private and public high schools in houton (Bellaire, St. Jo: 2013, transfer)

[Highschools]

My daughter is in 8th grade. We applied for admission to St. John's and Kinkaid. We are not sure if she can get into these two schools. Its passed the deadlines for other good private schools (AWTY, St. Agnes). Here is my questions:

1). How is St. Thomas Episcopal School? The deadline is Feb 1st.

2). I am also thinking if she can't get into the two schools, should we apply next year, for 10th grade?

3). Good public school is also an option. How is Bellarie High School compared to Clement High School, which one is better for girls?

Any help would be appreciated!

[SteelBubble]

My little brother graduated from St. Thomas' Episcopal School. I transferred out of STES after the 8th grade. It's a decent school, but because of its size, resources are limited. You won't find as many options, clubs, and activities at STES compared to St. John's and Kinkaid. It's a very conservative and old-fashioned school, though it's slowly changing. If you're looking for a smaller, close-knit environment for your child, then STES is a great option. I don't think there is any harm in applying. It'll just give you more options.

Bellaire High School is a great school if you're in its accelerated program. I forget what it's called exactly. But because of its large size, the experience is up to the student. If your child is highly motivated, then Bellaire will be just fine. You won't get the individual attention at Bellaire. That doesn't mean you can't succeed. I have a lot of friends that graduated from Bellaire and went on to pretty good schools, such as Rice.

[Highschools]

Thank you for your reply. It's very helpful.

[CindyDavis]

Originally Posted by Highschools

My daughter is in 8th grade. We applied for admission to St. John's and Kinkaid. We are not sure if she can get into these two schools. Its passed the deadlines for other good private schools (AWTY, St. Agnes). Here is my questions:

1). How is St. Thomas Episcopal School? The deadline is Feb 1st.

2). I am also thinking if she can't get into the two schools, should we apply next year, for 10th grade?

3). Good public school is also an option. How is Bellarie High School compared to Clement High School, which one is better for girls?

Any help would be appreciated!

I don't know much about St. Thomas Episcopal.

If your daughter doesn't gain admission into either St. John's or Kinkaid in 9th grade, the likelihood is that the opportunity to get into those schools has past. I have seen rare cases of 10th grade or even 11th grade admittance, but only in the cases of new families moving into town that are sponsored by a prominent family at one of the schools.

Bellaire is a good school if your student can gain admittance to the accelerated program.

[Houston321]

I don't think conservative and old fashioned is necessarily a bad thing IMO.

[crbcrbrgv]

I have a "Tale of two" relatives story about Clements involving my nephew and step-niece.

My nephew is an outstanding student. He is going to get into any school he chooses. Clements is outstanding for top level students.

As for my step-niece, she's just average. And because of this, she was left behind.

Clements doesn't really have time for kids that don't improve their image. That's kind of the way it is.

Bellaire, on the other hand, does (to an extent). The reason is simple, though. While Bellaire has a vast variety of demographics, Clements does not.

My daughter is zoned to Bellaire High, but it's looking as though she'll go to HSPVA (fingers crossed!). If she doesn't get in, I find Bellaire to be a fine alternative. She is in the accelerated program at the junior high level and will have taken Geometry before she steps foot into any high school.

So, I guess the moral of the story is keep your kids in the accelerated/Pre-AP/GT type classes.

[Highschools]

Originally Posted by SteelBubble

My little brother graduated from St. Thomas' Episcopal School. I transferred out of STES after the 8th grade. It's a decent school, but because of its size, resources are limited. You won't find as many options, clubs, and activities at STES compared to St. John's and Kinkaid. It's a very conservative and old-fashioned school, though it's slowly changing. If you're looking for a smaller, close-knit environment for your child, then STES is a great option. I don't think there is any harm in applying. It'll just give you more options.

Bellaire High School is a great school if you're in its accelerated program. I forget what it's called exactly. But because of its large size, the experience is up to the student. If your child is highly motivated, then Bellaire will be just fine. You won't get the individual attention at Bellaire. That doesn't mean you can't succeed. I have a lot of friends that graduated from Bellaire and went on to pretty good schools, such as Rice.

Do you know know which colleges most of St. Thomas' Episcopal School seniors go to? We need to make decision between St. Thomas and Bellaire High School. I can see college acceptance information (2013) from Bellaire High School website, but don't have any idea for St. Thomas' Episcopal ( only 5 years) cumulative data available .

[KatieKennedy]

Bellaire has a lot of very high performing kids, usually Asian, that make National Merit Scholar. Bellaire draws from a very diverse zoning base. Bellaire has the most National Merit Scholars after St. John's. I imagine Bellaire has more college acceptances to Ivy League schools than St. Thomas Episcopal does. Bellaire is huge compared to St. Thomas Episcopal so they will have more students admitted to more schools across the board. The two schools are very different.