Summitt Elementary (and Yett Creek Park) (Austin, Cedar Park: new home, neighborhood, buying)

[maximizer]

hi all,

moving to Austin this summer (who isn't!), and wondering about the area assigned to the Summitt elementary. How does it compare to Doss/Hill, and to RRISD Westwood feeders (especially Laurel Mountain)? The student population at Summitt seems more diverse, which could be good in theory. Will the kids feel as coming from "the other side of the tracks", so to speak, in Murchison/Anderson?

What sort of area is it? Safe? who lives there? Enough professionals with young children who care about education and get involved in the school?

related - any thoughts about Yett Creek Neighborhood Park? What facilities do they have? Who spends time there?

We can afford Doss/Hill or RRISD, but
- i'm a bit worried about somewhat less diversity of RRISD (especially Laurel Mountain, which is where we have been primarily looking so far)
- we don't print the money so spending less on housing is good as long as school and everything else are still adequate
- so basically, are Doss/Hill and LM/Spicewood overhyped? are Summitt/Davis undervalued?

Thanks much for any insights!

[Trainwreck20]

I used to live in the Summitt/Davis Elementary school areas and love those area and think the schools are just fine (I know a couple of the teachers at Davis). I don't think there will be any issue in MS/HS coming from those areas.

[sua2017]

I went to Hill, Murchison, and Anderson. I had a good group of 8 friends- seven went to Doss or Hill and one went to Davis, and the lone Davis kid still lived in Great Hills. In the Murchison/Anderson crowed, most of the time the Doss and Hill kids hang out together and the Davis and Summit kids hang out together. I rarely went over to the Summit area and that could be said for most of the kids who lived in Great Hills or Northwest Hills. There is a stigma against the Summit area with the general population of kids at Anderson. The Doss/Hill kids also do over represent the top quarter of the class (GPA wise) and tend to be the 'popular' kids at the school. There are MANY exceptions to this rule, but overall your geographical location (IMO while at Murchison and Anderson) was a huge determinant in the friend crowed and social hierarchy of the school. If you are moving to the Anderson area, I would STRONGLY advise against moving to Summit, if you have the means. If you still prefer Davis, buy in Great Hills. The parents at Hill and Doss also tend to be more involved with the school, and most of the PTA Moms at Anderson and Murchison sent their kids to Hill or Doss too.

[austinnerd]

maximizer, Yett has no facilities to speak of. For the most part it is an unimproved park and the neighborhood wants to keep it that way. There are a bunch of trails, of course Yett Creek, a few dog poopie bag dispensers (technically the park is a designated off leash dog park) and a marker or two. It's not a super busy park (again, the neighborhood prefers it that way) and most users are neighborhood locals.

Best chance of school success is to keep on top of how they're doing and what's going on. Generally school "performance" is more a measure of the students vs the faculty so don't get too hung up on things like ratings etc. Take a look at your kiddo(s) and assess who they are and always vet any comments, reviews, etc against that vs simply taking things at face value.

[sua2017]

Just one last thing I would chime in and say while you are considering your options! You asked about the people who live in the Summit area and if they are working professionals. Now, I don't know what the contemporary population of people buying into millwood currently is, but I can say who bought into millwood that led their kids to attend Anderson and Murchison in the early 2000s would not be my definition of "working professionals", in the traditional sense. I had a few friends who did live there (most kids at AHS or MMS didn't even know the neighborhood had a name- they just called it "summit area" and typically followed by a gross face, clear indication that they were viewed as from 'the other side of the track') I know their parents typically did not hold white collar jobs. Managers at grocery stores, first generation immigrants working low level jobs, auto mechanics, ect were the jobs held by most of the parents from those I interacted with. With rising house values, the demographics of the neighborhood might be MUCH different, and the domain does tract to Summit so that might also have a big effect on who is now buying in millwood, but if you want to be surround by white collar professionals, 1990s and 2000s millwood would not fit that criteria. Most of the kids that I was friends with from the Summit area, I met in my elective classes, and very few of them were in my IB/AP classes.

[Trainwreck20]

but if you want to be surround by white collar professionals, 1990s and 2000s millwood would not fit that criteria.

I lived there from the mid 90s to the early 2000s, and pretty close every one of my neighbors (an myself) was a 'white collar professional', or at least all the ones that I knew. National Instruments, Applied Materials, some Dell, state employees, etc. I am sure there were a few that weren't, because it was a more affordable part of town, but it wasn't what I would every consider as a laborer neighborhood....

[sua2017]

Well to not put my input into what I have experienced with the area, and 7 years of sharing schools with the students of that area has given me plenty of experience, I thought I would share my observations. I'm sure OP is open to hearing all experiences, but that doesn't change the interactions I have had with millwood. However, I do find that the train tracks really did create much different demographics. Balcones woods and angus ranch I would not describe as blue collar- just around summit. And with the changing demographics of Austin, and the RECENT addition of tech hubs, could have changed the area. There is a recent spoke of Asians in summit, that didn't exist when I was in middle school 8 years ago.

[mckenk]

I have been lurking on this site for years and just finally created an account so I could respond to this post.

I just moved out of Milwood about a month ago. I have two young kids (ages 2 & 5), and I belonged to the Milwood Mom's Group. The demographic of the neighborhood has definitely changed since sua2017 attended school at Murch/Anderson. Every parent of young children that I met was a working professional, or a stay at home mom married to a working professional. Heck, we moved out of Milwood (to Cedar Park) because we couldn't afford a larger house in the area, and my husband has a PhD in Engineering. With my oldest about the start Kindergarten and us looking for a new home, I did tour Summitt and Davis and talk to a lot of parents with kids at both schools. I think Summit is a very good school - probably just as good as the other feeders into Murchison. And it now has the Asian dual-language program, which is pretty cool and contributes to diversity. I loved living in Milwood. The people are so friendly.

With starter homes now costing in the upper 200s, I think you pretty much have to be a working professional to buy a home there.

I have heard that the kids at Murch/Anderson refer to Summitt as "Slummitt" And I know that they people at Summitt have less money than the people at the other feeders, but I would highly recommend the neighborhood.

Oh, and I don't think Summitt is undervalued - if you drive around the neighborhood, compared to the Doss/Hill area, you can see the difference just looking at how people take care of their yards. And it's a bit further out.