7 prestigious Houston-area high schools rank among best in Texas for 2021

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St. John's School is ranked the No. 2 private high school in Texas. St. John's School.org

Several Houston-area school are among the top of their class among public and private high schools in Texas.

New rankings from education website Niche put three local institutions among the top public high schools in the state and four among the top private high schools in the state.

Carnegie Vanguard High School (in Houston ISD) leads the area best public high schools, while our prestigious St. John's School leads the private academies.

Niche ranks public high schools based on factors such as state test scores, college readiness, graduation rates, SAT/ACT scores, teacher quality, and Niche user ratings.

Meanwhile, Niche ranks private high schools based on factors like SAT/ACT scores, quality of colleges that students consider, student-teacher ratio, and Niche user ratings.

"Our 2022 rankings come at a time when so many parents are curious about the different options for their children's education, including some they may never have considered before," Luke Skurman, founder and CEO of Niche, says in a news release.

Other local schools also ranked well:

  • Top-ranked School for the Talented and Gifted (Dallas ISD).
  • Second-ranked Liberal Arts & Science Academy (Austin ISD).
  • Third-ranked School of Science and Engineering (Dallas ISD).
  • Fourth-ranked Westlake High School (Eanes ISD).
  • Fifth-ranked Carnegie Vanguard High School (Houston ISD).
  • Sixth-ranked DeBakey High School for Health Professions (Houston ISD).
  • Seventh-ranked Carroll Senior High School (Carroll ISD).
  • Eighth-ranked Westwood High School (Round Rock ISD).
  • Ninth-ranked Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (Houston ISD).
  • 10th-ranked Vandegrift High School (Leander ISD).

The top private high schools in Texas are:

  • Top-ranked St. Mark's School of Texas in Dallas.
  • Second-ranked St. John's School in Houston.
  • Third-ranked Greenhill School in Addison.
  • Fourth-ranked The Hockaday School in Dallas.
  • Fifth-ranked St. Stephen's Episcopal School in Austin.
  • Sixth-ranked The John Cooper School in The Woodlands.
  • Seventh-ranked The Awty International School in Houston.
  • Eighth-ranked Keystone School in San Antonio.
  • Ninth-ranked Cistercian Preparatory School in Irving.
  • 10th-ranked The Kincaid School in Houston.

As for the best school districts in Texas, they are:

  • Top-ranked Eanes ISD in Austin.
  • Second-ranked South Texas ISD in Mercedes.
  • Third-ranked Highland Park ISD in Dallas.
  • Fourth-ranked Carroll ISD in Southlake.
  • Fifth-ranked Coppell ISD in Coppell.
  • Sixth-ranked Lovejoy ISD in Allen.
  • Seventh-ranked Frisco ISD in Frisco.
  • Eighth-ranked Argyle ISD in Argyle.
  • Ninth-ranked Grapevine-Colleyville ISD in Grapevine.
  • 10th-ranked Allen ISD in Allen.
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This article originally ran on CultureMap.
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Houston startup raises $2.4M for sleep apnea technology

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Houston-based Bairitone Health has closed an oversubscribed seed round and achieved a regulatory milestone, the company tells InnovationMap.

The healthtech startup, which is developing solutions and technology for untreated obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), raised $2.4 million, says CEO and co-founder Meagan Pitcher, exceeding its $2 million goal.

New York-based Golden Seeds, which invests in female entrepreneurs, led the round. Houston-based South Loop Ventures also participated, as well as MALIAM, Impact Invest Her and additional angel, venture, syndicate and family office investors. The company previously raised a pre-seed round of $435,000 in 2024.

Pitcher says the latest funding will go toward Bairitone's clinical site expansion, FDA-facing work and the continued product development of its SOMNAR technology.

"What I’m most excited about is what this lets us do next: expand our clinical testing, work with more patients and physicians, and keep improving based on what we learn," Pitcher said in a LinkedIn post.

