houston city limits, the two main school districts are