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i love this forum and after reading and reading (and driving and driving) i am as confused as ever.
i live in central austin in a big old house, and i love a lot about this part of town. i value the funky, the quirky, the creative, the diverse. independent non chain businesses too.
BUT with about to be school aged kids, i am starting to get concerned about AISD schools. namely, i (like every other parent) want them to have the "best." (and what the heck does "best" mean? that's part of the problem i am having. test scores are not enough to convince me. tours tell me so little. i am lacking in real information!)
i have toured multiple schools, talked to people, read forums, and still, i don't feel like i am getting a clear picture of the schools (aisd or eanes).
i do love the idea that in eanes they will be in strong schools from K through high school. living in AISD seems to be a patchwork: elementary will probably be good, middle will be a crapshoot if you can't get into a magnet, same with high schools.
i fear the eanes schools are not as creative? (am i wrong?)
on the house front: what i can afford in eanes is pretty suburban looking (woodhaven, some stuff across from eanes elementary, the walsh tarlton/bee caves area) -- which in some ways is nice because it's low key and down to earth. but i really do not love the look of the place, at least compared to the older homes and funky restaurants and shops and overall vibe of central. that's totally personal, i know, but the brown-on-brown homes and plain lawns...well, it hurts my eyes. but that is total personal preference. (side note: i feel like the SURROUNDINGS that kids are exposed to are also a part of their education, and i fear that placing them in a more architecturally bland, less historical (newer) environment would also be detrimental. prove me wrong, people!)
THAT SAID -- it's no longer all about me. or being hip. or being close to a cool bar or shop. it's about the kids. which is why i am trying to wrap my head around moving to westlake "for the schools."
negatives: is it a creative place to live? are there artists, writers, musicians, homebrewers, weirdos, (a few) democrats? i didn't see any huge gardens the way you do in central, for example. (i DID see lots of neighborhood dogs taking strolls on their own, which i liked). i fear that we will be the town freaks, which i can handle, but i would like to find other central "types" (god, i can't believe i just wrote that) like ourselves out there.
positives: people who move to eanes are probably doing so for the same reason i am -- they value school above all else. that can never be a bad thing in my book. also: more kids running around. our central austin hood is full of older couples without kids and UT students. also: westlake high sounds pretty exciting - like a mini college. all the teachers have grad degrees, is that right? i like the idea of inspiring and (gently) pushing the kids to be their best. i have never set foot inside of a local high school though so its all just hearsay.
i guess it boils down to this: is there anyone here who has moved from AISD to EANES for the schools? and have you been happy with the choice? school and hood, one or the other or both?
THANK YOU!!
p.s. i do like the cuernavaca area vibe but we need to be close as possible to austin for work that's too far.
p.p.s. holding out hope for something (a stenger!) we can afford in rollingwood too
Why not private school? It may be significantly cheaper than the difference in real estate price and possibly a better education depending on your kids.
Eanes schools, like most really good public schools, are good because they are full of kids from families that are educated themselves and value education. It doesn't hurt of course that these families have money, and Eanes ISD can afford many good things (even with the bite of Robin Hood). The Eanes area is further blessed that it is aging, which provides a tax base larger than its relative enrollment.
AISD schools tend to deteriorate from elementary to middle to high school because as the campus grows in size the favorable demographics of a good elementary school is progressively diluted by a larger attendance zone.
How do you define a "creative" school? Why do you fear Eanes schools aren't creative (whatever than means). Eanes is probably less diverse than any AISD area. But the teachers, their methods, and facilities are probably at least as "creative" as any others you might look at. This isn't a regimented environment like Japan or South Korea.
Funny. You sound like us. If we didnt have kids, there is no doubt that we would be downtown. I mean right downtown
But we do. And after an extremely diligent review of the private school scene, we came to a conclusion. Once you get past St. Andrew's and St. Stephen's, it is a tie/wash in comparing other private schools academically to the Gifted & Talented program in Eanes ISD. There are many that will reply with flaming disagreement. And I absolutely understand there are other non-academic reasons to send kids to private schools. I respect that.
Of course the other issue with doing something like St. Andrew's is if you live downtown, you kind of put all the eggs in that basket, assuming you would not be happy with the public schools.
We are now at Eanes schools and happy with it. The parental involvement is key. Call this what you will, perhaps not politically correct, etc.; but there are many Professors, Lawyers, Doctors, etc. here, and they all value education a lot. So what you find in the classrooms and school is a lot of family involvement, volunteering is expected, not optional, etc. And the teachers, many of who grew up in Eanes, UT, etc. are all very happy to be here. I think that if you moved to somewhere off Bee Caves, as close as you could afford to Mopac, you would find that you would still be downtown a lot, taking advantage of the "funk", etc.
