Katy ISD School Ratings & Boundaries: The Complete 2026–27 Parent Guide

If schools are driving your home search in the Houston suburbs, this guide is for you. Katy ISD is one of the largest and most highly regarded public school districts in Texas, and for families considering new homes in Katy, TX, the district's ratings, boundary maps, and growth plans shape almost every decision, often before you've picked a floor plan.

The 2026–27 school year brings a familiar mix: top-tier rankings, continued rapid growth, new campuses coming online, and a handful of boundary adjustments worth understanding. This guide covers what parents actually need to know: how Katy ISD is rated, how boundaries work (they're a little different than most districts), what's changing this year, and which schools serve the Elyson community. Here’s the lay of the land.

Why Katy ISD Keeps Landing at #1

Katy ISD serves more than 95,000 students across 70+ campuses (and still growing), and its reputation precedes it. The district has been named the No. 1 Best School District in the Houston Area by Niche.com for five consecutive years, earning an A+ overall grade for 2026 and ranking among the top 10 districts statewide.

The acclaim doesn't come from a single source. Niche, U.S. News, the Texas Education Agency, and independent demographic analysts each use slightly different metrics, and Katy ISD performs well across all of them. For a district of this size still growing at the pace it is, that level of consistency is unusual.

A few numbers worth knowing going into 2026–27:

• Niche 2026 district grade: A+, with A+ sub-grades for Teachers, College Prep, and Administration
• TEA accountability rating (2024–25): B (score of 88), the third consecutive B rating
• Top Houston-area high schools: Seven Lakes (#2), Tompkins (#5), Cinco Ranch (#11), Taylor (#25), Katy (#34)
• Growth trajectory: projected to exceed 100,000 students during the 2026–27 school year

TEA paused its A-F ratings during a two-year legal battle, and the most recent release (covered by Community Impact) includes both 2023–24 and 2024–25. Katy ISD earned a B in both years, with a strong majority of campuses rated A or B, and a small number rated D that are now operating under state-approved turnaround plans.

In short — if your search starts with "strong public schools," Katy ISD is on almost every shortlist in Greater Houston for a reason.

How Katy ISD Boundaries Actually Work (It's a Little Different)

Most Texas districts draw attendance zones on a map and call it done. Katy ISD uses a more granular system: every home is assigned to a Land Use Zone (LUZ), a small geographic unit that determines which elementary, junior high, and high school a student attends. Two homes on the same street can occasionally fall into different LUZs, which is exactly why verifying zoning before you sign anything matters.

What a Land Use Zone Really Tells You

Each LUZ maps to a specific elementary, junior high, and high school. The LUZ itself doesn't change, but the school assigned to it can, and often does, as the district opens new campuses and rebalances enrollment. That's the reason parents in Katy talk about "boundary changes" more than parents in most districts do. The boundaries move because the district is building new schools almost every year to keep pace with growth.

Why Boundaries Change So Often

Katy ISD adds roughly 2,000 students every year. To absorb that, the district works with Population and Survey Analysts (PASA), a Texas demographic firm the district has partnered with for more than two decades, to model future enrollment and recommend Attendance Boundary Modifications (ABMs) as new schools come online.

Recent examples tell the story:

• Boudny Elementary opened in August 2025 at Elyson, pulling students from the former Youngblood Elementary zone
• Cross Elementary opened the same month to relieve Faldyn and Robertson elementaries in the Sunterra area
• Freeman High School and Nelson Junior High opened in August 2024 to anchor the district's northwest quadrant, which includes Elyson
• Roughly 70 junior high students in Land Use Zones 60C and 60D shifted from Cinco Ranch Junior High to Tays Junior High for the 2025–26 school year

None of this is change for its own sake. Rather, it's how a fast-growth district keeps classrooms from hitting capacity and kids from sitting on 45-minute bus rides.

How to Check Your Zoning Before You Buy

Katy ISD publishes a Find My School address lookup that lets you enter any address and see the assigned LUZ plus the three zoned campuses. Before you rely on it, confirm the zoning for the specific address you're buying rather than the neighborhood at large, as boundaries in newer master-planned communities may have shifted within the last year. And if you're buying into a community that's still actively building (Elyson, Sunterra, and others), ask the builder whether new schools are expected to open within your planned move-in timeframe, and whether that would trigger another ABM.

What's New for Katy ISD in 2026–27

Every school year in a district this active brings changes. Here's what 2026–27 looks like.

Freeman High School Becomes a Full 9–12 Campus

Freeman High School opened in August 2024 as a phased campus, starting with 9th–11th grade and adding a grade each year. For 2026–27, Freeman adds 12th grade, which means it's operating as a complete 9–12 high school for the first time. Varsity football also competes at the varsity level beginning this year, per Katy ISD's ABM FAQs. For Elyson families, that's a meaningful milestone: your high schooler can now attend Freeman from freshman year through graduation on a single campus.

Boudny and McElwain Anchor Elementary for Elyson

Boudny Elementary opened in August 2025 and enters its second year with PTA, routines, and programs more established. Located inside Elyson at 7402 Katy Hockley Cut Off Road, Boudny serves students living north of FM 529. McElwain Elementary, also inside Elyson, continues to serve students south of FM 529 and west of Peek Road. McElwain earned an overall A- on Niche's most recent report.

