The Awty International School: Choose the Language Path Before You Fall for the Campus

First, decode the grade names

K is GS, Grade 6 is 6ème, and Grade 9 is 3ème

Awty presents three grade systems. Kindergarten is Grande Section in the French system and Year 1 in the British system.

Grade 6 is 6ème or Year 7. Grade 9 is 3ème or Year 10.

The Early Learning sequence is PK3 or Petite Section, PK4 or Moyenne Section, and K or Grande Section. Lower School then runs from Grade 1 or CP through Grade 5 or CM2.

Secondary runs from Grade 6 or 6ème through Grade 12 or Terminale. A family transferring internationally should use both the child’s age and completed curriculum, then ask Awty to confirm placement in writing.

Kindergarten / Grande Section

K is a real doorway, but language choice arrives immediately

A Fall 2027 K applicant must be five and not yet six on August 15 of the entry year. Awty accepts K applications but does not publish a current opening count.

Applying is therefore not evidence of expansion space.

The French admissions page identifies about 18 French-immersion K places. That figure is a subset of the overall K opening, not an additional intake.

K alternates English with French or Spanish by day. No previous exposure to the second language is expected in Early Learning, which includes K/GS.

The K preliminary file is due October 30, 2026. It includes the application, $200 fee, parent statement, and language form.

The teacher recommendation, school-administrator reference, midyear report, and WPPSI are due January 14.

K applicants attend a group observation on January 15, 2027. Local families use CATS for the WPPSI; nonlocal families may use a licensed provider.

The public K checklist does not list a parent interview.

Grade 6 / 6ème

Grade 6 opens the door, then adds another language layer

Awty accepts Grade 6 applications but does not publish a current opening count. Space and practical access can also differ by program, language readiness, and grade equivalency.

A family should ask which pathway has an actual place before treating Grade 6 as an expansion year.

The preliminary application, $200 fee, parent statement, and student statement are due November 20, 2026. The rest of the file is due January 14, 2027.

In the International route, the remaining file includes current English, mathematics, and second-language teacher recommendations, an administrator form, current midyear records, the prior two year-end reports, and the ISEE. French-program applicants instead complete a separate entrance test and interview; records differ depending on whether the current school is French-accredited.

Grade 6 applicants also have a student interview. The public requirements do not list a parent interview for this grade.

Both French and International students add a third language in Secondary. The school says that third-language classes usually meet three times a week for 45 minutes.

That is exciting for a language-motivated child and a genuine schedule demand for everyone else. Ask how beginners are placed, how many choices actually run, and what happens when a class does not meet enrollment thresholds.

Grade 9 / 3ème

Grade 9 brings a much bigger pathway decision—not published odds

Awty accepts Grade 9 applications, but it does not publish a current opening count. Do not recycle older figures into Fall 2027 odds or assume that availability is equal across pathways.

The Fall 2027 timing broadly matches Grade 6: the preliminary application closes November 20 and the complete file closes January 14. International-route students complete an interview and ISEE.

French-program applicants follow the separate entrance-test, interview, and records process.

Grade 9 is where the family should stop thinking of Awty as one Upper School. International-program students move toward the full IB Diploma Programme in Grades 11 and 12.

French-program students move toward the French Bac, with the BFI as an option.

Both routes also lead to an American high-school diploma. That common credential should not hide the differences in curriculum, language, assessment, and workload.

Tours, interviews, and tests

Apply first, then use the visit to test the pathway

Tours run from September through January. A family must submit an application before it can book through Ravenna.

Information sessions include administrators, teachers, and current parents. Use them to compare the French and International versions of the same entry grade, not just to hear the school-wide story.

K uses the WPPSI and a group observation. Grade 6 and Grade 9 use the ISEE and a student interview.

Several Lower School grades use the WISC and may use MAP or an Awty test.

Public pages do not explain test weighting, interview rubrics, group-observation activities, language-placement scoring, or accommodations in enough detail to plan confidently.