Your mileage may vary of course, etc. And this is just one person's point of view. thanks
--private school is waaay out of our price range (we have 2 kids). (i read 40 grand a year for high school at one in central austin ) we can sell our central house for around the same price it will cost to buy one in the low key areas of eanes district. (low 400s). and darn it i LIKE public schools.
--the creative thing, yeah, hard to define. i guess i fear that wealthy area=parents who are concerned with kids getting good SAT test scores=good colleges above all. and i fear that wealthy areas might have more parents who are concerned first and foremost with making money (after all, that is how they got to be wealthy in the first place) and thus they don't put a premium on their kids becoming, say, poets or painters. ha. really, i just want the kids to have some freedom (of thought) and be allowed to get messy, do hands on work, etc. i have to take a school tour in january to really get a sense.
--curious, i think i am going to have to email you directly -- your post made me smile!!
--i still wonder, and would like to begin a list for myself, of what a "great" school is. small classes, teachers with innovative ideas...good environment to learn...it's tough to quantify.
There is NO high school in Austin that costs $40K! More like $20-22K for St. Stephen's, St. Andrews, Rawson-Saunders, much less for Khabele, Regents, Griffin, HPB, St. Michael's.
We live central and chose to do the private school route (we have some extra reasons for doing so) but are very happy with our choice. Have you toured Westlake HS? Or just deeply explored their website? Drill down into the curriculum choices, and of course, check out Keep Eanes Informed Home for a critical take on the district.
Good luck, Austin-Steve will have some sensible things to say about private school and Eanes, too.
Frankly, with terms like "small classes, innovative teachers, good learning environment, hands on, freedom of thought" you sound like you are describing Austin private schools!
One of the funny things I notice about wealthy people is that many seem preoccupied with sending their kids to small elite private colleges. And many of them are liberal arts schools. These kids are getting history degrees at $55K per year.
So while I agree many wealthy parents want their kids to be successful, many are not worried if they spend $200K on college and their child can't get a job that pays more than one year of college. Because the parents will take care of them.
I am not one of those people. (just to be clear - my kids all attended Lake Travis schools). My only real experience with Eanes is through friends and paying attention to the data (achievement, funding, taxes, bonds, etc.) related to many school districts.
ha, centralaustin, i did mean 40 for TWO kids in high school ya caught me
i will have to email you about the school choice you made...i also want that neighborhood thing where the kids in your hood also go to your school. couldnt get that with private...but maybe i am asking too much!
Well everyone defines "great" differently. I think small class sizes are part of it, as are enrichment options, curriculum that goes beyond the traditional, lots of hands on opportunities, etc. This also depends a lot on the ages of your kids. Some of the private schools can be very rigid for a young kid, especially boys.
"Centralaustinite" suggestions are good. Although we are one family that thinks the KeepEanesInformed site is useless. It is easy to pick issues and problems with any school district or private school for that matter. Anyone can put up a website and pick out all the negative stuff and post it. We went into our evaluation taking that site seriously, and came out completely disregarding it.
Westlake HS puts out as many if not more ivy league acceptances as many of the private schools, but it is definitely an environment that the wrong kid can get lost in, and influenced in the wrong ways. It is the size of a college campus. it is hard to argue with the means available to that school and all the options for extracurriculars. For the right kid, I think it can be phenomenal.
Our current plan is to keep our kids at Eanes elementary schools and consider private for middle/high once we learn more about their styles, etc. We just didnt find enough differences at the elementary ages here. In Dallas, where we came from, there was much more of a private school focus. Quality private schools. There, you could find 4-6 or so really great private schools that were consistently and objectively viewed as better than the best public schools. Our take is that here in Austin that number is much smaller, maybe only a couple.
Well everyone defines "great" differently. I think small class sizes are part of it, as are enrichment options, curriculum that goes beyond the traditional, lots of hands on opportunities, etc. This also depends a lot on the ages of your kids. Some of the private schools can be very rigid for a young kid, especially boys.
Westlake HS puts out as many if not more ivy league acceptances as many of the private schools, but it is definitely an environment that the wrong kid can get lost in, and influenced in the wrong ways. It is the size of a college campus. it is hard to argue with the means available to that school and all the options for extracurriculars. For the right kid, I think it can be phenomenal.
I think you hit it right on the head! So much depends on the particular child and their learning style, personality, health, etc. If your child is a "fit" for Westlake HS or LASA or Westwood -- you've won the lottery and will get a very high quality education for free! Other kids will be absolutely miserable at the same schools. Some kids can handle the learning style but will be overwhelmed by the size of the school and lack the organizational and self-help skills to navigate. Others will have particular academic strengths and weaknesses that make them a square peg in a round hole. Others will have learning differences, medical conditions, etc that make the pace and size of large public schools hard. Some parents will want their misfit kids to "gut it out" others will want to find a learning environment that better fits their kid.
There is no single place that can guarantee that every single kid will thrive. You have to be attuned to each particular child and learn about what options are available.
It is not easy.
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that's too far.
