Private School choices for Allen Residents? (Dallas, Plano: neighborhood, catholic schools, pros and cons)

[kaisersose]

Hi,

I have a 4.5 year old and am trying to know my options. He can either go to Kerr Elementary or a private school - if we can find one. From what I understand, all the great private schools are in the Dallas area, which may not be feasible, as I live and work in Allen and my wife commutes to Farmer's branch. I "served time" in Redmond and the private school culture among MSFT employees has rubbed off on me.

1) Do we have any private schools for Allen children?

2) I hear some of the better private schools are designed for kids who are affluent vs. kids with potential.

Any information is appreciated,

Thanks

[FarNorthDallas]

The Allen schools are very good, but there are private school kids who live in Allen. I know of some who are in Catholic schools in Plano. But it's true the good independent schools are in Dallas. There is the Greenhill School in Farmers Branch/Addison and your wife could just take him, put him in aftercare and then your wife can bring him home. His school friends will be scattered all over town, which has its pros and cons.

My advice is to try the public school first. Allen is way above average in that regard. There is something to be said for having close by friends, close by birthday parties, etc. There is also something to be said for having a free education. If something happens to your income or one of you decides to stay at home, you'll be glad to not have $20,000/year tuition hanging over your head. The logistics of school age kids is hard on dual-career families. It's much easier during the preschool time. Never say never on an income/job getting cut back due to family demands.

[5stones]

he's a kindergartener... the public schools are very good out there esp the elem.
Unless you want a religious teaching school then I don't see any reason to waste money on the private school at this age.

Now when he's in 4-6 grade and the school is not meeting your expectation for education then consider the private route.

And as the above poster mentioned...going to school with the kids in your neighborhood etc...will give him playmates etc... if he is gone all day from the area only to be around on weekends he may not get to know many of the local kids and then have no-one ringing the bell on the weekends to go play.

[theloneranger]

Originally Posted by kaisersose

Hi,

I have a 4.5 year old and am trying to know my options. He can either go to Kerr Elementary or a private school - if we can find one. From what I understand, all the great private schools are in the Dallas area, which may not be feasible, as I live and work in Allen and my wife commutes to Farmer's branch. I "served time" in Redmond and the private school culture among MSFT employees has rubbed off on me.

1) Do we have any private schools for Allen children?

2) I hear some of the better private schools are designed for kids who are affluent vs. kids with potential.

Any information is appreciated,

Thanks

1) Lots of kids commute to private schools from Allen, but the public schools are very good and it's quite a distance away so it's really unnecessary. If your wife works in FB then she would be conveniently located to most of the North Dallas private schools--Parish Episcopal is in the municipal boundaries of Farmers Branch, Greenhill is just west, Jesuit (high school only) is just south, and the rest of the schools aren't much farther. The closest notable private schools to Allen are Prestonwood Christian and John Paul II in Plano. JPII is a high school, and most of its students attend parochial schools in the area. The closest parochial schools that I know of are Prince of Peace and Saint Mark the Apostle in Plano.

2) No this is not really the case at all. Most, if not all of the private schools, have financial aid. Most of them have strict requirements for admission--high standardized test scores, good writing skills, extracurricular activities (at least for middle and high schools). There aren't very many private schools with just dumb rich kids, and there aren't really any with just "kids with potential." There are kids at every school, public and private, that have potential.

I would recommend, unless you feel strongly about sending your kids to a religious school, that you send them to the Allen public schools. If you do feel strongly about religious school, I would ask people at your church where they send their children.