HELP! Moving to Downtown Dallas w/kids (Lakewood, Park Cities, ???) (Arlington: 2013, house)

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by Mari5697

I just read an article describing some events that were held at a high school in Highland Park. Apparently they had “thug day", “Mexican day", and “trailer trash day" in which they dressed up and mocked people. I found the article on Redditt. If the story was true, I definitely would not want my children in an environment where people find it acceptable or humorous to mock people who are different from them. A great education means nothing if you have no moral compass or compassion for others. Does anyone know if there is any validity to that story or if that is the norm in that area?

Yes, unfortunately that really did happen. No, it is NOT the norm for the area. It happened about 8-10 years ago, IIRC, which is before about half the district's students were even born.

From what I see with my friends' young kids or hear from teachers in HPISD is that students are pretty color blind now when it comes to choosing friends.

[cristobalg]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

Most of the residents of Lakewood, a very affluent community, choose its public schools.

Really? Even for middle and high school? Because as a new transplant and someone that has toured both Long and Woodrow (after reading your glowing reviews), us and our neighbors have chosen private school for middle and high schools.

We all appreciate the support you give for those two school but please be fair. I'm certain they have made strides but don't paint it something that it is not.

[LakeDad]

The OP will do well in HPISD or Stonewall or Lakewood. I think finding an apartment that works the best in terms of size and amenities is probably the key determinant. At around 2400/month for a 2/2, your options will expand quite a bit in all three attendance zones.

Another consideration is the after school care programs that any potential school offers. After school (until 6pm) programs are available at most schools, but the style and content of the programming varies widely, outside vs inside time etc.

The vibe in HPISD has changed a bit over the past six or seven years. Faculty and families of color are more common, and I believe they feel welcome and included. However, diversity at HPISD is low, around 10%. Lakewood is more diverse than HPISD. This year's K class at Lakewood is about 85% white. If diversity is very important to you, Stonewall is the most diverse.

HPISD is the best close-in school district academically. I think one thing it does especially well is getting its lowest quartile students ready for college. How much of that is added at elementary level is hard to know. I think the HPISD elementary schools are a little better than the Lakewood El. or Stonewall, though not enough to eliminate Lakewood or Stonewall.

Crowding and portables are another consideration. Since you are renting and have choices, I would avoid schools that give you a high probability of your child being in a portable building. The air quality and overall environment in those trailers can be very poor, not good for your health. I believe most of the time, the youngest kids are not in the portables. HPISD has used portables in the past, but I see less of them lately. DISD makes extensive use of portables. Stonewall, for example, has around 15.

If either of your children have special needs academically, learning difficulties or gifted, the HPISD schools would be a better fit at the lower part of elementary school.

I wouldn't worry too much about the middle schools. For a renter, you can easily switch school districts later if you want to avoid Long. Picking any of the three will keep your commute short and that is key. DISD is struggling overall and is poorly run. Stonewall and Lakewood El. are, IMO, its best two non magnet/TAG schools. There is no comparison between Long and MIS/HPMS. MIS/HPMS are head and shoulders above Long in every metric. To give you more context, in my opinion, MIS/HPMS are the weakest part of HPISD, yet still crush Long. Long is okay if you stay IB/Pre AP and is hopefully getting better.

I like Lakewood in terms of overall vibe better than HP/UP. More easygoing, less religious, less sports centered, and a little less conservative. The MStreets area is in between. The most western part of the Mstreets (which is zoned to Stonewall) has some of the same characteristics of both Lakewood and UP. It's also less isolated than Lakewood and very convenient to everything.

Again, all three will work out well. Dallas is a great city with friendly people and plenty of good schools to choose from.

[Lakewooder]

Originally Posted by cristobalg

Really? Even for middle and high school? Because as a new transplant and someone that has toured both Long and Woodrow (after reading your glowing reviews), us and our neighbors have chosen private school for middle and high schools.

We all appreciate the support you give for those two school but please be fair. I'm certain they have made strides but don't paint it something that it is not.

Check the city-data figures for 75214: https://www.city-data.com/zips/75214.html

67.5% are in public schools from 1-8

73.6% are in public schools 9-12

[cordata]

When I look at that data what I see is not "what proportion of students who reside in the zip code are in private schools." What I see is "what proportion of students who attend school in the zip code are in private schools."

This becomes clear when you compare the data point which says 285 students are in private high school to the numbers of students in Lakehill Prep which is 285.

You could verify this by understanding the census methodology - are they asking families about where their kids go to school or are they taking inventory of schools and noting whether they are public or private?

