Opportunities for kids in big school systems? (San Antonio, Austin: neighborhoods, elementary school)

[Suebee51]

Hello All! We're moving to Austin next month ( husband's job, family in Austin) from the Boston suburbs, and are really excited. As you can imagine, it's a big transition for our kids, who have been in one elementary school in our town about 17 miles outside the city. One question I have not been able to answer for them: when you go to a very large high school like Lake Travis or Westlake, what can you do if you want to play soccer but you don't make the school team? Or if you want to play field hockey and don't make the team? Here a school may have a freshman team, a JV team and a varsity team. Our town's HS is about 600 kids so if you're good you'll probably make the team, and you might make it even if you're not good! Are there town teams? Or are there more than one school teams? They have lots of other activities they do and for those, I think they'll be so much better off in a larger school, but I'm curious about the sports.

Also, in another post, someone told the California teacher that if she wants to find ultra-liberal people they are concentrated "in the west". does Westlake have that reputation? Or do they mean somewhere else? Frankly one of the reasons I'm happy to leave Massachusetts after many years is because I'm tired of the self righteous Yankee mentality that everyone else everywhere else (except NY of course) is a homophobic, racist gun-cradling moron!

[EzPeterson]

Originally Posted by Suebee51

Hello All! We're moving to Austin next month ( husband's job, family in Austin) from the Boston suburbs, and are really excited. As you can imagine, it's a big transition for our kids, who have been in one elementary school in our town about 17 miles outside the city. One question I have not been able to answer for them: when you go to a very large high school like Lake Travis or Westlake, what can you do if you want to play soccer but you don't make the school team? Or if you want to play field hockey and don't make the team? Here a school may have a freshman team, a JV team and a varsity team. Our town's HS is about 600 kids so if you're good you'll probably make the team, and you might make it even if you're not good! Are there town teams? Or are there more than one school teams? They have lots of other activities they do and for those, I think they'll be so much better off in a larger school, but I'm curious about the sports.

The bigger schools are definitely more competitive - but so too is life I guess! There's tons of options for club teams and leagues outside of those organized by schools.

Originally Posted by Suebee51

Also, in another post, someone told the California teacher that if she wants to find ultra-liberal people they are concentrated "in the west". does Westlake have that reputation? Or do they mean somewhere else? Frankly one of the reasons I'm happy to leave Massachusetts after many years is because I'm tired of the self righteous Yankee mentality that everyone else everywhere else (except NY of course) is a homophobic, racist gun-cradling moron!

There is no "liberals live HERE, conservatives live HERE", despite what you'll read. People make sweeping generalizations based on minimal anecdotal evidence all the time - the internet just magnifies this. You'll find a mix in just about every neighborhood. While some of the more urban zip codes might lean a bit left in the bigger elections, there's still plenty of people on the other side of every issue. And "liberalism" may be defined slightly different here - that's usually the people that only have one gun, and no CCW

[hound 109]

All the "big" (& little) schools have Varsity, JV & Freshman teams in most sports.

EZ answered the lib question accurately. But as a rule, the further from downtown, the fewer lefties. So the comment about "West" being more lib doesn't make sense. (Especially for the neighborhoods that feed into the two schools that you mention....which are wealthy & 90%+ white. Yeah...a few libs, but lots of economic conservatives.)

[hoffdano]

Just want to add that Lake Travis and Westlake are not really "very large" high schools though it may seem that way to you. Their enrollment is in the 2400-2500 range now. I graduated from a high school in San Antonio with 3500 students.

The size of these high schools is a tradeff - more kids want a spot on that sports team, but the schools are large enough to offer more different programs. They have a lot of stuff to do.

[clarksvillemom]

I don't know personally, but I've always heard from other parents that at Westlake High, if your kid is not the best or near best at football, drama, swimming, math - whatever can make up a Westlake competitive team, there is no room. Now I assume that's an overstatement. There are other orgs outside of the schools, like youth team leagues (WAYA, i-9 sports), kid acting troupes (at Zach Scott, One World, etc.) I think Westlake is a lot more conservative than other parts of town, in my opinion. As an example, I remember seeing one or two Romney signs in my neighborhood during the election. The opposite was true in Westlake, esp. as you get in the hoods closer to 360

[Trainwreck20]

Some (many) schools field multiple 'freshman' teams, and possible even 2 JV teams, that help accommodate the less than stellar athletes.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by clarksvillemom

I don't know personally, but I've always heard from other parents that at Westlake High, if your kid is not the best or near best at football, drama, swimming, math - whatever can make up a Westlake competitive team, there is no room. Now I assume that's an overstatement. There are other orgs outside of the schools, like youth team leagues (WAYA, i-9 sports), kid acting troupes (at Zach Scott, One World, etc.) I think Westlake is a lot more conservative than other parts of town, in my opinion. As an example, I remember seeing one or two Romney signs in my neighborhood during the election. The opposite was true in Westlake, esp. as you get in the hoods closer to 360

I know a bit about Westlake swimming. They have a few very good swimmers, and the rest range from good to OK. The roster is in the range of 15-20 of each gender. In general a kid that has swum competitively before has a good chance to make the team. Lake Travis is similar. They have tryouts and only the kids who cannot swim all four strokes and/or cannot make it through a workout won't make it.

Don't know about boys soccer.

And as said already - the Austin area is full of sports leagues of all types and skill levels.

[scm53]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Some (many) schools field multiple 'freshman' teams, and possible even 2 JV teams, that help accommodate the less than stellar athletes.

My kids both attended a DFW HS that is functionally identical to LTHS and Westlake. All of these schools recognize the need to have a "place" for every kid. Two ways to do that. First is to have a wider than normal sports offerings. Not just football, boys and girls basketball, etc. Have wrestling, lacrosse, water polo, golf, tennis, etc. The other way is to have multiple teams. LTHS has four volleyball teams - 9A/B, JV, and varsity. My son's HS had four 7th grade FB teams (only one feeder MS), three 8th grade, two 9th grade, two JVs, and a multi-state champion varsity.

Also, you can march 400 in the band. Have two cheer leading squads to cover the multiple sports. It can be done, and is.

[CarnivalGal]

First off, most people here have never even heard of field hockey, let alone any of the schools actually have a team. Those who have heard of it are probably from your neck of the woods. SO there's a sport your kids won't be playing anymore anyway.

I have noticed that parents here tend to start their kids in sports much, MUCH earlier than other places I've lived. And I'm not just talking a fun t-ball league - I'm talking really competitive sports.

[clarksvillemom]

The private schools in town have field hockey and lacrosse