Primary Schools >>- Houston Independent School District HISD is the 7th-largest in the country, with enrollment of 202,773 students.
- Based on student performance indicators, the state of Texas has rated 57% of HISD schools as either Exemplary or Recognized.
- The Houston MSA contains 66 school districts and 50 charter schools with enrollment of 1,117,764 students, as well as a range of private and parochial schools.
Secondary Schools >>- More than a dozen community colleges educate 170,000+ Houston area students, along with 17 colleges and universities that educate more than 165,000 students.
- In addition, Houston boasts about 100 business and secretarial schools.
To view information on the public school districts and on college and university enrollment, location, and web address, log into the Houston GIS.
PRIMARY SCHOOLS
Public Schools - The Houston MSA contains 66 school districts and 50 state-approved charter schools that reported 2007-2008 enrollment of 1,173,146 students. Of those students, 811,198 were in the 20 districts and 45 charter schools that are largely or entirely in Harris County.
Houston Independent School District has a variety of programs to meet the area's educational needs: - Magnet programs and Vanguard/SIGHTS (for gifted students) offer enrichment instruction in arts, math, science and physical development.
- Multilingual programs offer bilingual education and English as a second language for students not yet proficient in English.
- Early childhood programs help prepare children younger than age five for the school experience.
- Special education programs serve students with various physical, emotional and learning disabilities, beginning at age three.
- Career and vocational programs feature job-oriented instruction and experience in such fields as office education, culinary arts, printing and auto mechanics.
- Alternative programs use innovative instruction in non-traditional learning environments to help students who are in jeopardy of dropping out of school.
Private Schools - More than 50,000 students attend 230 accredited private and parochial schools in the Houston area.
- The area's private schools are concentrated in Harris County, which has 185 private schools.
State of Texas - The core curriculum taught in Texas public schools consists of classes in English language arts, reading, mathematics, science and social studies. Additional courses are taught in foreign languages, fine arts, health, physical education and technology applications.
- Career-oriented courses are also available in agricultural science, business, health sciences, home economics, industrial technology education and marketing.
- Statewide Initiatives include Master Teacher Programs, Technology Applications, Texas Math Initiative, Texas Reading Initiative, Texas Reading First Initiative, and Texas-Spain Initiative.
For more information about education in the Houston region, please visit our Resource Library.
HIGHER EDUCATION
Community Colleges - Over 170,000 students were enrolled in a local community college, and over 16,700 degrees and certificates were awarded in the 2008-2009 academic year.
