When my oldest was a wee babe, I had certain ideals of how I would educate him. I couldn’t imagine sending my little cherub into the care of a stranger for seven hours a day — not to mention the fear around school shootings. I felt at that point in our new life keeping him at home was the best way for me to protect my baby boy.
It didn’t take long to come to terms with the fact our big personalities would never survive homeschooling. My son has an unending need for social interaction. I know 2018 offers a LOT more options for socializing and homeschooling, but we would never stop going and doing if that was our schooling of choice. Plus, not to mention how much I would generally hate it. With homeschooling off the table, we had to take an honest look at our other options.
Options and Compromise
In Texas, we have a ton of options for education: full homeschool, partial homeschool (called University-Model®), private, charter, traditional public, and — a growing option within Fort Worth Independent School District (FWISD) — gold seal programs and schools of choice.
I am a big proponent of public school. I didn’t realize I was until I began my journey for racial reconciliation. One of the problems with private schools (aside from the price tag) is the cycle it perpetuates: those of privilege take their children (and money) out of public schools, public schools lose funding for things like new computers and extracurricular activities, school ratings go down, people of privilege continue to leave/stay out of public schools, and on and on it goes. The decline of public schools is highly racial.
I’m not saying private schools are bad, or that reasons for sending kids to private schools are inherently racist, but there’s no doubt the growth of private schools deeply impacts black and brown communities — and not always for good. Same goes for other schooling options. All that to say, I didn’t want to take my kids out of our neighborhood school based on its low rating. I also wasn’t willing to sacrifice their quality of education. It was quite a conundrum.
FWISD’s gold seal schools of choice seemed like the best compromise.
The Application Process
Applications open every year in November. That same month, parents are invited to attend the choices expo for a chance to visit representatives of all the choice schools and programs. Programs of choice range from engineering to audio and visual production, from fine arts to business and marketing, and more. Schools of choice include applied learning programs and Montessori-style education.
The application process is super simple. When applications open, an easy, one-page form will appear asking for information about your kiddo (such as name, date of birth, address, etc). It will ask if your child has a sibling at any of the schools you are applying for or if a parent works for FWISD. Towards the bottom of the form, you will have a chance to choose your top three schools or programs of choice, in order of most desired to least desired. You can fill out the entire form before Netflix starts to play the next episode of Gilmore Girls.
As stated on the FWISD website, anyone can apply, even if he or she is not zoned for the district; however, children who are in-zone will get first pick. If you are in a different district, it’s a good idea to have a backup plan (or several), but don’t let the risk deter you from trying. It’s worth a shot, trust me.
How and When Are Kids Selected?
Children are chosen via lottery system.; however, a few things get weighted in the process, such as: having a parent who is an employee of FWISD, having a sibling currently attending the school of choice, and being zoned for that school. Once a child is selected for a school or program of choice, he or she does not need to reapply until changing schools (i.e., moving from elementary to middle school or changing programs completely).
School and programs are assigned in the spring via email. We found peace in the waiting period by applying to several charter schools just in case. Luckily, we found out we were selected for our second choice before we heard from any of the charter schools.
I am certainly not anti-private, -charter, or -homeschool. I understand there are many legitimate reasons for parents to choose any of those options. But the more I outweighed the positives with the negatives, the more I felt unequivocally pulled to keep my children in the public school system. And I know I’m not alone. More parents need to know there are options that can benefit their kids, as well as those with less opportunity.
Other Important FWISD Links
What was important to you when choosing your child’s school?
Thank you so much for this article. This year is the first year we will have my stepdaughter for the school year! She is a military child (father just retired) and she joined Air Force JROTC last year as a Freshman. She really enjoyed it and wants to continue it here. Unfortunately, we are zoned for White Settlement/Brewer HS and they do not have a JROTC program. Would applying to our top 3 choices be a possibility for us? I see the new deadline and am considering this (fingers crossed). She attended school in Houston last year.
I’m confused on how private schools take away funding for public schools. I send my kids to a private school but I still pay school taxes to the ISD in which we live. Our demographics are still recorded in the area and we are affected by any bonds that get passes (ie tax increases for school funding). Can you please elaborate on the statement you made: The decline of public schools is highly racial seems?