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Education in Houston facts for kids

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This article is intended to give an overview of the education in Houston.

Libraries

Public libraries

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Jesse H. Jones Building of the Houston Public Library

Residents of Houston are served by the Houston Public Library and the Harris County Public Library. The Houston Public Library has 36 branches throughout the city, plus the Central Library, located Downtown. The Harris County Public Library has 26 branches (3 of them in Houston), primarily serving areas outside the city limits of Houston.

University of Houston, Texas Southern University, Rice University, and Houston Baptist University also have university libraries.

Private libraries

There is one Japanese-language library in Houston, the Sansui-Kai Center Library (三水会センター・図書館).

The Italian Cultural and Community Center has a library in its Milford House offices.

Primary and secondary education

A 2007 Money survey stated that 91.1% of the students attending schools within the city limits go to public schools and 8.9 percent go to private schools.

Public schools

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Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center is the headquarters of the Houston Independent School District.
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Lamar High School, in central Houston, is of Houston ISD
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Clear Lake High School, in southeast Houston, is of the Clear Creek ISD

All public school systems in Texas are administered by the Texas Education Agency (TEA). As of 2018 24 school districts serve different sections of the city of Houston. The largest school district serving the city limits is the Houston Independent School District (HISD), which serves a large majority of the area within the city limits.

A portion of west Houston falls under the Spring Branch and Alief independent school districts. Aldine takes parts of northern Houston. Parts of Pasadena, Clear Creek, Conroe, Crosby, Cypress-Fairbanks, Fort Bend, Galena Park, Huffman, Humble, Katy, Klein, New Caney, Sheldon, and Spring independent school districts also take students from the city limits of Houston or otherwise cover parts of the Houston city limits.

The North Forest Independent School District served portions of Houston until its July 1, 2013 closure, when it was absorbed by Houston ISD.

There are also many charter schools that are run separately from school districts, but are administered by the Texas Education Agency. In addition, public school districts—such as Houston ISD and Spring Branch ISD—also have their own charter schools.

State-chartered charter schools

Since 1995 the state of Texas allowed the formation of charter schools. Some charter schools are overseen by traditional school districts while others only have oversight by the State of Texas.

In 2003 charter schools in the Houston area had a combined total of 15,428 students. In 2006, over 25% of charter schools in Texas were located in Greater Houston. In 2006, Todd Ziebarth, a researcher of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, said that charter schools may have as many as 15% of the market share of students in Greater Houston. During that year Houston Independent School District (HISD) officials estimated that 12,000 to 13,000 pupils living within the HISD boundaries attend state charter schools. In 2006 around 10,000 students attended HISD-affiliated charter schools.

In 2015 there were over 125 charter school campuses in the area. As of 2017 KIPP Houston had 12,100 students, Harmony Public Schools's Houston-area campuses had 11,000 students, Yes Prep had 9,500 students, Houston Gateway Academy had about 1,900 students, Promise Community School had about 1,700 students, The Varnett School had about 1,700 students, and Excel Academy had 500 students.

History of public education

In the Jim Crow era African-Americans had inferior K-12 educational conditions, with fewer resources in general and less financial support from the state government and from local governments, compared to other races. Teachers of black African origin had, on average, around 70% of the pay of a white teacher, and black students had fewer teachers per capita compared to white and other race peers.

Private schools

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St. Thomas High School

Houston has numerous private schools of all types, including non-sectarian, Jewish, Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Protestant, and Muslim. The Texas Education Agency has no authority over private school operations; private schools may or may not be accredited, and achievement tests are not required for private school graduating seniors. Many private schools will obtain accreditation and perform achievement tests as a means of demonstrating that the school is genuinely interested in educational performance. The Houston area is home to more than 300 private schools and several are well-known. Many of the schools are accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by Texas Private School Accreditation Commission (TEPSAC). In addition, Houston area Catholic schools are operated by the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.

  • Annunciation Orthodox School
  • Archway Academy
  • Awty International School (serves as the French international school)
  • British School of Houston
  • The Emery/Weiner School
  • The Kinkaid School
  • The Monarch School
  • St. Pius X High School
  • The Regis School (all-boys)
  • Saint Agnes Academy (all-girls)
  • Strake Jesuit College Preparatory (all-boys)
  • St. Catherine's Montessori School
  • St. John's School
  • Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart (all-girls)
  • St. Thomas High School (all-boys)

Around 1993 increasing numbers of parents in Greater Houston sent their children to private schools. Dick Ekdahl, the executive director of the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest (ISAS), said that a more robust economy, a negative perception of public schools, and increased interest in religious education caused enrollment at private schools to increase. Stephanie Asin of the Houston Chronicle said "[t]here is no central authority over private schools so collecting enrollment statistics is difficult." She added "local headmasters indicate that enrollment is increasing in their schools and believe that holds true throughout the state's estimated 750 private schools." In 1988, the 35 schools of ISAS had a combined enrollment of 16,895. In 1992 the same 35 schools had a combined enrollment of 18,504.

Homeschooling

The greater Houston area is home to a large homeschooling community with an estimated 40 to 50 thousand homeschooled students, based on 300,000 homeschool students in Texas and 2.04 million in the U.S. Over 100 organizations, support groups, and co-ops provide classes and resources for homeschool families.

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