Southlake vs Fort Worth privates

[widespreadfan]

Originally Posted by TS_Grapevine

What a clown ^^^

You are the clown. Tcualum is one of my favorite posters and is respectful of others.

[tcualum]

Originally Posted by widespreadfan

You are the clown. Tcualum is one of my favorite posters and is respectful of others.

Thanks! I try to be even though I have very little patience for some things.

[Cicnod]

Originally Posted by tcualum

Thanks! I try to be even though I have very little patience for some things.

And yet if you talk to many minorities there, none have experienced anything resembling racism, including 3 of my own. But again people love to talk about experiences where they actually have none.

[tcualum]

Originally Posted by Cicnod

And yet if you talk to many minorities there, none have experienced anything resembling racism, including 3 of my own. But again people love to talk about experiences where they actually have none.

My older son goes to a majority-black high school. Last year he was in the marching band and attended their game against Southlake. He and his friends were shocked to hear Southlake fans yell racist comments at the players.

[tunnelcat]

We've lived in Southlake since before the pandemic, and our experience as a mixed race family has been very positive. Neighbors have been friendly and inclusive, and we've never felt out of place. In contrast, we have had some uncomfortable experiences in Dallas.

I share this not to refute the statements about racist experiences others have had but to offer the perspective that the day to day life in Southlake may be different for most than what they see in the news for some bad seeds. For us, it's been a very pleasant place to live overall.

[tunnelcat]

To the original poster's question, my exposure to students from the the Fort Worth privates hasn't wowed me in the past. There are of course excellent students coming out of those schools, but I haven't met many kids who make me think, "wow, it's a different caliber of student over there." In contrast, I have had that experience with a couple of the Dallas privates.

If it were me, I would ask the question about the school experience you want for your kids. Private school is going to be more intimate in most cases. Some kids will thrive in a large school like Carroll and others may struggle to find their place. If they are into sports, another consideration is how good they are: If you go to Carroll my understanding is finding playing time will be difficult if you're not a rockstar athlete in your sport; however, if you are, you'll probably appreciate the challenge and competitive demands at Carroll more than what the privates can offer.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by Laila2023

I need to be in Southlake for work. Sounds like there is no reasonable way to split the commute between Southlake and FW privates. I would appreciate some opinions on how Carroll compares with private schools with regard to academic rigor and college placement.

Are the AP/GT classes at Carroll High/Senior high comparable to upper school AP/honors classes at privates? Where do the top 5%, roughly the top 30-40 kids at Carroll go for college? Private schools publish their matriculations. Is there any way to access college placements for Carroll? Does Carroll have strong college counseling or do most families use private counselors?

Thank you all for your help.

If you’re still checking in on this thread, private school admissions season is kicking off now for the 2024-25 school year. School tours (in person & virtual) run this month through December with apps generally due in January. Testing and interviews (parent or student depending on the grade) will be in the December - January timeframe.

You mentioned high school so be aware that for competitive private schools, a good chunk of spots (20-30) open in 9th grade. Some schools will take 1-5 sophomores if spots open due to attrition. Almost no schools accept juniors or seniors.

If your job dictates you live in Southlake, I would look at both Dallas and FW private schools as well as visit Carroll Sr High. If you just need to be close to Southlake and you have the budget, look at Westlake. Westlake Academy is the town’s high school which is set up as a charter school with IB World academics. It has a very strong reputation academically and is small like a private school with graduating classes in the 60-70 student range.