If your child was accepted to an HISD magnet school this year, congratulations! And don’t forget – this Friday, April 10, is the deadline to claim their spot. To get details on how to secure your child’s spot, visit HISD’s magnet application page or login to your online application. ToRead More

If you’re the parent of a teenager, you’ve probably spent a fair bit of time thinking about college tuition. One thing which may be much on your mind is that it can’t possibly have been this expensive in your day – and indeed, the cost of a college education has increasedRead More

If you’ve been reading Thesis for a while, you’ve probably heard about our sister site, The Houston School Survey. You may have used it to look up details about a prospective school or read up on PreK-12 school choice advice. But did you know that the Houston School Survey alsoRead More

Finland has one of the top educational systems in the world. And now, it’s considering a major overhaul that administrators hope will make it even better. Teaching by subjects – a curriculum element so fundamental most of us take it for granted – is to be phased out and replacedRead More

Earlier this year, we told you about the Student Privacy Pledge which Google, Microsoft, and other major infotech companies signed in a gesture of goodwill toward keeping students’ data safe. The pledge was put forward as part of President Obama’s broader agenda on education technology, an agenda in which dataRead More

It’s a sad fact that socioeconomically disadvantaged students are less likely to attend college than their wealthier counterparts. Not only that, but when they do pursue higher education, they’re less likely to apply to and attend elite schools. A recent feature on NPR addressed the phenomenon of “undermatching,” the tendencyRead More

The newest school to be profiled by the Houston School Survey is Holy Trinity Episcopal School. Holy Trinity Episcopal School is a private, coeducational school located in northeast Houston just inside Beltway 8. It was founded in 1994 by community members who saw and sought to meet the need forRead More

Gardens can be a wonderful educational tool. They can be used to teach about nutrition, as well as the foundations of biology, in a hands-on and student-centered way. And for young students especially, they can also serve as resources for personal growth – by caring for a garden faithfully andRead More

In honor of National Reading Awareness Month, HISD and a coalition of Houston-based organizations (led by the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation) have embarked upon the #Discover15 campaign to encourage parents to read aloud with their children. The initiative is designed to help parents find time in their busy schedulesRead More

On Wednesday, we wrote about how play can be used for learning and the efforts of Ashoka and the LEGO Foundation to encourage innovation in that area. The Re-Imagine Learning Challenge brought forth some great new ideas; however, the general concept of learning through play is not new in and ofRead More

The past 15 years have seen American elementary schools cutting back on recess and increasingly focusing on assessments. On paper, less time for play and more time for academics looks great – but is it really? We must remember that for young children, play is important. Studies have shown that playRead More

Here at Thesis, we’ve written a lot about college admissions – from our advice on the early stages of planning to this weekend’s piece about visiting prospective colleges. It’s something parents and students think about a lot – as well they should, because sending a child to college is aRead More

The upcoming week is spring break for many Houston schools. And for many juniors and seniors, this means more than just a reprieve from homework. Spring break is a popular time for college visits, as juniors consider where to apply and seniors consider where to accept an offer of admission.Read More

One of the most prevalent concerns in the modern American education system is literacy. Studies show that while most students can understand the face value of written words by third grade, only about one third of middle schoolers can truly comprehend written texts. A variety of strategic plans, teaching strategies,Read More

Spring break is upon us. Several Houston private schools are on break this week, and many more will be on break next week; HISD spring break is next week, too. For students, this means a week of relaxation and no homework, but for parents, spring break can be a littleRead More

Thesis, along with its sister site The Houston School Survey, features both public and private schools. We know that both have their advantages and disadvantages, and when it comes to school choice, every family has different needs. Last week, The Atlantic published a truly unique op-ed on the pros andRead More