Anderson versus Bowie?? Need help with neighborhoods, schools (Austin, Highland Park: for sale, real estate)

[dpinala]

We need to rent initially because we have another house to sell and I don't see anything in the Doss area (and very slim pickings in the Hill area) or Circle C area in our price range ($1,500 or under). Can anyone else make recommendations of good elementary school experiences/neighborhoods in the Anderson and/or Bowie zones? The school feeder patterns I see listed on houses for lease are:
Hill/Murchison/Anderson
Summitt/Murchison/Anderson
Pillow/Burnet/Anderson
Patton/Small/Bowie
Cowan/Covington/Bowie

Any thoughts or suggestions will be much appreciated!

[bridgebats]

Originally Posted by dpinala

We need to rent initially because we have another house to sell and I don't see anything in the Doss area (and very slim pickings in the Hill area) or Circle C area in our price range ($1,500 or under). Can anyone else make recommendations of good elementary school experiences/neighborhoods in the Anderson and/or Bowie zones? The school feeder patterns I see listed on houses for lease are:
Hill/Murchison/Anderson
Summitt/Murchison/Anderson
Pillow/Burnet/Anderson
Patton/Small/Bowie
Cowan/Covington/Bowie

Any thoughts or suggestions will be much appreciated!

From your list, I would go with Hill/Murchison/Anderson. Like other posters have said, Bowie will lose the Circle C kids at some point in the future when they build a new HS. Anderson should be a better long-term investment because their student body should remain the same. I would not recommend Burnet MS, especially when feeding into Anderson. The majority of the Anderson class is made up of Murchison students as (I believe) the entire school feeds to Anderson. Hill is a good school and Summitt is an okay school.

As far as HS goes, the most important factors will be the AP classes that they offer and what percentage of the students are college-bound. If the students don't sign up for the AP courses, they're dropped as options (this is why some smaller schools will provide sub-par educations). If your kids are friends with the right crowd, they'll be highly motivated to keep up with their peers and enroll in the tough courses.

[clarksvillemom]

plus Anderson has an IB program. I'd always thought Anderson as ranking higher than Bowie. I agree that the areas arond there are "better" than south austin areas, but everyone has their faves.

[AMJ27]

Originally Posted by jd411

Yes its still desirable. There are other neighborhoods bordering Circle C that are still nice. Also, immediately on the other side of Mopac, Sendera is a nice community and zoned to Bowie.

I seem to run into a lot of unhappy people who live in Sendera. I think it is zoned to Cowan which isn't as desirable as Clayton, Kiker, Mills, or Baldwin.

Legend Oaks and Villages of Western Oaks is zoned to Mills. That would be my second choice if I wasn't able to get Circle C elementary schools, but wanted to be zoned to Bowie. I think part of Legend Oaks is Patton for elementary and Austin for high school so keep that in mind.

[AMJ27]

Originally Posted by dpinala

We need to rent initially because we have another house to sell and I don't see anything in the Doss area (and very slim pickings in the Hill area) or Circle C area in our price range ($1,500 or under). Can anyone else make recommendations of good elementary school experiences/neighborhoods in the Anderson and/or Bowie zones? The school feeder patterns I see listed on houses for lease are:
Hill/Murchison/Anderson
Summitt/Murchison/Anderson
Pillow/Burnet/Anderson
Patton/Small/Bowie
Cowan/Covington/Bowie

Any thoughts or suggestions will be much appreciated!

Based only on what I hear from the "mommy grapevine," I would avoid the Cowan/Covington track.

[tibbar]

I believe Patton/Small/Bowie is incorrect. From my home in Westcreek it is now Patton/Small/Austin. When we bought in 1988 it was Patton/O'Henry/Bowie.....my how things change.

Westcreek may have what you want in drive time and schools.

[zhugeliang1]

r as being more desireable schools, good luck even finding a home in Doss Elem.

Heh heh, being a grad student in those days I rented a place along Far West Blvd, that is how I got to send the kids to Doss.

We're thinking of returning to the area, hopefully Andersen hasn't changed much.

[centralaustinite]

You can also apply to the IB program and get into Anderson that way! (no matter where you live in AISD).

[JERiv]

Somewhat off-topic, but, what's up with "Bowie will lose the Circle C kids at some point in the future when they build a new HS."?

I know there are plans to someday, somewhere, build a high school "somewhere" in the South Austin (SE, S, or SW), but to my knowledge, that's still pretty far away from ever becoming a reality, and I've heard nothing that says that they've decided to build it closer to Circle C.

Doesn't really make sense that they would. Bowie's basically at the entrance of Circle C, really. Makes more sense that they'd build it elsewhere.

Has a land purchase been made? Any decisions been made public that indicate that this would be the case?

Thanks!

[Austinite101]

Originally Posted by JERiv

Somewhat off-topic, but, what's up with "Bowie will lose the Circle C kids at some point in the future when they build a new HS."?

I know there are plans to someday, somewhere, build a high school "somewhere" in the South Austin (SE, S, or SW), but to my knowledge, that's still pretty far away from ever becoming a reality, and I've heard nothing that says that they've decided to build it closer to Circle C.

Doesn't really make sense that they would. Bowie's basically at the entrance of Circle C, really. Makes more sense that they'd build it elsewhere.

Has a land purchase been made? Any decisions been made public that indicate that this would be the case?

Thanks!

I was thinking the same thing. It will most likely go somewhere between Akins and Bowie.