How to Apply to Spring Branch ISD Choice Schools for 2025-2026

What is an SBISD Choice School?

Spring Branch Independent School District (SBISD) is a school district serving several portions of western Houston, providing education to approximately 35,000 across 46 schools. Sharing a lot of similarities with the concept of magnet schools in other districts, SBISD offers Choice Programs with special curriculums to attract certain types of students for specific campuses in their district.

Spring Branch ISD Choice Program Basics

1. Choice programs promote a particular theme like advanced academics or dual languages.
2. Any student zoned to SBISD is able to apply for a spot in a Choice Program.
3. Priority is offered to family members of SBISD employees or to siblings of already enrolled students.

Once some basic admission criteria are met, all students will have an equal chance of admission through a lottery system.

What options exist for SBISD Choice Schools?

There are two main programs available for Choice within Spring Branch ISD:

1. Two-Way Dual Language for “emergent bilingual” students at elementary school
2. International Baccalaureate for advanced academics at middle and high school

Dual Language for Native Spanish Speakers

SBISD’s choice programs at the elementary level are only for native Spanish speakers. The Dual Language program integrates emergent bilingual students with students proficient in English and classes are served in both English and Spanish. This approach enhances academic achievement across subjects while increasing sociocultural awareness and competence. Both the emergent bilingual students and the English proficient students can benefit from dual language instruction.

Dual Language is available at the following campuses:

• The Tiger Trail School (Pre-K)
• Cedar Book Elementary (Pre-K through 5th grade)
• Pine Shadows Elementary (Pre-K through 5th grade)
• Sherwood Elementary (Pre-K through 5th grade)
• Spring Forest Middle (6th to 8th)
• Spring Oaks Middle (6th to 8th)
• Westchester Academy for International Studies (6th to 12th)

International Baccalaureate (IB) for Advanced Studies

The International Baccalaureate (IB) program offers a more rigorous curriculum that meets international standards. Students are also placed on the advanced academic course for math subjects that sees 8th grade completing Algebra 1 and allows high school students to explore college level math before they graduate. Courses as a whole are taught at a deeper and more complex level whether they are taken ahead of schedule or not.

IB is available at the following campuses:

• Cornerstone Academy (Grades 6th to 8th)
• Westchester Academy for International Studies (6th to 12th)

Westchester is the one campus that offers both Dual Language and IB. Students in the Dual Language program at Westchester are simultaneously taking part in the IB programing that is intrinsic to the whole school. You can only apply to one of Dual Language or IB when applying to Westchester.

How does the lottery work?

Applications to any choice program always outnumber the available seats. In order to most fairly determine which child gets admitted, the district uses a computerized lottery. At the moment the lottery is run, your student will either receive a spot in the school on the “seated” list, or they will be placed on the waitlist with a number to note their position on that list.

Generally speaking, every qualified applicant (see more about qualification requirements below) has an equal chance of admission. This means that, regardless of how many programs you apply to, there is a chance that your child won’t be accepted to any of them. This is no reflection on your child; it’s just how the system works.

Twins/triplets who are applying to the same Choice School are allowed to be considered as either the same lottery number or different lottery numbers. If they are the same lottery number, then both twin/triplets will be locked to the same result but only have the lottery odds of a single number. If they are different lottery numbers, they will each have their own chance of admission, but you could end up with one student admitted and the other on the waitlist.

SBISD allows you to apply to up to 3 schools on your application. To maximize your chances, you should be considering up to two back up options to your top choice if there is a similar program offered at another campus. If you pick up to 3 schools, you’ll have to rank the three choices from most to least preferred. Just be aware that acceptance into a higher ranked school will remove you from a waitlist of your lower ranked school. You will always have a spot available at your zoned neighborhood school regardless of outcome (you can find yours here).

What are my chances of getting into an SBISD Choice School?

Do note, while you can typically apply to any grade, your chances are greatest during a “prime entry” year, the year when most students start a particular school and when the most seats are available. Via a Texas Freedom of Information request, we received and analyzed data on the lottery acceptance rate for Choice applicants at SBISD for the previous 2024-2025 application cycle: 

• Dual Language Pre-K – 78%
• Dual Language Elementary Schools – 49%
• Dual Language Middle Schools – 22%
• Cornerstone – 42% 
• Westchester – 37% 

However, if you apply to more than one campus your chance of getting into a desirable school could be even higher. Below is an overview of the Choice Schools, their application and admission numbers, the percent of students achieving Mastery on the STAAR, and the percent of students that qualify for free or reduced lunch (disadvantaged). Note that the Texas state average for “Masters Grade Level” on the STAAR is approximately 20%; therefore, any school scoring above 20% is technically outperforming.

