Austin school choices- need parent perspectives

B

bozo_casanova

2,500+ Posts
My daughters (like all of your children, naturally) are very bright and their mother and I are trying to offer them the best options we can.

Next year my daughter will be entering the first grade, and we are looking at a number of options:

The public school close to our home, in Hays CISD. My wife was a public school elementary teacher (in AISD) a few years ago and has very strong feelings against sending our kids to public school, for all the reasons people get frustrated with the public school system. So that one would be a very, very tough sell

St. Andrew's - this school is by reputation the best school in Austin. It's also really expensive at ~14G/yr, plus a one-time 3 grand kicker up front. That would be $17G for a year of first grade. One of the things I'm worried about here is doing something for our older girl that we couldn't do for our younger child in two years.

Kirby Hall - reputed to be very rigorous academically (which I like), about half as much as St Andrews, but a little on the small side.

I should mention that I'm not entirely convinced that 1st grade is substantially different from one place to the next, beyond the hugely important crapshoot of how good the teacher is. But maybe I'm being naive. Am I?

Other...well, there are other choices but those are the main ones. Any thoughts or concerns on those schools? Recommendations about others? Anybody have kids in a public or private school in Austin that they like?
 
My twins are in first grade at Doss Elementary in Northwest Hills and we love it. Great teachers, active parents (but not pains in the *** for the most part), and surprisingly challenging. I swear they give kids homework a lot earlier now than they did when I was that age.
 
Where are you in HCISD? Elm Grove is excellent and Buda is also very good.

My kids were in private school and recently went into Elm Grove and Dahlstrom. Seems like they are doing pretty well there and I'm happy with the teachers and admin so far.
 
I'm interested in hearing where your wife taught. My mom was also an elementary teacher in AISD, and there is a huge disparity from one school to the next. I assume that's true in many school districts. (And I'm a product of the Hays ISD, though it looked very different then than now, and I turned out okay.)

Anyway, we have numerous friends with kids at both St Andrews and Kirby Hall, and for the most party, all are very happy at those schools. But, my kids go to a public school (admittedly a very good one), and I think 99% of the parents are very happy with that choice also.

There are also a lot of other options out there. Off the top of my head, I know that friends have been happy with Regents, St Austin's, and the Girls School.

I think that as long as you're involved (and it sounds like you will be) that your kids will get the education that they need.
 
Sarge- we would be over at Buda Elementary. I've heard Elm Grove is good. I've heard that about both, actually. We're over at the YMCA there by Elm Grove 4-5 days a week. Where did your kids go to private school? Our daughters both go to St. Davids downtown now, although that only goes through K.

CBS,
In reply to:
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My kids went to St. Pauls on Red River. I went there through 8th grade and so did my wife. It's our church and it is a good school, but the cost/quality curve crossed in the wrong direction about a year ago and I couldn't justify spending the money.

The curve crossed because of cost, not necessarily quality, but the effect was the same.

It's a **** lot cheaper than St. Andrews, though.
 
Bozo, I'm sure you recall our saga and our issues with AISD (not with individual teachers, or even a specific school, per se, but with the rigid bureaucratic BS that comes with an AISD school). We have actually sent our son to our neighborhood elementary (the same one our daughter started at), with the same teacher, who we love. We wanted to give AISD another chance.

We love our teacher. We like some of the families there. But we are also confirming that yup, we just don't like the public school system. So, our son will probably join our daughter at private school for first grade next year.

Our daughter is at Redeemer Lutheran School (interestingly, we also looked at St. Paul's). It is about $4400 a year, so it is WAY less than St. Andrews etc. Now, we have also learned the lesson that no school is perfect -- hell, I went to private school in Houston from 1st-12th grade, and I had a couple of bad years, bad teachers, etc. -- and I went to GREAT schools. But I will say that the system and environment is MUCH more of what we prefer. And it's hard to beat the price, relative to other private schools.

It's not far off of I-35 and 183, so not too hard to get to for you. Anyway, that's where we ended up after doing a lot of the same homework that you're doing.
 
