This is not an official school page; confirm requirements on each school’s admissions page.
What this page covers
This section answers which schools are included and what the table records. The page covers independent and parochial schools across Greater Houston: the Inner Loop and the west side of the city, Bellaire, Sugar Land to the southwest and The Woodlands to the north. For each school the table lists the grades enrolled, the tests the school accepts, whether a test is required or optional, the ISEE level that corresponds to each entry grade, and whether the school offers boarding. The counts shown above the table are calculated from these records rather than written into this text, so they change as records are added or re-checked.
How to read the table
This section explains the columns. The grades column is the span the school enrolls, which is not the same as the grades open for applications; a K–12 school may admit most new students at kindergarten, grade 6 and grade 9, while a grades 9–12 school admits almost everyone at grade 9. The ISEE levels column lists the levels that follow from the school’s entry grades, using the grade-to-level mapping published by E3n: applicants to grades 2, 3 and 4 take Primary 2, 3 or 4; applicants to grades 5–6 take the Lower Level; applicants to grades 7–8 take the Middle Level; applicants to grades 9–12 take the Upper Level.
The policy column records what the school states. In this area almost every ISEE school is marked “Required”, meaning the school names the test as a required part of the application for its main ISEE entry grade. The table never records minimum scores, and ISEEPrep lists no score cutoffs for any school.
Why Houston is different
This section describes what sets this area apart from the others in the directory. In the Bay Area many independent schools have stopped using admission tests; in Seattle most schools accept any standardized score; in Massachusetts the SSAT shares the field with the ISEE. In Greater Houston the picture is simpler: the ISEE is the test, it is required, and at most schools it is the only test accepted. A family preparing for Houston schools can therefore plan around one test and one level without weighing alternatives, and the comparison questions that take up time elsewhere, such as whether to take the SSAT instead, largely fall away here. The ISEE vs. SSAT page remains useful for the few schools that accept either test.
Faith-affiliated schools
This section notes a feature of the Houston landscape. A large share of the area’s private schools are Episcopal, Catholic, Christian or Jewish, and they appear in the table on the same terms as the non-sectarian schools; most of them name the ISEE. The level follows the entry grade in the same way at every school. Some faith-affiliated schools add requirements beyond the test, such as a pastor’s reference or a statement of faith, and the school’s own admissions page is the place to read those.
Matching the entry grade to the level
This section explains the one decision that comes before everything else. The ISEE level is fixed by the grade the student is applying to enter, not by the grade the student currently attends. A student in grade 5 applying to grade 6 takes the Lower Level, and a student in grade 8 applying to grade 9 takes the Upper Level. Choosing the wrong level is not a small error: the score report names the level taken, and admission offices read it against the entry grade. The levels guide sets out all six entry points; the Lower Level and Upper Level pages cover the two entry points most Houston applicants meet. The entry-grade table below the school list shows how many ISEE-accepting schools have an entry point at each level.
Timing an application in this area
This section covers the order in which the pieces fall. A student may take the ISEE once per testing season and up to three times in a school year, so the practical plan is to test in the fall season and keep the winter season in reserve. The deadline column records each school’s date as the school publishes it, and the test dates page explains the seasons and how far in advance to register. Score reports are sent to the schools the family selects, so the list of target schools should be settled before the first test.
How to confirm a school
This section gives a four-step check that works for any school on the list. First, open the school’s admissions page from the link in the table. Second, confirm the grade the student is applying to enter and whether that grade is open for applications this year. Third, read which tests the school accepts for that grade and whether the test is required. Fourth, note the deadline and the score-sending method. The schools guide describes these steps in more detail.
Preparation support for Houston families
Families applying to Houston schools work with ISEEPrep online: a diagnostic to confirm the level and find the weakest section, a plan that counts back from the earliest deadline on the family’s list, and one-to-one tutoring or the online learning system from there. The consultation is free and involves no admission promises.
Schools in this area that accept the ISEE
22 schools in this area are in the directory. 20 accept the ISEE (18 list the ISEE only and 2 accept either the ISEE or the SSAT); 1 use only the school’s own assessment; 1 have admissions pages that do not state a test, so families should confirm with the admissions office. Confirm with each school’s admissions page for the current year; this is not an official school page and no cut-off scores are listed.
