78704 Schools (Travis Heights, Bouldin Creek) (Austin, Bowie: condos, house, neighborhood)

[bop109]

I am an Austinite looking to move to 78704. My prime spot would be the Zilker area because of the schools, but we may not be able to find a house there. So, my question is about the schools in the Travis Heights & Bouldin Creek areas. Elementary schools tend to not be an issue, but I worry a little about Fulmore and a lot about Travis High School. Fulmore I know has a magnet program so that is a positive, but growing up in Austin, Fulmore and Travis never had great reputations. So, a few questions:
1) Does anyone know the current culture of those two schools compared to the past? Is there a stong community feel? What is the staff like? Are their strong leaders?
2) Do you see those two schools changing as the area changes. I want a diverse culture, I do not want schools that are all about test scores because of low performance (I know this is hard to get away from in public schools).
I want to be clear that I LOVE the diversity this area can bring. My concern is the quality of teachers and staff at the school. I want my child to be taught real life problem solving NOT how to master a test.

Any advice/info from knowledgable people in the area is appreciated.

[Austinite101]

Originally Posted by bop109

I am an Austinite looking to move to 78704. My prime spot would be the Zilker area because of the schools, but we may not be able to find a house there. So, my question is about the schools in the Travis Heights & Bouldin Creek areas. Elementary schools tend to not be an issue, but I worry a little about Fulmore and a lot about Travis High School. Fulmore I know has a magnet program so that is a positive, but growing up in Austin, Fulmore and Travis never had great reputations. So, a few questions:
1) Does anyone know the current culture of those two schools compared to the past? Is there a stong community feel? What is the staff like? Are their strong leaders?
2) Do you see those two schools changing as the area changes. I want a diverse culture, I do not want schools that are all about test scores because of low performance (I know this is hard to get away from in public schools).
I want to be clear that I LOVE the diversity this area can bring. My concern is the quality of teachers and staff at the school. I want my child to be taught real life problem solving NOT how to master a test.

Any advice/info from knowledgable people in the area is appreciated.

As a current HS senior that has attended Bowie, Anderson, and LASA, and will be attending Akins this year, I will try and give you the general perception of Travis.

Travis HS is predominately Hispanic and the state test scores aren't the highest. Also, many of the Travis kids are low-income students. Generally speaking, most people at my previous schools did not think highly of the school. This was especially true with Bowie, but Bowie kids will tend to look down on any school that isn't Bowie anyways. However, while attending several AP tutoring sessions hosted at Travis and taught by Travis teachers, most of us had a change of heart. The teachers that lectured there were absolutely superb! Many of them were better than our own teachers as well. They truly cared about our success. The Travis kids that were there also seemed well rounded because of this. We were pleasantly surprised, you could say.

My theory is that the best teachers are often found where test scores aren't that hot. Of course Bowie and Anderson would have better state test scores; the students there are not as economically challenged as the Travis kids were. The most passionate teachers are not usually found in the most well-to-do schools in my opinion. It is regrettable that one can often predict how high test scores will be based on income.

In summary, if your kid wants to succeed, he will do well with the wonderful teachers that Travis has to offer.

P.S-

I 100% recommend doing the magnet program at Fulmore. We have Freshman coming from there that are already taking Calculus AB (usually an advanced senior level class) because they have already completed the prerequisites in middle school!

[yam]

I was under the impression that zilker housing was priced similarly to bouldin and Travis heights, after compensating for similar size/condition. Is this not the case, especially in the south end of the neighborhood? There's definitely lower priced stuff in zilker on the east side of Lamar and the older condos.

In any case, it seems like getting into zilker/Barton is worth the effort if you're worried about middle and high schools. Also so you might live amongst other school-oriented families.

[centralaustinite]

Travis High is over 88% Hispanic, with AA about another 10%, anglos are such a small number that usually their test scores aren't publicly available because the number is so small as to be possibly identifiable. The percentage of kids who are "economically disadvantaged" is also quite high (in the 80s).

There are very few high school aged kids in single family homes in Travis Heights and Bouldin, the small numbers who are there tend to go to LASA or the Fine Arts Academy at McCallum. Others to private school. Although there is an endless supply of five year olds in TH, the numbers steadily diminish throughout the grades.

The Fulmore magnet program is well-thought of and there is the Kealing MS magnet too.

All that said, I have had a fair amount of contact with staff at Travis HS and they always seem dedicated and very helpful. There is an active PTA and they have worked with the community on a variety of issues (successfully kept a gas station within 300 yards from selling alcohol etc) but it is a very different school than Bowie or Anderson.

As pointed out above Zilker/Barton Hills = Austin High.

[bop109]

Thank you all so much! I really appreciate each of you for taking the time to respond. I hope to continue hearing more replies.