Moving to El Paso (Spring, Bowie: credit, how much, houses)

[anji]

hello everyone.
my job is relocating me to el paso from wilmington, nc in Feb08. i am really really excited about the move but i am freaked out about the school situation. i have a 3rd grader and an 8th grader. of course i want the best for them so i want to move into an area with safe schools and great academics. i know no one in el paso so even though i can't wait to get there, it is a little bit of a scary move for me. i've even considered private schools but my internet research is starting to get confusing. i'm not sure of the good areas from the "bad areas" or the good schools from the horrible ones. help!!!

[malamute]

I would check out the website greatschools.net and research the statistics, parents' ratings and particularly the comments left by parents. Obviously not perfect -- but it might give a clue even about parental involvement in a particular school.

[jfe]

Stay away from Bowie High School, my brother-in-law went there.

There is Cathedral, a Catholic private school, which is supposed to be one of the best.

[Muhnay]

Oh LEVOW is gonna love you jfe.. =)

What do you consider good and bad. Its so subjective. I like the schools here over the ones in the Mississippi Gulf Coast. But I have not had much experiance with other schools in the country. I think the Yselta School system here is pretty good.. has a bit more parent envolvement, over the El Paso ISD. Soccoro has been awarded blue ribbon schools awards a few times now.. but I found them to be a bit too invasive in my home life.

[malamute]

anji -- are you moving for a job that you would need to be near?

Do you mean safe school or also safe neighborhood? Most of the schools themselves have security and are pretty safe for most of the kids. Fights break out in the middle and high schools -- but it usually takes two to tango so it depends a lot on the kid. Many kids will never have any problem at all -- but that's also subjective on what someone considers a problem.

There are gangs -- and quasi-gangs and the wanna-bes, but not all kids get caught up in any of that and are unaffected for the most part.

[Muhnay]

Malamute, don't you think it says something about the school, when they have to have on site security?

The one in Mississippi my oldest son went to, had 2 on site police officers. They also had a no parent past the front lobby deal there, that made me very uneasy.

I still think our schools are rather safe.. just find it a bit scary that we have to have on site security now.. was not like back in my day. But then again, when you and some other kid had a beef you took it up after school mono-a-mono and no one got shot stabbed, and your homies did not jump in. Seemed more honorable.

[KimK]

Check out El Paso Country Day School. The lower campus is on Cliff Drive at Mesa near the University. It is private non-sectarian. My experience thus far is it is very good. Their teachers all have Masters Degrees. They have very small classes. It is a very diverse population. They graduate a high number of national merit scholars from the upper campus (6-12) given their total enrollment. Their students generally work one to two years above public grade levels. Good luck.

[malamute]

Originally Posted by Muhnay

Malamute, don't you think it says something about the school, when they have to have on site security?

The one in Mississippi my oldest son went to, had 2 on site police officers. They also had a no parent past the front lobby deal there, that made me very uneasy.

I still think our schools are rather safe.. just find it a bit scary that we have to have on site security now.. was not like back in my day. But then again, when you and some other kid had a beef you took it up after school mono-a-mono and no one got shot stabbed, and your homies did not jump in. Seemed more honorable.

Yes. That can be unnerving for people who aren't accustomed to having police stationed at the schools.

Still though --- a lot of kids can get through high school with out problems, some kids are never in a fight. But like a sheriff told me about a school near me -- some of the kids there are truly criminal and will soon be in prison.

The criminals tend to target each other -- or at least they have some reason for going after someone -- they'll leave many kids alone completely and those kids aren't afraid to go to school. But it is worse in some schools than others. I read that in spite of Franklin's good reputation there are more fights there.

[CART6940]

The Thing About The School Down Here Is That They Are Independent School Districts And You Need To Tell The School That Your Coming From That If They Mail School Records, Dont, Request That You Take Them Down Here. They Could Be Lost. They Will Do It In A Sealed Envelope With You. And Its Very Hard To Know What School District They Will Be In Until You Move Down Here And Decide Where Your Going To Live. I Moved Down Here About 5 Years Ago, And My Daughter Went Out Of School For About 6 Months And Bounced From School To School. I Enrolled Her Then They Called Me And Told Me That Id Have To Pay Extra For Her To Attend This School, Shes In The Wrong District, So The Refered Me To Another School, Then Another, And Another. Other Than That Its Wonderful Down Here. A Lot Of Sand And Dust. Properties Are Booming Because We Have An Influx Of About 30,000 Troops Coming To El Paso In The Next Five Years. The Houses Are Being Built, Faster Than I Thought They Would. I Moved To Indiana For About 1 1/2 Years, Then Came Back To El Paso And You Wouldnt Believe How Much Has Been Built Here. We Have Monsoons, Instead Of Rain And Winds, Here It Is Winds And Sand Blowing. Usually Happens In The Fall And Spring. I Just Bought 20 Acres Of Going Green For The World Land For 14,000, At The Beautiful Sunset Ranches. Well If You Have Any More Questions Please Feel Free To Email Me Back. Carmen

[CART6940]

Also The Schools Are About Half The Credited, Than Other Schools In The Us. So Your Child Will Loose About Half Of Their Credits. But You Only Need Half The Credits To Graduate Down Here.