Limited Open Enrollment

As portions of Northwest ISD continue to experience rapid enrollment growth, some areas of Northwest ISD are at or near build-out and see declining school enrollment. To maintain a high-quality educational environment with a thriving student population, Northwest ISD will offer limited open enrollment to families of K-12 students who live outside the school district’s boundaries. Northwest ISD previously offered limited open enrollment through 2017.

Beginning in the 2026-2027 school year, families who live outside the district’s boundaries will have the opportunity to apply for enrollment at designated Northwest ISD schools with available capacities. These campuses open to transfers are revised annually, though students in good standing will be allowed to remain at these schools for their academic careers, subject to meeting program requirements.

Application Window

The open enrollment application window will take place February 1 to March 1 each year. Once closed, additional families will not be able to apply for consideration until the following school year. Following an application submission, a family will receive an email response indicating their application has been received. Final decisions on applications will be emailed to families no later than April 1. There is no fee to apply, but a $100 paperwork processing fee per student will be charged to families whose children are accepted and use limited open enrollment. The cost to a family will be capped at $300 (if a family has four students accepted into the program, for example, they will pay $300, not $400).

Required Documents

To both verify program qualifications and best support children accepted as part of limited open enrollment, please submit the following documents when applying. Please note transcripts will be requested after a student has been accepted and enrolled.

Report Cards: Prior year report card and most recent report card for current year, if applicable
Attendance Documentation: Prior school year attendance records and current school year attendance records
Discipline Record: Most recent disciplinary records, if applicable
Test Results: STAAR, EOC, mClass and MAP (dependent upon on tests taken)
Program Documentation: Any documentation necessary to support your child, including IEP/ARD, 504, LPAC

Complete Limited Open Enrollment Application

Open Schools

Only schools with significant available capacity are designated annually for limited open enrollment.

While some campuses have available capacity, their boundaries also encompass areas of significant population growth. Because of this projected growth, the list of campuses open to transfers will be further restricted to exclude campuses in fast-growth areas, providing available capacity as new families continue to move to the district.

A limited number of seats will remain available at each open-enrollment school as Northwest ISD will continue to prioritize saving space for families who move within a school’s attendance boundaries.

Open Enrollment Elementary Schools

Beck Elementary School

Carter Elementary School

Cox Elementary School

Granger Elementary School

Hughes Elementary School

Lakeview Elementary School

Nance Elementary School

Peterson Elementary School

Roanoke Elementary School

Open Enrollment Middle Schools

Chisholm Trail Middle School

Medlin Middle School

Tidwell Middle School

Open Enrollment High Schools

Northwest High School

Eligibility Requirements

Northwest ISD will provide limited open enrollment for a set number of seats on indicated campuses for those who meet eligibility requirements. Those who apply first will have their enrollment application reviewed before those who apply later. Please be aware that students with significant disciplinary records, including but not limited to disciplinary placement, will not be considered for enrollment.

Must live no more than 30 miles from the campus requested.
Must have no significant disciplinary records, including but not limited to in-school suspension and disciplinary placement over the two most recent school years. A review of disciplinary records will be subject to the discretion of Northwest ISD.
Must have no significant attendance issues, which will be assessed by a review of tardies and attendance for the two most recent school years.
Must have passing grades in all grade levels or subjects for the two most recent school years.

Families must attest that the information they submit is accurate. A family that knowingly submits false information regarding eligibility requirements may have their child's application immediately declined. A family that knowingly submits false information that is discovered after being accepted into the program may have their child's enrollment revoked.

School Feeder Process

Students accepted into the limited open enrollment program for the 2026-2027 school year will advance to the next feeder campus with the most available capacity and be subject to rezoning just as in-district students are.

Feeder School Example: If an elementary school feeds into two middle schools, a student in the program would advance to the middle school with the most available capacity.
Rezoning Campus-Level Example: If an elementary school has its boundaries adjusted as part of the rezoning process, a student in the limited open enrollment program at that school would, the following year, attend the school with the most capacity between the original campus and the school(s) that relieved it.
Rezoning Campus-Advancement Example: If a student attends a school in the program and that school is rezoned into a different feeder pattern at the next campus level (or splits to feed into multiple campuses at the next level), the student would then attend the newly rezoned school (or the school with the most available capacity, if it is a split-feeder rezoning adjustment).

Please be aware this feeder process is subject to change in future years, though the inaugural limited open enrollment cohort will remain under these guidelines.

Academics

Passing grades for the two most recent school years.

Attendance

Review tardies and attendance for the two most recent school years.

Behavior

No significant disciplinary records, subject to district discretion.

Timeline

February 1	Limited open enrollment application period opens.
March 1	Limited open enrollment application period closes.
April 1	Deadline for families to be informed of status in limited open enrollment.
April 15	Deadline for families to inform district of intent to enroll and submit payment.

Transportation

Parents and guardians are required to provide transportation for any student in Northwest ISD’s limited open enrollment program. Because of logistical challenges, no district-provided transportation will be offered. Northwest ISD will not provide specialized transportation for any service, such as under an Individualized Education Plan or 504 plan, because such specialized transportation is available in a student's home district.

Revocation of Transfer

Students who violate Northwest ISD’s Code of Conduct will be subject to potential removal from the limited open enrollment program. Additionally, students may be subject to removal in the following circumstances:

Students attend below 90% of school days at the end of the current school year.
Students engage in fighting or other significant disciplinary behavior.
Students fail one or more courses.
Parents or guardians show a pattern of not consistently picking up or dropping off a student on time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Northwest ISD is growing. Why is it offering open enrollment?

As some portions of Northwest ISD experience rapid growth, other portions of the district are at or nearing build-out. When families remain in their homes after their children graduate and new students do not move into the area, this means the enrolled population of a school decreases.

Allowing limited open enrollment in these situations ensures schools are used at or near their designed capacities. If schools are significantly below their designed capacities, the district would have to consider more frequent rezoning, potentially shifting attendance boundaries so students are farther from their schools, or closing campuses entirely.

How limited is open enrollment?

Northwest ISD will designate a set number of seats for each open-enrollment campus depending on the projected in-district enrollment of the campus. This designated allotment will be determined after reserving some seats for potential students who may move into a school's attendance boundaries during the school year.

Once open-enrollment seats are filled at a campus, no other applications will be reviewed.

What happens after the open enrollment application period closes?

Can my child change schools in the program?

If admitted through limited open enrollment, will my child have to reapply each year?

What happens if the campus my child transfers to is no longer an open enrollment campus?

Will my child be allowed to participate in extracurricular activities?

Will my child have the same access to programs and services as in-district students?

Students who are accepted through limited open enrollment will have the same access to standard programs and services that they qualify for as in-district students, with the exception of transportation and the academy system. Students will have the same opportunity to try out for extracurricular programs, for example. Transportation is not provided in any services as part of the limited open enrollment program, and Northwest ISD will not add new staffing to meet the needs of a specific student. If a program is not offered at a school, for example, Northwest ISD will not add that program, or if a program is already full, additional students will not be accepted.

What CTE programs are open enrollment students eligible for?

As with all Northwest ISD students, students in the limited open enrollment program will have access to the district's award-winning career and technical education programs of study. These programs are available across district high schools and provide students with top-tier CTE training.

Please be aware that the academy system is considered a separate program with its own specific capacities separate from school capacities, and space is not available at this time. If space were to become available at a specific academy in the future, Northwest ISD may consider opening that academy to limited open enrollment only after in-district students had the opportunity to request enrollment.

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