New SW High School (Houston, Austin: 2013, transfer to, purchase)

[suit-n-tie white guy]

The underenrolled schools wont close if suburbanites transfer in from their overcrowded schools. They wont close anyways. If they havent during a fiscal emergency then they wont during flush times either.

[cm4]

Just so I don't have to reread the entire thread, what do you do for middle school and high school if you buy that less expensive home zoned to schools that are ranked lower?

I know there are the magnet programs, but they do have an application process and not ever kid will be accepted or be happy there if they do get accepted.

[centralaustinite]

Originally Posted by cm4

Just so I don't have to reread the entire thread, what do you do for middle school and high school if you buy that less expensive home zoned to schools that are ranked lower?

I know there are the magnet programs, but they do have an application process and not ever kid will be accepted or be happy there if they do get accepted.

Magnet (LASA, Anderson IB,) Kealing or Fulmore Magnet for MS, many people in Austin go private for just middle school (Paragon, St. Francis, St. Andrews, St. Stephens) then go back to public, or stay private. People also move at MS or HS time.

For us, living central in a house that was less expensive then a house with similar amenities that tracks to Anderson, and saving the property tax on that extra value make private school more reasonable.

[Aquitaine]

Holy moly more STTWG self-congratulatory back-slaps for escaping realtor hive mind groupthink.

My wife and I are childless and likely to be childless for anywhere from 5 years to all our remaining years. Jury's still out.

SW Austin and Circle C were worth every penny to us. Even if we don't have kids, we can always sell our place to people who will - and while we're probably in the minority for Circle C in not planning on kids, I'll take our view, our deck, the amenities, and my thirty second commute to my home office over 78745 or 78704. 78745 had cheaper stuff but we found 78704 to be very expensive.

[cm4]

To each their own. My parents moved us 4 times in elementary school, with the last stop an hour bus ride to school. It sucked every time I had to move and make new friends. That's probably the main reason I wanted my kids to grow up in one neighborhood and be able to walk/bike to school.

It's worked out for my family, but I understand everyone has to make the most of their situation.

If you are willing to drive your kid to a good school every day, then you are probably a good parent and doing what you think is best for your kid, versus just letting them fend for themselves.

The more values you can instill in your kids in elementary school the better. Once they hit MS, you get the "who put you in charge?" look, so it might be a little late if you wait until then to get involved.

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by Aquitaine

...78745 had cheaper stuff but we found 78704 to be very expensive.

That's exactly right.

Current Active Listings South/SW:
78745: $200K avg list, 1589 sqft avg, $129 per sqft avg
78704: $582K avg list, 2250 sqft avg, $263 per sqft avg
78749: $261K avg list, 2210 sqft avg, $120 per sqft avg
78739: $408K avg list, 3287 sqft avg, $124 per sqft avg

From a price per sqft standoint, SW Austin is cheaper than the closer-in South areas, but they're all in the $120s per sqft except for 78704, which is a lifestyle/location zip code, not a "schools seeker" zipcode, except maybe for some of the elementary schools.

For those of us who grew up hitting Kerby Lane at 3AM, shopping at Whole Foods and Wheatsville Coop, and enjoying the home grown flavor of Austin-based businesses, low and behold, look what you get in SW Austin now. Kerbey Lane, Alamo Draft House, Whole Foods, P-Terrys, and more - all in the 78749 zip. The HEB at Slaughter/Escarpment has basically been essentially a Central Market Jr. since opening. These are the things that draw people, along with good schools of course, but we sell to a lot of non-kid buyers in SW Austin as well.

Steve

Steve

[TexasHorseLady]

Here's the thing about "good schools". You can't just follow the stats and put your kid in what the stats say is a "good school" and all will be well - and that goes for private schools as well as public schools.

In our own family, the private school that was awesome for our son would have been a disaster for our daughter, and vice versa. The top ten in the country middle and high school that I attended was a disaster for me because I wanted to learn and think and they wanted the students to record and play back so they'd get the great test scores and keep their top ten rating (great for property values) and students thinking could mess that up. For some, that was a great way to learn - for me, not so much (and the impact of that followed me all the way to college). But two children, in the same family, needed vastly different kinds of schools and instruction - how much more difficult is it to make one school that is "good" for everyone.

So, in choosing the "best" school, you need to consider your own individual child and what their needs are and what kind of instruction they best respond to. That should take priority over all sorts of gimmicky thinking regarding real estate, which is what sntwg is advocating.

[centralaustinite]

FWIW, I think that STTWG long-term perspective on the very close in south central schools is wrong. AISD has plans to close them and build a new, large (800+ students) elementary to replace the older south central elementary schools. Becker is especially at risk because it is two stories and there are building code and ADA requirements that they can't meet. When exactly this will happen, who knows, but in the next 10 years would be my guess. I think a private school would buy or lease the Barton Hills facility, maybe Becker too.

And of course, THL is right on -- the individual student matters so much when choosing a school. Some kids will thrive anywhere, we have some special, unique circumstances that are rarely replicated that make private school the best choice for us.

Steve -- the market is definitely picking up in 78704 but I think that the stats are bit distorted by the high number of sellers in 04 who have been stubborn and who wouldn't come down in price. There are homes on the market now who have been on and off the market for three years!! But now there is movement. Last home on my street took 2+ years to sell, now one just went under contract after a week. There are buyers for 04 as well as SW.

But IS wonderful that so many central schools with high numbers of low-income and ESL students are exemplary and recognized (Dawson, Becker, Allison, Pillow, etc).

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by centralaustinite

FWIW, I think that STTWG long-term perspective on the very close in south central schools is wrong. AISD has plans to close them and build a new, large (800+ students) elementary to replace the older south central elementary schools. Becker is especially at risk because it is two stories and there are building code and ADA requirements that they can't meet. When exactly this will happen, who knows, but in the next 10 years would be my guess. I think a private school would buy or lease the Barton Hills facility, maybe Becker too.

And of course, THL is right on -- the individual student matters so much when choosing a school. Some kids will thrive anywhere, we have some special, unique circumstances that are rarely replicated that make private school the best choice for us.

Steve -- the market is definitely picking up in 78704 but I think that the stats are bit distorted by the high number of sellers in 04 who have been stubborn and who wouldn't come down in price. There are homes on the market now who have been on and off the market for three years!! But now there is movement. Last home on my street took 2+ years to sell, now one just went under contract after a week. There are buyers for 04 as well as SW.

But IS wonderful that so many central schools with high numbers of low-income and ESL students are exemplary and recognized (Dawson, Becker, Allison, Pillow, etc).

Agreed. "List Price" is always higher than "sold" prices. It was just easier to pull those stats fast for comparison purposes.

About "Exemplary", I'm not fully up to speed on the "fake" exemplary status and if that's still used. In 2010 the number of "Exemplary" schools skyrocketed because of some insane viewpoint which said, essentially, "this school isn't exemplary, but it's on its way to being so, so we shall call it so". That was the Texas Performance Measure or something. It would be like a D+ student raising up to a C+ the following year, and the teacher saying "your improvement is so good we're going to call you an "A Student".

So, I'm dubious of Exemplary ever since then, unless the school had a previous track record of achieving that rating for many years prior.

Steve

[Aquitaine]

We had a similar issue in NYC, where they would have a failing school that had, say, a 25% rate of kids at grade level, and then they'd improve to have a 50% rate of kids at grade level. While certainly a good thing, it's still a failing school, but they'd remove the designation.