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Harvard And Travis Differences


HoustonHolly

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We are in the final stages of putting an offer on either a house zoned to Harvard but right near studewood (so across the street is the Travis zone). My daughter already got into the vanguard at Travis and we were thrilled because we loved that school. However now that we will be in Harvard neighborhood I'm torn about what to do. And I actually prefer my neighborhood better and the access to walkable things. But I've been smitten with Travis since I began touring years ago. My heart wants to send her to Travis but I worry about my other two kids getting in. but their backup is Harvard which is hardly a backup, but more of an inconvenience. However, I don't know that much about Harvard and would love to hear the major differences between the two. My child is GT and I want to make sure she is getting more specialized instruction at that level hence I think Travis. But husband thinks neighborhood school. Thoughts? 

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Harvard is an IB school, so there's no separate GT classes, as the IB rules don't allow that. Otherwise, either school is fine. Travis doesn't have the traffic issues at drop off that Harvard does, and has a larger school yard.

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Unless things have changed since we went through the process several years ago, siblings of current students have priority for admission to magnet schools (i.e. zoned, then siblings, then lottery). Either way, both schools are fine. 

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Go on facebook and join Supports of HISD Magnets and Budget Accountability.  There are tons of parents, educators, administrators and even some trustees (current and former) in that group.  You can post asking people to message you for advice from recent experience.  There have been big changes to the magnet system and even bigger changes are probably on the way.  HISD wants to eliminate vanguard magnets.  This article has a decent summary of the latest proposals:  https://theleadernews.com/new-proposal-would-overhaul-hisds-magnet-program/   Again, that facebook group knows as much about the proposals as anyone in Houston as the group was formed in response to some pretty terrible proposal that would have axed a lot of great programs.

 

HISD also wants to give low socioeconomic status families preference in the magnet lottery.  I thought that was getting phased in this year, but it did not seem to affect the lottery that much.  I guess there just aren't that many low SES families who are interested in the Heights area magnet schools.  However, it could significantly affect sibling preferences depending on how it is implemented.  Either way, demand for magnet spots is still off the charts.  

 

Harvard got a new principal a few years ago and some parents have not been happy with the transition.  It is an IB school, but IB will no longer have magnet status.  So, it is supposed to become a STEM magnet.  I assume that they will continue with the IB curriculum as it took a lot of effort to establish.  But that is something to watch out for.

 

Travis is great.  They no longer have separate classes for the vanguard kids.  Vanguard kids are in classes with non-vanguard kids.  That is an HISD-wide change.   I am not sure exactly what they do for vanguard kids at Travis, but generally at HISD teachers will give the vanguard kids some harder assignments or special projects.  

 

All HISD schools are supposed to have vanguard programs.  But the extent to which you kid gets advanced work to do can vary tremendously from school to school and teacher to teacher.  My kid is at on of the Montessori magnets.  One teacher let him get pretty far ahead in math, to the point where he was on pace to be a grade level ahead.  The next year, another teacher wouldn't let him do extra math work because she thought he was neglecting other subjects.  Of course, my kid hated that and started being a jerk in class.  We had to move him to another class.  That teacher let him get ahead in math and everything was fine.  So, you really have to keep on top of things at HISD and cannot assume that because your kid is in the vanguard program everything will be fine.

 

For what it is worth, I really do not think that academics in elementary school matter so much that there would be any difference between sending a kid to Travis versus Harvard really matters.  I think it is more important for kids to be happy and see school as a positive place to be.  We had our kid spending a few months coming home saying that he hated school because of his teacher and some bullying.  And this was at a school that gets a zillion magnet applications every year.  Fortunately, we got past it.  But if your kids are going to be happier going to Harvard and seeing the same kids at school that they play with in the neighborhood, it may be worth it to skip Travis even if the program is a bit better over there.

 

 

 

 

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