The ordinary school day

The curriculum is clear; the current weekly load is not

In Lower School, International-program core classes may be taught in English or Spanish. French-program students follow the French national curriculum.

Students also study a daily second language and have weekly art, music, and physical education.

In Middle School, French and International students share some English, arts, sports, and physical-education experiences. The International Grade 6 program includes English, history and geography, mathematics, life science, two languages, computer science, physical education, and an arts elective.

A 2023–24 handbook suggested about 20 minutes of homework per subject each night in Grade 6. It suggested about 30 minutes per subject from Grade 7 through Grade 12 and no more than two major tests, essays, or assignments on one day.

Those numbers are useful questions, not current promises. The school does not publicly post Fall 2027 workload ranges, assessment caps, late-work rules, or data on sleep and stress.

The full IB route adds six subject groups plus Theory of Knowledge, the Extended Essay, and Creativity, Activity, Service. Families should ask to see a real Grade 11 calendar before treating the diploma name as an abstract benefit.

Learning support and wellness

Current counseling is visible; its capacity and limits are not

The current counseling page describes classroom work, student observation, consultation, referrals, parent meetings, and connections to outside resources. Students, parents, teachers, and administrators may initiate contact.

A 2023–24 handbook said the school did not modify its set program. It described reasonable accommodations for some admitted students with documented learning differences and school-managed accommodation plans.

That handbook is dated. It should not be used as proof of current staffing, eligibility, dosage, confidentiality, response time, or accommodation practice.

Also ask who supports Upper School students, how many students each counselor and learning specialist serves, and when families must arrange outside care at their own expense. Those answers are not public.

Commute, buses, and after-school care

Test the 77055 trip at the hours your child will actually travel

The campus address is 7455 Awty School Lane, Houston, Texas 77055. A useful commute test starts at home during morning arrival and repeats after the child’s likely activity, rehearsal, or practice.

Awty contracts with AFC for buses in high-demand neighborhoods, subject to interest and availability. Kindergarten and older students may ride independently.

Younger children need a sibling in Grade 3/CE2 or above.

The 2026–27 bus price is $3,500 round trip or $1,750 one way. Routes, stops, ride times, minimum riders, activity buses, tracking, adult supervision, and Fall 2027 pricing are not public.

Awty Plus runs after school until 6 p.m. for PK3 through Grade 5/CM2. Current 2026–27 prices include a $45 daily drop-in and separate activity, semester-package, break-care, and late-pickup charges.

The public pages conflict on middle-school care. The FAQ frames Awty Plus for PK3 through Grade 5/CM2, while a current activity page lists Stay & Study through Grade 8/4ème.

Confirm Fall 2027 eligibility and supervision directly.

Houston weather belongs in the same plan. Check the school’s closure, shelter, backup-power, bus-cancellation, and family-reunification rules against TranStar, county flood data, and ReadyHarris updates.

Arts and athletics

Both are substantial, and both can lengthen the day

Awty’s arts program includes visual art, band, choir, dance, orchestra, and theatre. Performing groups may meet during the regular schedule, before or after school, at lunch, and occasionally on weekends.

Facilities do not answer access. Ask when teams begin cutting, how tryouts work, whether beginners can participate, what transport follows away events, and how practice fits with IB or French-program work.

The public pages do not provide participation rates, cut rates, team fees, average weekly hours, or a clear activity-bus plan. Those are the numbers that turn a program list into a family schedule.

Accreditation and authorization

French status and IB Diploma authorization are current; PYP remains candidacy

Awty identifies ISAS and the French Ministry of Education as accreditors. External ISAS and AEFE records support its current institutional and French-program status.

The IB authorizes Awty to offer the Diploma Programme. The current IB directory lists Awty as a private, coeducational day school authorized since 1987.

Awty says it uses the Primary Years Programme framework and is a PYP candidate school. Candidate status is not authorization, and the school’s own page says it does not guarantee authorization.

