bularry said:

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Cibalo said:

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I find it has more to do with timing when you leave. I live over by Memorial City Mall and it takes about 23 minutes to get to St Anne (Shepard and Westheimer) but I try and leave the house by 715 to give myself some delay time buffer. Getting out of there after school isn't hard either. But if you are picking up after work a 5pm it is a cluster.

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those of us that live in the area love the 'turning into St Anne and blocking Westheimer' parents!

I kid, but not the easiest place to get in and out of it appears. Love hearing their church bells, though.

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And we love all of you going down Shepherd that suddenly decide you want to turn down a side street and block the entire flow of traffic.

But your right the mornings are crazy down that area between all the schools, Dunkin, Target, plus those leaving from morning mass at 730. Also doesn't help that it seems like the city always has some work going on at the Shepherd/ Westheimer corner blocking a lane.

What i have discovered and do NOT reccomend is joining the Houston Private School Forum on facebook and doom scrolling.

It definately gives the impression that if you didnt get your child a spot at the right Pre K3 (at birth of course) then all hope is lost for kinder.

We may also need to examine your dietary habits while the child was in the womb. Certain studies have found....

So glad we got that all over with last year...for the time being anyway... Yeah the applications can be pretty ridiculous.

One last update to my previous responses on this thread: Cypress Christian School has now moved into their new campus in Bridgeland. You can find photos and other info here: https://www.cypresschristian.org/

An interesting twist with public vs private.

Apparently HISD pushed pushed its lottery notification date out to April 8,2026

Private schools will announce their acceptance March 6th, 2026. From what people are freaking out about online is that private school contracts will be due before HISD announces lottery results. So parents dont really have the option to see if they get their lottery choice vs commiting to a private school.

No clue why HISD made this decision/change. Curious to see the impacts on private school application and decisions.

Also HISD terminated its partnership with the Dolly Parton imagination libray, great program where kids got a book each month until they were 5. Smh.

Dear diary.....

Actually putting this out there as lessons learned. After watching friends and classmates go through the application process this past season. Kinder is no longer an entry point for private school.

Unfortunately our plan was to enter at kinder bc my kiddo is doing so well where she is now, socially and academically. Now out of the 4 schools we plan to apply to this fall, i am praying we get one acceptance. And debating whether to apply up to 6 schools.

Seeing multiple kinder/ pk4 rejections and several parents actually taking an acceptance to a younger year just to get their kid into the school. Ie apply to kinder and accept a pk4 spot. Apply to pk4 but accept a pk3 spot.

Im curious how much the hisd lottery date shift affected this. HISD projected to lose another 4K students next year. TEA takeover ends June 2027 but Miles is in power until 2030

TLDR: if you want your kid in the private school system in Houston, you need to apply for pk3

We moved from HISD to private a year earlier than planned (before 5th instead of 6th) and are really glad we did.

That's crazy but I know lots of folks leaving HISD. We did pk3/4 at FBA and then Harvard elementary, but would've loved to stay at FBA.

Several of the kids friends have left to go private this year in grades 3-5. I'm sure more for 6th soon.

Yep. Our daughter starts in pk3 next year at catholic school. They told us at orientation that the kinder level is actually less kids and classes since some people leave at that point to go public, so 99% of the kids in kinder started at pk3. Basically impossible to get in at kinder.

Yea our plan B is now apply both kids this fall to the schools, younger to pk3. See who is accepted where, and since the younger one has a higher chance of getting a spot, we can then reapply the older one with sibling preference. If needed bridge a one year gap somewhere with the older. St Rose told us as well on the tour, they shrink enrollment for kinder then can expand it in first.

This all feel ridiculous, and i grew up in the catholic school system.

Tuition at the costliest private schools in Houston ranges from $30,000 to $63,000 a year. Nearly 35 private schools charge tuition over $30,000, compared to three in 2019. https://t.co/4u0BXohNsQ

— Houston Chronicle (@HoustonChron) April 28, 2026

BMX Bandit said:

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Tuition at the costliest private schools in Houston ranges from $30,000 to $63,000 a year. Nearly 35 private schools charge tuition over $30,000, compared to three in 2019. https://t.co/4u0BXohNsQ

— Houston Chronicle (@HoustonChron) April 28, 2026

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Can anyone post the list to get by the paywall?

That's alot of money

I graduated Second Baptist in 01. Will have to ask my mom how much it was back then.

They don't list them. It shouldn't be too hard to guess, but I'm sure there are a few surprises.

I know St. Pius and Incarnate Word are still below 30k.

Off the top of my head:

St. John's
Kincaid
Strake
St. Agnes
St. Thomas
Episcopal
Second Baptist
Awty
Duchesne
St. Thomas Episcopal
John Cooper
St. Mark's
Emory Weiner
Joy School

St Thomas is still (barely) below $30k.

The article does list them. Kinkaid and St. John's are 9 and 10. I can't copy and paste the list.

Not after the food bill, athletic fees, books, etc.

Although they're including books now, right? How generous

These did not make the list:

Strake
St. Agnes
St. Thomas



good catholics

its:

monarch 63k
joy
gateway
fusion
parish school
westview
british international
harris school
kinkaid
st john
woodlands christian
episcopal
awty
xavier academy
emery weiner
annunication othodox
post oak
st francis
john cooper
river oaks baptist
village school
Tenney school
Lycee
journey school
Fay
Houston Christian High
Regis
Presbyterian
Duchense
Tuttle
St Thomas Episcopal
Briarwood
St marks
Second Baptist

Thanks for posting the list. For some reason I can't see it on my phone.

Just looked up St. Thomas. $29,500 for next year.

Can't get into St. Agnes (stupid Blackbaud), but pretty sure it will end up over $30k after tuition, computer fee, registration fee, etc. Tuition by itself might be just under.

Our schools are at the lower end of the list! Yay! Just to probably go to Tech or Ole Miss or something...

Panama Red said:

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St Thomas is still (barely) below $30k.

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It's crazy to me how quickly cost has gone up. I have 2 sons that graduated from STH. Class of '21 and Class of '24. My eldest's freshman year (2017-2018) tuition was $16,750. When my middle one graduated in 2024 it was $23,580. Both of those figures are before books, sports fees, donations, etc. Is it really almost $30k just 2 years later?!

The more I think about it, the more I question $1M+ STH students raise during Round Up, which has significantly increased every year over the last 10 years. The school says it is used for tuition assistance & scholarships. Enrollment hasn't increased much, if any, so what is that money going towards? It seems that the more they raise, the higher tuition becomes. Enrollment numbers haven't changed much nor has the quality of the offerings (more teachers, programs, etc). Therefore, I assume those that can afford the increased tuition continue to pay whatever it is and those getting assistance just get a higher assistance allotment. It's like the students/families are fundraising against themselves.

Don't get me wrong - We love STH and my boys received a very high-quality education, both academically and spiritually, and they were extremely well prepared for college. However, the cost of private education has gotten way out of hand. Both my boys went to in-state public universities, and its cost, including tuition, books, apartment, food and an entertainment allotment, ended up being cheaper than private high school.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DXt2rzXmYfq/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D&img_index=2

And Rock 101 KLOL playing on the ****ty stereo.

Miss those days

Frassati on the north side in spring is more economical, but I bet they get closer to $30K in the next few years.

It seems odd they would include Monarch. I had never heard of it, but it appears to be exclusively for those with disabilities such as autism.

Not really the same situation as the others on the list.

I'm assuming that parents get some sort of assistance to pay $50k+ a year for those schools? That's crazy and seems to go against the purpose of helping out kids with special needs.

those schools are expensive as hell. not really sure why it "goes against the purpose" though.