The entire Houston area has over 20 independent school districts (ISD) with hundreds of schools, including preschools, elementary schools, middle and high schools. There are roughly 600 public schools. There is also a high number of private schools because many Houstonians feel that public schools do not support their faith strong enough or do not provide the education they deem necessary to give their children a successful start in life and access to good colleges and universities after graduation.
Private schools are often preferred for college-bound children because they have a specific curriculum that assists with advanced placement.
The biggest school districts are the Houston Independent School District, the Aldine Independent School District, Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District and Spring Branch Independent School District.
Unfortunately, even though Houston is one of the largest cities in the nation with a very high number of schools, it doesn’t have one school in the top 100 of many national rankings. Many Houstonians feel that this is caused by the high number of low income areas, bi-lingual (Spanish and English) classes due to a high number of Hispanic students and an overall poor system with underpaid teachers. For that reason, expats should choose a residence within a highly ranked school district or consider a private school.
