Editing West University Place, Texas (section)

====Public schools====
The city is within the [[Houston Independent School District]] (HISD).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st48_tx/schooldistrict_maps/c48201_harris/DC20SD_C48201.pdf|title=2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Harris County, TX|publisher=[[U.S. Census Bureau]]|pages=4-5 (PDF p. 5-6/6)|access-date=2024-03-10}}</ref> In 2018 Swartz described the area schools as "well funded and well appointed."<ref name="SwartzTrumpShirt" />

Pupils who live in West University Place<ref>"[http://westutx.gov/DocumentCenter/View/297/Map-of-West-U-PDF?bidId= Street Map]."<!--Old map URL: https://web.archive.org/web/20060303140456/http://www.westu.org/upload/images/CityMap.pdf--> City of West University Place. Retrieved on November 29, 2018.</ref> are zoned to [[West University Elementary School]] in West University Place,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.houstonisd.org/cms/lib2/TX01001591/Centricity/Domain/32468/boundarymaps/West_University_ES.pdf<!--Old URL: https://web.archive.org/web/20120617035402/http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/WestUniversityES.pdf-->|title=West University Elementary School Attendance Boundary|publisher=[[Houston Independent School District]]|accessdate=2021-04-09}}</ref> [[Pershing Middle School (Houston)|Pershing Middle School]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.houstonisd.org/cms/lib2/TX01001591/Centricity/Domain/32468/boundarymaps/Pershing_MS.pdf<!--Old URL: https://web.archive.org/web/20120617035402/http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/PershingMS.pdf-->|title=Pershing Middle School Attendance Boundary|publisher=[[Houston Independent School District]]|accessdate=2021-04-09}}</ref> in the [[Braeswood Place]] neighborhood of [[Houston]], and [[Lamar High School (Houston)|Lamar High School]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.houstonisd.org/cms/lib2/TX01001591/Centricity/Domain/32468/boundarymaps/Lamar_HS.pdf<!--Old URL: https://web.archive.org/web/20120617035402/http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/LamarHS.pdf-->|title=Lamar High School Attendance Boundary|publisher=[[Houston Independent School District]]|accessdate=2021-04-09}}</ref> in the [[Upper Kirby]] district of Houston. All pupils zoned to Pershing may attend [[Pin Oak Middle School]] (in the city of [[Bellaire, Texas|Bellaire]]) instead.<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20020214054405/http://dist.houstonisd.org/southwest/schools/pin_oak/letter5.htm Pin Oak Middle School]." ''The Southwest District''. ''Houston Independent School District''. Retrieved on November 29, 2008.</ref> Pin Oak was named a [[National Blue Ribbon School]] in 2008.<ref>"[http://dallasisdblog.dallasnews.com/blueribbonsschools08.pdf Twenty-six Texas public schools named NCLB- Blue Ribbons Schools] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217002505/http://dallasisdblog.dallasnews.com/blueribbonsschools08.pdf |date=February 17, 2012 }}." ''[[Texas Education Agency]]''. September 9, 2008.</ref><ref>"[http://blogs.chron.com/schoolzone/2008/09/feds_award_26_texas_schools_wi_1.html Feds award 26 Texas schools with 'blue ribbon']." ''[[Houston Chronicle]]''. September 9, 2008.</ref>

West University Elementary opened in 1925, although its permanent facility was not yet complete at the time; Platte School initially took its non-kindergarten students while the sales office of Southside Place housed kindergarten students. The permanent facility has a [[Spanish Renaissance]] architectural style and was financed by a $55,000 bond. The majority of the land that housed the school was donated by D. T. Austin and W. D. Haden.<ref>{{cite book|last1=McCormick|first1=Kate |last2=Holt|first2=Kris|title=Southside Place|publisher=[[Arcadia Publishing Incorporated]]|date=2014-07-28|isbn=9781439646489<!--Old: 1439646481-->|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=MXjxAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA38 38]}}</ref> In the 1970s and 1980s West University parents reshaped West University Elementary, which Tim Fleck of the ''[[Houston Press]]'' described as "deteriorating", into "a community focal point that kept many West U children in public school through the fifth grade."<ref name="Fleck3">Fleck, Tim. "What Went Wrong at the Rice School?." ''[[Houston Press]]''. August 21, 1997. [http://www.houstonpress.com/1997-08-21/news/what-went-wrong-at-the-rice-school/3 3]. Retrieved on September 8, 2009.</ref> West University Elementary School, by the 1990s, became what Fleck described as "the prototype of how the increasingly minority district could maintain the allegiance of affluent [[White American|white]]s" and "a selling point for parents moving into the area."<ref name="Fleck3" /> In 1996 37% of West University Elementary students had transferred there from other schools. In 2015 West U Elementary had 1,274 students, making it HISD's largest elementary school, with 96% of the students living inside the attendance zone.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/education/school-report-card/article/Principals-of-top-schools-share-their-take-6219494.php|title=Principals of top schools share their take|newspaper=[[Houston Chronicle]]|date=2015-04-25|access-date=2016-12-07}}</ref>

{{Asof|2010}} about 600 students who were zoned to West University Elementary School were enrolled in [[Pin Oak Middle School]] or [[Lanier Middle School (Houston)|Lanier Middle School]], opting for those schools instead of Pershing, their zoned school. In 2010 two parents, Adrienne Vanderbloemen and Christi Young, started a blog that supported the idea of sending one's child to Pershing Middle School.<ref>{{cite news|author=Foster, Robin|url=http://www.chron.com/news/article/Parents-start-blog-supporting-option-to-attend-1589738.php|title=Parents start blog supporting option to attend Pershing MS|newspaper=[[Houston Chronicle]]|date=2010-10-07|access-date=2016-12-07}}</ref>

West University Place is in close proximity to [[The Rice School]], a [[kindergarten]] through 8th grade [[magnet school]] in Houston.<ref name="SER2">Downing, Margaret. "Magna Charter." ''[[Houston Press]]''. September 29, 2009. [http://www.houstonpress.com/2009-10-01/news/magna-charter/2 2]. Retrieved on November 7, 2009.</ref> The Rice School opened in August 1994 to relieve West University Elementary School and several nearby campuses.<ref name="History">"[https://web.archive.org/web/20070228233543/http://es.houstonisd.org/rice/j_history_of_trs.html History of The Rice School / La Escuela Rice]." ''The Rice School''. February 28, 2007. Retrieved on September 8, 2009.</ref><ref name="Fleck1">Fleck, Tim. "What Went Wrong at the Rice School?." ''[[Houston Press]]''. August 21, 1997. [http://www.houstonpress.com/1997-08-21/news/what-went-wrong-at-the-rice-school/ 1]. Retrieved on September 8, 2009.</ref>

Gabriela Mistral Early Childhood Center is the closest public [[preschool|early childhood center]] to the city of West University Place. Students who are eligible for HISD's preschools may attend any Early Childhood Center in Houston ISD.