Houston Private-School Admissions Timeline

One family calendar, every exception

Put these dates on the wall first.

Awty explicitly publishes March 5 decisions and March 24 enrollment. Kinkaid and the two Catholic boys’ schools also publish March 5 decisions. Treat March 24 as the dominant rhythm, not a universal promise.

What to do in which month

Work the season in six windows.

School-by-school dates

Each school splits its file across several dates.

Most schools separate the application from the supporting file, testing, and interview. Give each its own calendar row.

Kindergarten starts in summer

Houston’s earliest K doors close before many families begin touring.

St. John’s closes its K application August 28 and uses the timing of a prior Future Kindergarten Inquiry when deciding which new-family children join the testing pool. Kinkaid closes September 18. Awty’s preliminary K application closes October 30.

This is not a reason to panic. It is a reason to begin with eligibility, inquiry, and testing logistics rather than a prestige list.

A child can be eligible at one school and ineligible at another, so resolve age cutoffs in writing before the first deadline. Which K tests each school uses is in the admissions guide.

The November gates

Grade 6 and Grade 9 work starts before the December rush.

St. John’s November 13 priority deadline for Grades 6 and 9 matters because parent-meeting capacity can disappear before the December 4 final deadline. Awty’s preliminary deadline is November 20. Kinkaid applicants seeking its December 5 ISEE must complete an earlier access step.

Recommendations, transcripts, interviews, and testing are not interchangeable uploads. Make one row for each required item and record who releases it, who receives it, and when the school marks it complete.

Test dates are their own calendar

Pick the test date from the earliest score deadline.

Which test each school requires is covered in the admissions guide. Here is the timing.

ERB allows one ISEE attempt per testing season and requires approval for accommodations before registration. Choose the test date from the earliest score deadline, the child’s documented accommodations, and a recovery date—not from a generic desire to test late. Ask a school about a fee waiver before paying when cost is a barrier.

The current school controls quiet dependencies

Recommendations and midyear records need their own calendar.

A December application does not mean a teacher should be asked in December. Give the current school its form, release, destination, and due date before its holiday workflow closes. Which recommendations each school wants is in the admissions guide.

If a teacher changes schools, a trimester is delayed, or a registrar will not use the requested portal, tell Admissions before the due date and ask what substitute documentation it will accept.

Book interviews early. EHS requires a student interview and warns that appointments fill during the season.

A second file, a separate clock

Admission completion does not make the aid file complete.

Put aid beside admission from the beginning. Kinkaid’s 2027–28 file closes January 8 at midnight and the school says late or incomplete files will not be considered. EHS sets January 29. John Cooper sets February 12. Other schools have different platforms and some have not yet advanced their public deadline to Fall 2027.

A family relying on Texas Education Freedom Accounts must keep the state calendar separate. The state has not published a Fall 2027 application window or award amount. A school seat, a school grant, and a state account are three distinct gates; no one should sign a contract assuming all three will align.

What aid policies mean is covered under cost and aid basics in the admissions guide.

The March squeeze

HISD gives families one day of real public–private overlap.

Current HISD campus pages publish December 8–February 12 for Phase One, March 17 results, and March 23 acceptance. Most private contracts are due March 24.

Accepting an HISD offer can preserve it while the family makes the private decision the next day. The portal’s rank and acceptance rules still control what happens to lower and higher choices.

Kinder HSPVA adds a second Acceptd submission and audition process. Its Fall 2027 audition dates are not yet public, so do not recycle the prior year’s calendar.

A second spring calendar

Do not apply the April Catholic calendar to every Catholic school.

AAAIS publishes April 2–3 decisions and an April 13 reply. Yet Strake and St. Thomas expressly publish March 5 and March 24. Duchesne and St. Agnes pages contain missing or mixed-cycle dates.

Ask the individual school which calendar governs your child. If an HISD offer expires first, AAAIS advises families to contact the member school promptly.

When the original plan breaks

Recover the viable choice; do not manufacture a deadline exception.

March 5 through March 24

Prepare the comparison before the offers arrive.

By March 1, write the family’s decision rules: maximum net annual cost, unacceptable commute, required support, non-negotiable program, and the student’s own preference. On March 5, record each private decision, aid award, deposit, contract deadline, and admitted-family event. Do not withdraw the HISD application while its result is still pending.

When HISD posts March 17, confirm eligibility, campus, transportation, program, and offer status inside the portal. Accepting by March 23 may preserve the public seat while the family makes its private decision by March 24, but the portal’s rank and offer rules control. Read them before clicking; a generic belief that every choice stays alive can be costly.

Use admitted-family visits to resolve only decision-changing facts: the actual class or advisory, a likely schedule, service delivery, transportation, and the contract. They are not an invitation to restart the entire prestige search. A “yes” should describe a week the child can live, not only a result the family is proud to receive.

Keep going

Add fit and money to the calendar.

For how each school evaluates the file, read the Houston private-school admissions guide. Then use the Houston list and commute guide and the financial-aid guide together.