I have a kid at St. Andrew's. There are some things we like a lot (particularly the non-academic activities) and some things we like quite a bit less--it isn't particularly challenging and I don't think the kids that go to school there are any more academically inclined than the average set of kids at any other school where the majority of the kids are the product of involved parents who value education. My kid is bored with school (he used to love it) and Chitwood's kids are doing more interesting classroom things than my kid is. That said, the teachers care and the administration cares. If you have questions you get answers. They may not always be what you want to hear but you talk to those who make the decisions which is a great thing.

We also looked at Trinity. Had it been solely my call that is probably where we would have gone but location isn't ideal for us. It is cheaper than St. Andrew's but not by much. I don't know much about Kirby Hall. Lots of Kirby Hall pre-k/k kids go to St. Andrew's for 1st grade.

Personally, I don't think it is worth the money for elementary school. I may (I actually think I will) change my mind about the value of the place once we get to middle school/high school, though.
 
Brisket- re: a couple of bad years- I went to 4 private schools, one of which was the highly regarded St. Marks School in Dallas, prior to graduating from public school.

The worst teacher I ever had, and maybe the worst educator I've ever been exposed to is still there. Of course, other people love him but that's my point- the truth is sometimes you're going to have teachers you don't like and be in classes where you don't learn a thing.

Horn9497- incredibly valuable perspective.
 
Move... and find a nice school path sand put the money into your home or into a savings account for college and post graduate. We used to live in Travis heights and loved living so close to downtown. However my vision was my third grader coming from from school with the cool mark on the back of her hand that they made with a ball point pin and a bobby pin, "it's cool Daddy it doesn't even wash off!"

So I moved Northwest to the best school path could find for my kids. Eanes would have been another choice but my in-laws were nearby so it was a no brainer- I live in Austin and am about a block from the edge of the RRISD boundary.

Your wife's experience is not valid. Simply because she is equating all public schools with her AISD experience. She could visit my child's elementary and it would not be remotely comparable to he AISD experience. I am saying this from my discussion with 4 teachers who were at AISD prior to moving to my daughter's school.

Here is kid's school path all RRISD- Caraway ElementaryThe Link, Canyon Vista Middle School, The LinkWestwood High School.The Link all links are from great schools which is a very good resource for evaluating choices.

I seriously doubt that your child would get an education if all in private school that would truly equate to a $168,000 advantage over my daughter. The rent house to fund her education would be a better investment. And yes you are correct that regarding the teacher being important. I have asked for and received the teacher I have requested every year of elementary school. I wrote notes explaining WHY I wanted a particular teacher relating to academics and my child's demeanor. Not Suzi REALLY wants Miss Smith!

Do yourself a favor and go to the Great Schools Site and compare the elementary your wife taught at with my kids, or the one where you live. I think you will probably find considerable differences.

At the elementary school level in particular parental involvement is the key, as well as an expectation of excellence. Another thing about my child's elementary is they truly have compassion, Seeing the autistic boy mainstreamed advance so very, very far in 3 years. Or the Down's syndrome child making huge advances as well are biggies to me. Teaching kids beyond academics is also important to me.

here is a study you may find interesting comparing public and private schools

I also think that it's neat for the children to play sports with the kids in the neighborhood they go to school with, and form long term bonds that they may carry through high school and beyond. Opinions differ to be sure. But I went to a pretty darn good public school in Houston and roomed as a freshman with three graduates from St Marks in Dallas. Only the nerd that didn't even drink surpassed my 3.9 GPA that Fall... and I was partying like a wold animal. I think if you can excel in public school you can do great things. the "nerd" dropped out two years later when he finally discovered drinking and partying and couldn't balance the fun and academics. Of course I also think kids who can perform at a high level and do many other activities are better suited to college than those that don't have 4 balls in the air all the time....
 