AEFE, MLF, CIS, NAIS, AAIE, and TIBS relationships do not all mean the same thing. Families should distinguish accreditation, government homologation, IB authorization, candidacy, partnership, and membership.

Complete cost

The tuition number is only the first line of the family budget

Fall 2027 tuition is not yet public. The current 2026–27 baseline is $31,240 for K/GS, $35,050 for Grade 6/6ème, and $38,070 for Grade 9/3ème.

Every newly enrolled student also faces a $1,500 new-student fee, unless the child was enrolled within the prior three school years. Current enrollment charges add a $250 registration fee and a $1,250 capital-building fee.

Current book estimates are $355 in K/GS, $700–$850 in Grades 6–8, and $750–$1,100 in Grades 9–12. A complete uniform averages another $200–$250.

Grade 6 currently adds a $500 Awty Connects charge. Later grades can add major travel, French exam, IB, and senior fees.

The published Grade 10–11 trip menu alone ranges from $250 to $6,000.

Some language offerings may be self-financed, and third-language books can be extra. Bus service and Awty Plus are also separate.

Current two-payment and monthly plans add a 5% finance charge and require tuition insurance costing 2.25% of tuition. A payment-plan change costs $100.

Those terms are a 2026–27 baseline, not a Fall 2027 quote.

Financial aid

Need-based aid exists, but Fall 2027 dates and coverage are unclear

Awty offers need-based financial aid through Blackbaud and does not advertise merit awards. Families apply each year, and admission and aid decisions are separate processes.

The public aid page still displays prior-cycle dates. Families should not assume that its October opening and February deadline control the Fall 2027 process.

The application generally requires information from custodial and noncustodial parents. The school describes a written exception process in some circumstances.

French citizens applying to the French program may also pursue the French Bourse through the French Consulate. That is a separate route from Awty’s own aid process.

The school does not publish its aid budget, recipient share, average award, need-met rate, income distribution, or coverage of books, transport, care, travel, and exam fees.

One child, one application

Families must state the preferred path before admission

Awty permits one application per child in each admissions cycle. The family indicates a preferred immersion language, second language, or diploma track.

It cannot submit separate applications to the French and International programs.

The admissions policy says the committee considers aptitude, achievement, and character. It draws those judgments from records, testing, recommendations, and interviews or group visits.

Language-entry reality

Beginner language classes do not answer French-program readiness

The general FAQ says Awty offers intensive language courses from beginner through native-speaker levels outside Early Learning. That statement describes language instruction.

It does not prove that a beginner can enter the French curriculum at any grade.

Applicants to the French path follow different requirements depending on whether their present school is French-accredited. Older applicants may take an entrance test and complete a student interview.

Applicants from an accredited French school provide a certificat de scolarité and French-program records. Applicants from non-accredited schools add broader school forms, testing, and an entrance assessment where the grade requires it.

External AEFE records list all 15 French levels from Petite Section through Terminale as homologated. That is strong evidence about the program’s official French status, not about an individual child’s placement or likelihood of admission.

Get the required French level, placement rubric, entrance-test format, and pathway-change rule in writing. Those are especially important for a Grade 6 or Grade 9 transfer.

The live admissions clock

The first deadline is only the first half of the file

Fall 2027 applications opened September 1, 2026. Primary applications from PK3 through Grade 5/CM2 are due October 30.

Secondary applications from Grade 6/6ème through Grade 12/Tle are due November 20.

The early deadline covers the application, $200 nonrefundable fee, parent statement, and the student statement for Secondary applicants. All remaining requirements are due January 14, 2027.

The common decision date is March 5, 2027. The parent reply and enrollment deadline is March 24.

Late applications are typically limited to relocating families and depend on openings. The wait pool is unranked and remains open until the first day of school.

Qualified applicants with an alumnus parent, employee parent, or enrolled sibling receive special consideration. The school does not publish how often that consideration changes outcomes.