If you're the parents of an 8th grader shopping for a DISD high school this fall, you have until Feb. 26 to apply to Woodrow Wilson's newly redesigned college prep academies. We're written extensively about the offerings here at Back Talk, so rather than cover that ground again, click here to reach our online summary page for more information about what Woodrow will be offering.

What you might need to know, though, is that you can click here to obtain a "parental public school choice application". If you're already in the Woodrow attendance zone, you don't need to do anything — your student will be automatically enrolled at Woodrow. Still to be determined: How many students from outside Woodrow's attendance zone will wind up enrolling this fall. The school expects to be able to service about 1,500 students when everything is up and running, and the current attendance is somewhere around 1,400, meaning that even if every eligible student shows up again next year (substituting 9th graders for graduating seniors), there could still be spots available for newcomers outside the attendance zone.

If you happen to live outside DISD's attendance boundaries, you can click here for the application form needed to apply to Woodrow or any other DISD school. Although DISD once charged out-of-district students a nominal tuition to attend school in Dallas, that's no longer the case — out-of-district students can attend DISD schools without charge, provided they are accepted into the program and approved by DISD.