How to Apply Online Go to the application site at www.houstonisdschoolchoiceapplication.com. When you are ready to apply for a student within your household, continue to the application by clicking on “Apply” which is located in the left column of your screen.

Select School and Program Begin the process by selecting the school and program that you wish to apply for. Scroll through the list of options or use the search box to search by program name or school name.

Create an Account Once you find the school or program you are interested in, start the application process for that school by clicking on its name. From here you will be prompted to create an account. The details of your account will be emailed to you. A forgotten password feature, if needed, is located within the login area. Parents only need to create ONE account to submit ALL applications for ALL students within a household.

Once your account has been created, you must now indicate whether the student you are applying for is currently enrolled at an HISD school. You must also agree to important magnet information.

An HISD student ID is REQUIRED for students currently attending an HISD school. A new student ID will be created for new students who have never attended a school within HISD.

Begin the Application After reviewing and acknowledging the “Important Magnet Information” you will now begin the multi-step application by entering your student’s information. By entering the HISD Student ID number identified in the previous step, most of this information will be filled in with your child’s details. If you notice any information that needs to be updated, you must contact your student’s current school to make these changes. After completing any missing fields, you have the option to continue to the next step of the application or save the application to be completed at another time. If you opt to save and exit the application, you may finish it later by simply logging into www.houstonisdschoolchoiceapplication.com by using the email and password that you have created.

Family Information During the second step of the application, you will enter family information for your student, including parent or guardian contact details and more.

Sibling Information Next, you will indicate whether your child has any brothers or sisters currently attending an HISD school. This feature is used when determining sibling preference. You may add siblings in one of two ways. If the sibling already has an application in the system, you may select the existing student from the drop down menu. If you haven’t filled out an application for the sibling, you may enter the sibling’s information by clicking on the “Enter by Name” button. Simply type in the student name, date of birth, current grade, and school of the applicant’s sibling and add the sibling to the application. You may connect as many sibling accounts to a single application as needed.

Vanguard Applicants Only If you are applying to a Vanguard Magnet school, the next step will allow you to request recommendations from teachers. You can request an online recommendation from a teacher you choose by typing in the teacher’s name and email address along with a short message. This request will be sent directly to the teacher. If you are applying for kindergarten at a Vanguard Magnet school, this step will allow you, the parent, to fill out a parent recommendation about your student’s skills.

For all Vanguard Magnet schools, the next step of the application is test scheduling. From here, you will be able to select two choices for dates from the drop down menu. Once you submit your application, the coordinator at the testing school will contact you to schedule a specific date and time for your student to be tested.

Signature Page The next step is the signature page. Here, you will review the terms of the application and enter your initials. By entering your initials into this page, you are electronically signing the application and acknowledging that you have read and agree to all policies and information noted in the online application.

Confirming and Submitting Application Before submitting the application, you will be taken to a confirmation screen where you can review all of the information that you have entered for each step of the application. This screen also gives you the option to make changes in the application by clicking the “Edit” button to the right. When you are ready to submit your application, click on the “Send My Application” button. Once the button is clicked, you will be prompted to confirm that you want to submit your finalized application. Keep in mind that a copy of your confirmation page may be retrieved and printed at any time by returning to www.houstonisdschoolchoiceapplication.comand and logging in with your email and password.

After submitting an application, at the bottom of the confirmation page, you have the option to sign out of your account if you are finished with applications for now, fill out another application for the same child or for another child within your household, or view your choices by continuing to “My Dashboard. Select Primary School to Deliver Documents Upon reaching your dashboard you will be presented with a list of the students for whom you have submitted applications and the schools to which they have applied. You will then select ONE school where you will take or mail all required documents. This is referred to as your “primary school.” You will indicate your primary school by clicking on the star to the left of the school or the program’s name. If you have applied to any vanguard magnet schools, you MUST CHOOSE a vanguard magnet school as your primary school.

At any time, you may access your dashboard by logging into your account at www.houstonisdschoolchoiceapplication.com. Here you will receive the most up-to-date information on your applications such as status updates, placement details, and more. From your dashboard, you will also have the option to fill out additional application(s) for any of the children within your household. By clicking on this button, you will be guided through the application process a second time or more if needed. If you have any questions regarding the application process, please contact HISD at 713-556-6000.