I'll add that there are people whose opinions I value who are really happy with St. Andrew's and I may be in the minority (probably am in the minority). I don't place much value on the religous portion of the eduction and I know that some do and that is great. Just relaying my opinions and what I see with my kiddo.
 
i think Regents school of Austin is worth mentioning and may be quite competitive with St. Andrews (in my circles it is considered the best in Austin). at any rate, i have known many students who went there and they do seem like the cream of the crop.

another school that a bunch of our friends have their kids at is "city school." it is fairly new but it is far more diverse than most private schools and has a sliding scale in terms of price based upon your finances. we are planning on sending our children there...
 
I don't have any inside info on the entrance exams for kindergarten, but my guess is that one of the purposes is it provides a way for the schools to meet the child in person and determine whether the child has any special needs that the school is not equipped to handle.
 
I don't understand the desire to send your kids to private school. As this is a Quacks thread I would be happy for the reasoning.

Parents in the freaking woodlands, probably one of the best public schools in the country, pony up 20k to send their kids to Cooper. I just don't get it, please help.

I was valedictorian, national merit scholar and state champion in varous academic events as well as playing in the state championship in golf. I was very plugged in and even at a little bitty 3A school I managed to find tons of enriching, wonderful things to do, all while not spending a dime on my education and being in a more or less "normal" envrionment.

What is the compulsion toward private school- especially the little ones. I don't get it. Please explain it to me BC or brisket or some of you others that are posting here that are sensible people.
 
Wulaw. It is probably a number of things: some valid, some silly, some offensive.

1. You live in a bad school district
2. Snobbiness
3. Racism
4. often a religious based curriculum is used
5. Variety of opportunities (sports, clubs, music, the arts, etc)
6. Unmatched resources available
7. keeping up with the Jones'

Before i had kids, i felt strongly convicted to the "public school" route for my future children. Once they were born, my perspective changed a bit and my thinking became, no matter what, i want to be sure they get every opportunity to learn and succeed, no matter what type of school it ultimately leads you to.

Not sure where my children will end up (public or private), but i am keeping all my options open and will look for what is best for my children. [and of course, what i can afford]
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Horn9497

My kids are on the same track as yours. One of the things that I've really been impressed with is the Casis teachers' ability to "compartmentalize" the classes and keep each kid working on their own levels so that the advanced kids aren't bored. In fact, in first grade, my daughter and another girl were way above reading level, and the teacher worked very hard to find books that would challenge them while also not getting into teen topics I'm nowhere near ready to think about.

And since you're in the neighborhood, I'm sure you've talked to others, but I can't imagine it's possible to get an education worth $14k more than a Casis education.
 
Yo-

that's why I specifically mentioned the Woodlands, which has great schools, extensive extra curricular activities and doesn't lack for any challenge of any kind, yet parents opt their kids out and opt for 20k a year in private education by large numbers- I don't get it.

4 (religious) curriculum makes a certain amount of sense to me I guess, but it can't be race as there aren't really anyone but whites to speak of in the woodlands (and those of color are rich so I wouldn't think they'd be in any way threatening) so it's got to be something else driving it.

2 or 7 is all I can think of.

The thing is I don't think BC is like that, nor is Brisket, so that's kinda why I asked them b/c the whole thing doesn't make much sense from a development or financial perspective.
 
i know a girl that's a teacher at st. andrews. i would not let her teach my kids (i don't have any yet) how to tie their shoe

my wife is a first grade teacher at an EANES school and we would have no problem sending our kids to that school (we don't have kids and we would send them there regardless if my wife taught there or not).

that said, my wife seems to know more about the schools than i do. she said our kids could go to casis (it's in our hood) and that middle school would have to be somewhere else. again, we don't have kids yet.
 
We're on the Casis/OHenry/AHS track but are also looking at St.Andrew's as it is around the corner from our house and have heard great things about it. For us, we are looking at private b/c our oldest seems to thrive in smaller, less hectic settings and we like all the non-classroom options St.Andew's offers. Before having children I was also commited to sending my kids the public route, but now that feeling is less clear. Part of me thinks we should allow our daughter to "fight" her way through big classes and all the other issues that come with public schools, but another part of me wants to expose her to situations that would probably suit her best.