| School | City | Grades | Tests accepted | Policy | ISEE levels | Boarding |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Episcopal High School | Bellaire | 9-12 | ISEE | Required | Upper Level | No |
| The Post Oak School | Bellaire | PK-12 | See admissions page | — | Middle Level, Upper Level | No |
| Chinquapin Preparatory School | Highlands | 6-12 | School’s own assessment | Not required | Lower Level, Middle Level, Upper Level | Yes |
| Annunciation Orthodox School | Houston | PK-8 | ISEE | Required | Primary 2, Primary 3, Primary 4, Lower Level, Middle Level | No |
| Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart | Houston | PK-12 | ISEE | Required | Primary 2, Primary 3, Primary 4, Lower Level, Middle Level, Upper Level | No |
| Houston Christian High School | Houston | 9-12 | ISEE or SSAT | Required | Upper Level | No |
| Incarnate Word Academy | Houston | 9-12 | ISEE | Required | Upper Level | No |
| River Oaks Baptist School | Houston | PK-8 | ISEE | Required | Lower Level, Middle Level | No |
| Saint Thomas' Episcopal School | Houston | PK-12 | ISEE | Required | Lower Level, Middle Level, Upper Level | No |
| Second Baptist School | Houston | PK-12 | ISEE | Required | Lower Level, Middle Level, Upper Level | No |
| St. Agnes Academy | Houston | 9-12 | ISEE | Required | Upper Level | No |
| St. Francis Episcopal School | Houston | PK-12 | ISEE | Required | Lower Level, Middle Level, Upper Level | No |
| St. John's School | Houston | K-12 | ISEE | Required | Primary 2, Primary 3, Primary 4, Lower Level, Middle Level, Upper Level | No |
| Strake Jesuit College Preparatory | Houston | 9-12 | ISEE | Required | Upper Level | No |
| The Awty International School | Houston | PK-12 | ISEE | Required | Primary 2, Primary 3, Primary 4, Lower Level, Middle Level, Upper Level | No |
| The Branch School | Houston | PK3-8 | ISEE | Required | Primary 2, Primary 3, Primary 4, Lower Level, Middle Level | No |
| The Emery/Weiner School | Houston | 6-12 | ISEE | Required | Lower Level, Middle Level, Upper Level | No |
| The Kinkaid School | Houston | PK-12 | ISEE | Required | Lower Level, Middle Level, Upper Level | No |
| The Village School | Houston | PK-12 | ISEE or SSAT | Required | Lower Level, Middle Level, Upper Level | Yes |
| Fort Bend Christian Academy | Sugar Land | PK-12 | ISEE | Required | Primary 2, Primary 3, Primary 4, Lower Level, Middle Level, Upper Level | No |
| The John Cooper School | The Woodlands | PK-12 | ISEE | Required | Lower Level, Middle Level, Upper Level | No |
| The Woodlands Christian Academy | The Woodlands | PK-12 | ISEE | Required | Middle Level, Upper Level | No |
Source: each school’s own admissions page, with a check date recorded per school; the levels column is derived from each school’s entry grades and the level-to-grade mapping used by E3n. 1 school whose admissions page does not state a test requirement are marked “See admissions page”.
Entry grades across the area
The table counts how many ISEE-accepting schools in this area have an entry point at the grades each level covers. A school can appear under more than one level.
| Level | Applying to | Schools with an entry point |
|---|---|---|
| Primary 2 | grade 2 | 6 |
| Primary 3 | grade 3 | 6 |
| Primary 4 | grade 4 | 6 |
| Lower Level | grades 5–6 | 14 |
| Middle Level | grades 7–8 | 15 |
| Upper Level | grades 9–12 | 17 |
1 of the ISEE-accepting schools offer boarding.
Frequently asked questions
Do Houston private schools require the ISEE?
Nearly all of the schools in this directory for Greater Houston do, and most list the ISEE alone rather than accepting the SSAT in its place. The policy column records what each school states; one school uses only its own assessment, and a school whose admissions page does not name a test is marked for the family to confirm directly.
Which ISEE level does a student take for a Houston school that admits at grade 6 and grade 9?
The level follows the grade the student is applying to enter. An applicant to grade 6 takes the Lower Level and an applicant to grade 9 takes the Upper Level. Those two grades are the main entry points in this area, and several K–12 schools also apply the ISEE from grade 2, which means the Primary levels for younger applicants.
Do the faith-affiliated schools in Houston use the ISEE too?
Yes. Episcopal, Catholic, Christian and Jewish schools in the area appear in the table on the same terms as the non-sectarian schools, and most of them name the ISEE. A family should still read each school's admissions page, because some faith-affiliated schools add their own requirements beyond the test.
Is a student who prepared for the SSAT at a disadvantage in Houston?
At most schools here an SSAT score will not be accepted in place of the ISEE, because the school names the ISEE alone. The tests-accepted column shows the few schools that take either test. A family coming from an area where the SSAT is common should plan for the ISEE if Houston schools are on the list.
When do Houston schools need ISEE scores?
Each school sets its own deadline, and the deadline column records the date as the school publishes it. Because a student may test once per season and at most three times in a school year, families usually test in the fall season and keep the winter season in reserve.
How current is the information?
Each record carries the date it was checked against the school's admissions page, and this page is scheduled for review every three months. Admission policies change by year, so the school's page for the entry year governs, including whether a test is required and when scores must arrive.
Sources2 sources · checked 2026-10-01
Last reviewed 2026-10-01 · Next review 2027-01-01 · Reviewed by ISEEPrep teaching team