Best private high schools in Texas
Private schools, in some form, existed long before the concept of free public education in America. Students were often educated through church-sponsored programs, private tutoring, and boarding schools. Large-scale public schools were proposed by Horace Mann in the 1830s. The concept gained momentum, and by 1870 nearly 80 percent of children ages 5 to 14 were enrolled in public schools. Today, according to the most recent enrollment data, approximately 4.7 million students, or 10 percent of students enrolled in kindergarten through twelfth grade, are enrolled in private schools.
Private schools are widely marketed as a better option than public schools, and private school advocates will often point to standardized test scores to back up this claim. While private school students have consistently outperformed public school students on standardized tests, recent studies have shown that private schools themselves are not the primary driver of success, nor are standardized tests the most accurate measure of student well-being.
Researchers have found that student success is more directly related to family attributes, such as having parents who graduated from college and higher incomes, more common among private school students than public school students, rather than simply whether the students attended a public or private school.
However, private schools offer unique benefits and opportunities such as smaller class sizes, more personalized instruction, and greater curriculum flexibility. To better understand how private school offerings vary across the country, Stacker compiled a list of the best private high schools in Texas using Niche’s 2023 rankings. The niche uses eight weighted factors for its rankings. Most of the score is based on academics and grades, but other factors include culture and diversity, health and safety, clubs and activities, parent, teacher, and student resources and surveys.
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#30. Oakridge School
– Enrollment: 768 (9:1 student to teacher ratio) – Grades Achieved: PK, K-12 – City: Arlington – Grade Niche: A+
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#29. St. Thomas Episcopal School
– Enrollment: 629 (6:1 student to teacher ratio) – Grades Achieved: PK, K-12 – City: Houston – Grade Niche: A+
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#28. Episcopal TMI
– Enrollment: 540 (11:1 student to teacher ratio) – Grades Served: 6-12 – City: San Antonio – Grade Niche: A+
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#27. Fort Worth Country Day School
– Enrollment: 1,089 (7:1 student to teacher ratio) – Grades Achieved: PK, K-12 – City: Fort Worth – Grade Niche: A+
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#26. Episcopal high school
– Enrollment: 796 (8:1 student to teacher ratio) – Grades Achieved: 9-12 – City: Bellaire – Niche Grade: A+
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#25. Trinity Valley School
– Enrollment: 1,003 (9:1 student to teacher ratio) – Grades Achieved: PK, K-12 – City: Fort Worth – Grade Niche: A+
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#24. British International School of Houston
– Enrollment: 900 (4:1 student to teacher ratio) – Grades Achieved: PK, K-12 – City: Katy – Grade Niche: A+
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#23. Knowledge-First Empowerment Academy
– Enrollment: 121 (5:1 student to teacher ratio) – Grades Achieved: 9-12 – City: Houston – Grade Niche: A+
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#22. Alcuin School
– Enrollment: 587 (9:1 student to teacher ratio) – Grades Achieved: PK, K-12 – City: Dallas – Grade Niche: A+
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#21. The Episcopal School of Dallas
– Enrollment: 1,148 (8:1 student to teacher ratio) – Grades Achieved: PK, K-12 – City: Dallas – Grade Niche: A+
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#20. Austin Peace Academy
– Enrollment: 330 (10:1 student to teacher ratio) – Grades Achieved: PK, K-12 – City: Austin – Grade Niche: A+
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#19. Episcopal School of Sant’Andrea
– Enrollment: 973 (6:1 student to teacher ratio) – Grades Achieved: K-12 – City: Austin – Grade Niche: A+
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#18. Vanguard College Preparatory School
– Enrollment: 268 (6:1 student to teacher ratio) – Grades Achieved: 7-12 – City: Waco – Grade Niche: A+
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#17. The Emery/Weiner school
– Enrollment: 579 (5:1 student to teacher ratio) – Grades Achievement: 6-12 – City: Houston – Grade Niche: A+
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#16. Dallas International School
– Enrollment: 570 (4:1 student to teacher ratio) – Grades Achieved: PK, K-12 – City: Dallas – Grade Niche: A+
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#15. St. John’s School
– Enrollment: 1,422 (7:1 student to teacher ratio) – Grades Achieved: K-12 – City: Houston – Grade Niche: A+
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#14. Dallas Jesuit College Preparatory School
– Enrollment: 1,149 (9:1 student to teacher ratio) – Grades Achievement: 9-12 – City: Dallas – Grade Niche: A+
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#13. Academy of Sant’Agnese
– Enrollment: 921 (9:1 student to teacher ratio) – Grades Achievement: 9-12 – City: Houston – Grade Niche: A+
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#12. Strake Jesuit College Preparatory
– Enrollment: 1,382 (11:1 student to teacher ratio) – Grades Achievement: 9-12 – City: Houston – Grade Niche: A+
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#11. Hall of Santa Maria
– Enrollment: 735 (7:1 student to teacher ratio) – Grades Achieved: PK, K-12 – City: San Antonio – Grade Niche: A+
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#10. The Kinkaid School
– Enrollment: 1,423 (10:1 student to teacher ratio) – Grades Achieved: PK, K-12 – City: Houston – Grade Niche: A+
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#9. Keystone School
– Enrollment: 495 (8:1 student to teacher ratio) – Grades Achieved: PK, K-12 – City: San Antonio – Grade Niche: A+
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#8. Cistercian preparatory school
– Enrollment: 357 (6:1 student to teacher ratio) – Grades Achieved: 5-12 – City: Irving – Grade Niche: A+
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#7. The village school
– Enrollment: 1,773 (9:1 student to teacher ratio) – Grades Achieved: PK, K-12 – City: Houston – Grade Niche: A+
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#6. The John Cooper School
– Enrollment: 1,318 (10:1 student to teacher ratio) – Grades Achieved: PK, K-12 – City: The Woodlands – Grade Niche: A+
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#5. Hockaday’s school
– Enrollment: 1,115 (9:1 student to teacher ratio) – Grades Achieved: PK, K-12 – City: Dallas – Grade Niche: A+
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#4. Episcopal School of Santo Stefano
– Enrollment: 699 (6:1 student to teacher ratio) – Grades Achievement: 6-12 – City: Austin – Grade Niche: A+
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#3. Greenhill School
– Enrollment: 1,346 (10:1 student to teacher ratio) – Grades Achieved: PK, K-12 – City: Addison – Grade Niche: A+
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#2. Awty International School
– Enrollment: 1,754 (7:1 student to teacher ratio) – Grades Achieved: PK, K-12 – City: Houston – Grade Niche: A+
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#1. San Marco School of Texas
– Enrollment: 911 (9:1 student to teacher ratio) – Grades Served: 1-12 – City: Dallas – Grade Niche: A+