[Lakewooder]

However, Lakehill only graduated 17 last year. Many students at that school are not from 75214.

If you would like to investigate, here is some info:

From Stonewall Jackson Facebook page:


Did you know Long is the only middle school to feed into Woodrow Wilson?

Did you know Long is a candidate for the IB Middle Years Programme?

Did you know Long offers Chinese?

Come hear all the latest news about our neighborhood middle school and learn about the opportunities for your child at Long.

Ms. Petters will present an overview of Long followed by a Q&A session. Bring your questions/rumors!

Thursday, January 23
6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Stonewall Jackson Auditorium

Parents from all grades are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Stonewall offers tours of its campus on the first Thursday of each month.

And a little visual for WW:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m-tANAKL5w

[Gator-in-Steiner]

I have a related question to this topic. I currently live in Lakewood and now that my kids are getting to be the age for STAAR testing, I am really disappointed in the quality of the education. All worksheets and focused on test pre. Is this just the state of public education everywhere?
While Long and Woodrow are on the upswing, the test scores are just awful and I really want my kids to strive to be their best and be surrounded by high achieving kids beyond elementary. I also don't want teaching to the test. We are thinking of moving to HPISD but I am concerned that it will be difficult for my kids to make friends moving in at the end of elementary. Further complicating things, my older son has aspergers. It is very mild and he does not have any autism tics or stims but he really likes science and likes talking about things that interest him a lot. Will kids in middle school in HPISD be friendly or will he be tortured for not being great at social interactions? Moving to Park Cities will be a stretch but I would rather put $50,000 a year in house payments and taxes than pay out $50,000 in after tax income to non-deductible private school tuition. Any thoughts from those who know the schools is appreciated.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by Gator-in-Steiner

I have a related question to this topic. I currently live in Lakewood and now that my kids are getting to be the age for STAAR testing, I am really disappointed in the quality of the education. All worksheets and focused on test pre. Is this just the state of public education everywhere?
While Long and Woodrow are on the upswing, the test scores are just awful and I really want my kids to strive to be their best and be surrounded by high achieving kids beyond elementary. I also don't want teaching to the test. We are thinking of moving to HPISD but I am concerned that it will be difficult for my kids to make friends moving in at the end of elementary. Further complicating things, my older son has aspergers. It is very mild and he does not have any autism tics or stims but he really likes science and likes talking about things that interest him a lot. Will kids in middle school in HPISD be friendly or will he be tortured for not being great at social interactions? Moving to Park Cities will be a stretch but I would rather put $50,000 a year in house payments and taxes than pay out $50,000 in after tax income to non-deductible private school tuition. Any thoughts from those who know the schools is appreciated.

The end of elementary school is actually not a bad time to move into HPISD since elementary ends at 4th and 5th is first year at the middle school complex so everyone is starting over and meeting new classmates & friends.

While most kids are pretty nice, I won't sugar cost that 7th grade in HPISD was pretty much the worst year of my life - and most people I know felt the same (if only we'd realized back then that everyone was insecure with raging hormones ) I think middle school is universally awful - especially 7th- so don't know that it's any worse at HP than Long or private.

[bencronin04]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

The end of elementary school is actually not a bad time to move into HPISD since elementary ends at 4th and 5th is first year at the middle school complex so everyone is starting over and meeting new classmates & friends.

While most kids are pretty nice, I won't sugar cost that 7th grade in HPISD was pretty much the worst year of my life - and most people I know felt the same (if only we'd realized back then that everyone was insecure with raging hormones ) I think middle school is universally awful - especially 7th- so don't know that it's any worse at HP than Long or private.

I will second this 100%. It's so new for everyone because you go from a "smaller" elementary system that is 4 different school to a new combined intermediate and middle school that seems HUGE. Kids in elementary will have SOME friends in their classes from their old school, but there will be even more new faces.

I also agree that middle school seems to be the hardest on many. It's where groups really become established, people start to figure out what they are good and bad at(sports, band, etc.), school dances begin , etc. It's a challenging time for most, but it is often the beginning stages of finding long lasting friends. I had a particularly hard time because I was extremely into soccer during this time and my sophomore year of high school switched to focus on football. It almost felt like I was starting over at another school as the football group was already extremely close and established.

[HockDad]

I would put the child with aspergers in Wesley Prep next year. Not crazy expensive and a better environment than public school, probably. I would also think twice if being in the park cities is going to be a stretch. You are always going to feel like the poorest one (even if you are fairly wealthy). Moreover, a million dollar house in HPISD actually kinda sux. I remember my parents looking at my million dollar house and feeling like that it was a 200k house in Grapevine.