Also, I am not convinced the difference between Casis and St.Andrews is worth the cost, but from what most around here tell me, the difference between St.Andrews and O'Henry and AHS is.

Horn9497 - Does St.Andrews not have Accelerated Reading and Math for kids who are a little ahead? Not sure what grade your child is in, but I thought I read that started in the 2nd grade? If there is no real accelerated program, that would concern me, b/c our daughter seems to have inherited my wife's intelligience.

One last thing, my kids go to a neighborhood Child's Day Out program, and most of the kids will be attending Casis. A LOT of her classmates are very spoiled and kind of bratty. As St.Andrews draws kids from all over, I am hoping this will be less of a problem there...Horn9497 - any insight on how the kids are in general?

Thanks.
 
I figure most kids on the Casis/O'Henry/Austin High or Brykerwoods/O'Henry/Austin High track are in pretty good shape. 95% of kids attending those schools, who have concerned parents that value education, would do plenty fine.

As far as O'Henry.. I figure most Middle Schools get bashed, 6th, 7th and 8th grade is just a hellish time in most kids life. Not an easy age group to educate to be sure.
 
cbs- That's good to know. I'm guessing my daughter's CDO class is more a reflection of the parents than the neighborhood in general. Most of my neighbors' kids seem normal, but I'm floored by the kids in her class.

And yeah, spoiled is relative...
 
Wulaw, it's a good question. I don't want this to turn into the public vs. private school debate, but I guess there's no avoiding that.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge believer in public education, and I also believe that a bright kid with support at home will be fine wherever. The concerns, as I mentioned above, have more to do with
1) a defanged, lowest common denominator approach to topics
2) teaching to the TAKS, drilling to the TAKS, the TAKS
3) discipline issues
4) lack of adequate PE (this is an issue with Kirby Hall as well, in my view)
5) Demoralized, deprofessionalized teachers (as opposed to high turnover in private)
6) politicized Nonsense, and the risk of more politicized nonsense.
7) etc.

Like I said, I'm not concerned about these things so much in the first grade, but the reason why the first grade is critical is that it becomes much more difficult to get into a private school after.

Actually, one of the things that people have said to my wife is: "why don't y'all just move to Eanes?" (or equivilent)
There are a number of reasons why that's not the answer:

1) Overly competitive parents trying to get their kids ahead through cheating and system gaming. (Also true to a lesser degree with private)

2) Cocaine, weed, and steroid issues (although I don't anticipate my girls wanting to do roids). And my friends who went to Eanes schools are no exception. And turned out fine, btw.

3) Promiscuity, though I'm not sure it's more rampant in Eanes than other places. Still, that's part of the appeal of nerd schools.

4) Lack of diversity (true also with private school). This is a big deal for me.
And the really big one:
5) Same academic issues as other public districts, i.e. testing and curriculum

I'm just very concerned about the level of instruction in texas public schools. And I'm not saying that my kid is too good for it, I'm saying that everybody's kids are too good for it.
 
BC- appreciate your take (and I'm not trying to be argumentative but...)

those issues 1-6 (7 was just an etc) I just don't see in MANY public schools around me and where I grew up. Now, I'm talking about the suburbs which is different of course then innercity. but the schools I see/saw are safe, academically rigorous and the preparatoin for higher education and life was just fine.

That being said- I've little to no experience with city schools (though it is almost exclusively where I'm applying to teach and really for the idea that I can't see having as much of an impact at a suburb school as a city school). So, I get that. I guess that's where the suggestion to move to Eanes (I know nothing about it) comes from. People do that all the time and I don't question or wonder about there decision, so in essence they are "opting out" of their local school by moving. I suppose that's not different really.

But, I would say if you have a viable school district do it and don't waste the money (again not talking or thinking about you, more the people in the woodlands that I referenced earlier) or segregate your kid.

JMO and I'm sure it might change when i teach and it might change if/when I have kids.
 
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