Who should apply to SBISD Choice Schools?

As with all public school systems throughout the US, SBISD students are automatically enrolled at their neighborhood schools, schools to which they are entitled to attend based off their home address. Therefore, it’s only necessary to apply to a choice school if you don’t want to attend your zoned school.

Fewer than 3% of SBISD students participated in the Choice Lottery in the 2024-2025 application cycle, and nearly 70% of them were applying to Cornerstone or Westchester. The remaining 30% were applying to the Dual Language programs. Several SBISD Choice schools like Cedar Brook, Cornerstone Academy, and Westchester Academy—exceed the STAAR “Masters” benchmark at rates above the state average. As such you should apply to a SBISD Choice school if:

• Your elementary school child is a native Spanish speaker with poor English proficiency
• Your middle or high school child is academically gifted and their zoned school isn’t rigorous enough

Note that with the exception of the Spring Branch Academic Institute (SBAI) for “highly gifted” students, SBISD does not offer any alternative elementary schools for native English speaking families who do not want to attend their neighborhood, zoned school.

When do you apply?

Historically the application window opens in mid-November and closes in mid-January. For the 2025-2026 school year, the open application dates were November 11, 2024, through January 17, 2025. The lottery will be run and processed by the end of January with lottery results being sent out the first week of February. Any applications completed after the lottery is run are considered Late Applications, and the student will be placed at the bottom of the applied school’s waitlist. A placement at the bottom of the list essentially guarantees no entry into a desirable school.

Late applications are not universally accepted across the district. Only some campuses will accept late applications, and even within those, the campuses may only allow them for specific programs or specific grade levels. For example, last year, Westchester Academy only accepted late requests for 8th grade in their Dual Language program or for 7th, 8th, and 9th grade in their IB program.

How do you submit your SBISD Choice application?

Applications to Spring Branch ISD are only available online via the SchoolMint application or website (you can access it in your browser here). If you’ve applied previously, you can update your information to apply for the new school year, otherwise you will need to create a new account. If you are unable to complete the full application in one sitting, the app will save the progress for you to complete at a later time.

If your student is entirely new to the district, you may need to provide some of the following information in the process of registration:

• immunization records,
• transcript or report card from the previously attended school,
• student and parent identification, and
• proof of address.

Are there any academic requirements?

Applications to IB programs at Westchester Academy or Cornerstone Academy carry extra eligibility requirements. Due to the rigorous nature of the curriculum and the expectation of their active students to maintain grades at an average of C or higher, applicants must submit their first semester report cards (beginning of the school year through December) for the current school year. Students must display an average of at least 75 in each class for the current school year. These report cards can be dropped off in person at the school or can be emailed online to specific staff members (see here for their contact information). This must be completed within the application window, so even if you submit your application earlier, plan to get that report card turned in at the beginning of January after the December grades are locked in.

Middle school students who are transferring or applying outside of 6th grade will need to account for math at Westchester Academy and Cornerstone Academy exclusively following the Advanced Academic Course (AAC). If their previous school was not on the AAC pace for math, they will need to score an 80 or higher on the appropriate credit-by-exam math test to demonstrate readiness for the advanced math courses in those grades. This is typically a rare occurrence as admission spots are very limited in 7th or 8th grade.

What happens if I’m admitted? Waitlisted?

Once the lottery system processes the applicants, the online system will automatically notify you via text or email of your student’s application status. You can log back into the SchoolMint portal to view any campuses that your student has been accepted to or see your student’s position on a particular waitlist. If a student was accepted to one of their lower ranked choices, they will remain on the waitlist for any higher ranked choices. The reverse is not true, if a student is accepted to a higher choice, you will be automatically removed from lower ranked schools.

You are able to accept or decline via the online portal. Even if you accept a lower ranked choice while being waitlisted for a higher choice, your student will remain on the waitlist up through the third week of the new school year, so there is no drawback to accepting your 2nd or 3rd choice if you are given a seat.

More Spring Branch ISD Choice School Resources

Spring Branch ISD’s website hosts a brief overview of the Choice Program Process and a set of FAQs to assist you with Choice applications.

For other related questions, you can contact the Spring Branch ISD Choice and Transfers Department.

If you have school-specific questions, it may be best to contact the school’s choice coordinator directly.

More about Houston-area Schools from General Academic

• Spring Branch ISD’s Top Schools by STAAR Scores
• Houston ISD’s Top Schools by STAAR Scores
• Top Houston High Schools by SAT Scores