City: Houston, TX

Category: Education

Telephone: (713) 464-1511

Address: 955 Campbell Rd.

Description: The Spring Branch Independent School District—aka S.B.I.S.D.—enrolls more than 32,000 students on the city’s west side. The district’s 44-square-­mile area covers the Memorial area, as well as an area north of the Katy Freeway and west of 290. S.B.I.S.D. serves everyone from wealthy students to poorer students living in apartments, though it’s rare that both groups are represented in large numbers at the same school. More than half of Spring Branch students are Hispanic and close to a third are Caucasian. Spring Branch’s 45 campuses include four high schools, an alternative high school, a charter middle/high school, seven regular middle schools and a middle school–only charter, 26 elementary schools for grades K through five, and five schools for children in pre-­K. While high schools like Northbrook and Spring Woods have historically had some problems with underperforming students, many of the district’s schools are quite good. Memorial High School, for instance, is consistently rated one of the best high schools in the country in national rankings. Nearly half of the district’s schools have been named National Exemplary “Blue Ribbon” Schools by the Department of Education. And in 2009, S.B.I.S.D. produced 16 National Merit Scholarship Finalists and 18 Semifinalists.