SOMNAR is the company's noninvasive diagnostic platform for sleep apnea airway assessment. The platform maps users' anatomy during natural sleep using a facial patch to determine the root cause of airway obstruction. It then offers effective therapies for each patient.

SOMNAR received Breakthrough Device Designation from the Food and Drug Administration in April. It is currently for investigational use only and is still pending FDA clearance. The new designation aims to help speed up development, assessment and review for premarket approval for medical devices, according to the FDA. It will also give Bairitone more opportunities to interact directly with FDA experts to make the approval process more efficient.

Bairitone was founded in 2022 in the Texas Medical Center's Biodesign program by Pitcher, CTO Onur Kilic and chief medical officer Britt Cross. It was a member of Activate Houston's inaugural cohort and has participated in numerous accelerators and incubators.

The company was a finalist for the Houston Innovation Awards in 2025 and 2024.

Houston university to launch master’s in artificial intelligence

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Houston’s Rice University will welcome students to its new Master of Artificial Intelligence (MAI) program next fall, the college announced last week.

The program, which will begin taking applications this fall, is geared toward students with a computer science background as well as working engineers, scientists and technologists as they pursue careers that create and deploy AI. It will be part of Rice’s Department of Computer Science.

The new graduate degree comes after Rice created its Bachelor of Science in AI program in 2025.

Students enrolled in the 30-credit-hour, non-thesis professional degree program will prepare for prospective jobs as AI architects, applied AI researchers and AI and machine learning engineers, according to a news release.

“AI is rapidly moving from research laboratories into the systems that shape how we work, learn and solve complex problems,” Luay Nakhleh, Dean of the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing, said in the release. “The MAI will give students the technical depth and practical experience to build these systems responsibly.”

The on-campus degree program will include coursework in AI foundations and traditional, hands-on learning over its three-semester duration. Students will have easy access to faculty and have the opportunity to collaborate in small cohorts. The program includes a required internship before completion.

Chris Jermaine, chair of Rice’s Department of Computer Science, says Houston is well-positioned to connect students with industries where AI is increasingly being used, including health care, energy, aerospace, finance and technology.

“The Master of Artificial Intelligence reflects the graduate education Rice is working to advance: rigorous, forward-looking and connected to the challenges graduates will encounter in their careers,” Jermaine said in the release. “Combining strong academic foundations with practical experience will prepare students to contribute thoughtfully and responsibly as AI continues to evolve.”

Other Texas universities offer similar degrees, like Texas A&M's online Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence, Baylor’s Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence (MSAI+), University of Houston Downtown’s Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence program, and University of Texas at Austin’s online master’s in AI.

MAI works as part of Rice’s Momentous strategic plan that incorporates responsible AI use, according to the university.

Tech giant Meta opens first Texas retail store in Houston's Galleria

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Social media giant Meta has arrived in Houston with a new store that allows shoppers to go hands-on with all of its products. The Meta Lab, which offers an immersive retail experience, is now open daily on level two of the Galleria.

Shoppers will find all of Meta’s virtual reality products at the store, including including Meta Glasses, Ray-Ban Meta, Meta Ray-Ban Display, Oakley Meta HSTN, and Oakley Meta Vanguard. People can also try out demos of the company’s virtual reality gaming headsets, the Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest 3S.

Visitors are encouraged to put the devices on in order to experience what it’s like to wear and use them. Those who need prescription lenses for their Meta glasses can order those at the store, too.

It is the ninth Meta Lab to open nationwide and the first in Texas.

Prices start at about $225 for Ray-Ban Meta glasses and go up to $799 for the Meta Ray-Ban Display, which has an in-lens display for updates and other information. Meta Quest runs from $349 to $599.

"Our approach to experiential retail is rooted in culture, creativity, and self-expression, and we're committed to building a space that reflects the Houston community," a spokesperson told the Houston Chronicle. "We look forward to welcoming people into a new experience to get hands-on with our AI glasses and VR products."

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This article first appeared on CultureMap.com.

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