Campuses on Improvement Plans

Three elementary campuses, Cimarron, Hutsell, and Leonard, received D ratings on the most recent TEA release and are operating under state-approved turnaround plans. None of these are zoned to Elyson. If you're looking at a home elsewhere in Katy ISD, it's worth checking whether it falls into one of these zones and asking about the specific campus improvement plan.

Which Schools Serve Elyson in 2026–27

Elyson sits in the fast-growing northwest quadrant of Katy ISD, and the community has something unusual for the region: multiple Katy ISD campuses located directly within its borders. Here's the current 2026–27 lineup.

One geographic detail that’s worth knowing: Peek Road is the dividing line. Homes west of Peek Road are in Katy ISD; a small number of homes on the far east side fall into Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, which earned an overall A on Niche's 2026 report and ranked as the #2 district in Harris County. Harmony School of Excellence – Katy is open to Elyson residents regardless of which district they're zoned to, which gives families a true choice between a top-rated Katy ISD pathway and a specialized K–12 STEM option on the same street.

For the full, current list, browse the Elyson schools page.

Questions to Ask About Schools Before You Buy

Zoning is the easy part. Here are the questions that separate one community from another when schools are your priority:

• Is the school physically inside the community, or is it a bus ride away? On-site schools reduce commute time and track with higher long-term resale demand.
• Where is the school in its own lifecycle? A first-year school offers smaller class sizes but fewer established programs; a mature campus offers the opposite.
• What does the bond funding pipeline look like for the area? Districts with active bond programs are investing in facility upgrades and new construction, which matters for long-term planning.
• Are any ABMs expected in the next 12–24 months? Katy ISD sets all attendance boundaries, so the district's ABM page is the place to check — not the builder or the developer.
• What do the feeder patterns look like all the way through 12th grade? A kindergartner today graduates in 13 years. The full path matters.

If you're touring communities in person, this is a useful short list to bring with you to the Welcome Center.

A Closer Look at Elyson

Elyson is a 3,600-acre master-planned community in Katy, TX, developed by Brookfield Residential and positioned off the Grand Parkway at FM 529. Roughly 90% of the community's planned 6,000 single-family homes sit within Katy ISD boundaries, with a small remainder zoned to Cy-Fair ISD. Opened in 2016, Elyson consistently ranks among the top-50 best-selling master-planned communities in the United States.

What distinguishes Elyson on the schools front is density: four Katy ISD campuses (McElwain, Boudny, Nelson, Freeman) plus the Harmony K–12 charter are either inside the community or directly adjacent. For families, that translates to short commutes, walkable morning routines, and a genuine sense of neighborhood connection that's hard to manufacture when schools are miles away.

Beyond schools, Elyson includes two full amenity centers, a 31-acre lake, over 750 acres of parks and open space, and nine active homebuilders offering homes across a wide price range, from paired-home designs in the low $300s to luxury inventory exceeding $1 million. Browse available homes at Elyson to see what's on the market right now.

Frequently Asked Questions: Katy ISD Schools & Boundaries

Is Katy ISD a good school district?

By most measures, yes. Katy ISD has been ranked the No. 1 Best School District in the Houston Area by Niche for five consecutive years, earning an A+ overall grade in the 2026 rankings and placing in the top 10 statewide. It also earned a B (88) on the most recent TEA A-F accountability release, its third consecutive B rating. The district is consistently named one of the best large districts in Texas for teachers, college prep, and athletics.

How many schools are in Katy ISD?

Katy ISD operates more than 70 campuses serving over 95,000 students, including 48 elementary schools, 18 junior highs, and 10 high schools as of the 2025–26 school year. Two new elementaries (Boudny and Cross) opened in August 2025, Elementary #49 is scheduled to open in August 2027, and Junior High #19 is planned for August 2028.

What is the biggest high school in Katy ISD?

Seven Lakes High School is the largest high school in Katy ISD, with roughly 3,700 students in grades 9–12. It's also the highest-ranked: Niche placed Seven Lakes at #2 in the Houston area for 2026 and #9 statewide. Tompkins and Cinco Ranch are next in size and also rank among the top five in the Houston area.

Which schools serve Elyson in 2026–27?

Elyson is primarily served by McElwain Elementary, Boudny Elementary, Nelson Junior High, and Freeman High School, all Katy ISD campuses located inside or directly adjacent to the community. Harmony School of Excellence – Katy, a K–12 STEM-focused public charter, is also onsite and open to all Elyson residents.

Is Freeman High School fully open for 2026–27?

Yes. Freeman opened in August 2024 with 9th through 11th grade and has added a grade each year since. For 2026–27, Freeman operates as a full 9–12 campus, and varsity athletics (including football) compete at the varsity level beginning this year.

How do I find out which schools my future home is zoned to?

Katy ISD publishes a Find My School tool that shows the Land Use Zone (LUZ) for every address, along with the three zoned campuses. Boundaries are reviewed every year, so confirm the zoning for the specific address you're buying rather than relying on the neighborhood at large.

Come see the schools for yourself.

Reading rankings is useful. Walking the neighborhoods, touring the campuses, and seeing how schools integrate into daily life is a different experience entirely.

Elyson's Welcome Center is designed to help parents do exactly that. Tour fully furnished model homes from multiple builders, pick up the current Katy ISD schools map, and talk through zoning, feeder patterns, and new-school timelines with the on-site team. If you're relocating from out of state, this is often the single most useful afternoon in the entire process.

Connect with the Elyson team to plan your visit, or browse homes at Elyson to start narrowing your list before you arrive.