Sonora has four houses into which all its new students are sorted when they first start at the school. This is achieved by a potion which turns the students the dominant colour of the house they most suit.

The Sonoran houses were named after magical towns of America in an attempt to woo magical families into sending their children there instead of to the more established Salem Institute in the east. Of those four towns only one still exists, Aladren, which is located in Oregon.