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Old 03-18-2009, 08:44 PM
 
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Substantive comparisons of Doss and Highland Park would be appreciated. We are considering putting offers in on houses in these districts (low offers and go with the motivated seller).

I've googled both schools. HP has more negative comments, but it is hard to read whether that is due to a more high strung (high expectations) parent body.

It would be for kindergarten '09. Could I go tour both schools?
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Old 03-19-2009, 09:11 AM
 
Location: central Austin
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Exile, I have to tell you that Highland Park is the only elementary school in Austin that make me wonder if I am wasting my money in private school! Our layoff disaster plans (which thankfully we did NOT have to put in place) involved renting a house in the HP attendance zone! Very involved parents (like private school) and high expectations (and more than other AISD schools, provide the means to get there -- the PTA raise money each year to have two Certified Academic Language Specialists on staff to help with reading problems.) I love the rigor and structure of HP. But that is exactly what some other parents do not like about it, those families tend to transfer to Gullet in Allandale which is also an exemplary school but it has a more laid-back reputation. Doss I think is somewhere in the middle.

Both are excellent schools, we are really making Toyota Camry/Honda Accord type comparisons here. It is more a matter of style than substance.

But each school goes to a different middle and high school. And for most people Doss/Murchison/Anderson is superior to Highland Park/Lamar/McCallum. I am not most people.

I think that slightly smaller and more diverse McCallum would be a better fit for my family. And I have friends whose kids are having a wonderful experience at Lamar. But the "common wisdom" of NW Austin is that Anderson is a better school. Anderson is wealthier, less diverse, and more straight-laced. I've heard that the social groups there are fairly rigid. McCallum is where you find the kids with the green and purple mohawks. Friends who do qualitative research in high schools tell me it is the only high school in AISD where the lunchroom isn't self-separated by ethnicity.

You can push the HP house harder on price due to the McCallum factor (and a certain segment of the HP population goes private for middle and high school). I still like McCallum better than Anderson.

Anyway, look at both websites, talk to people, and you should be able to tour the school. Good luck!

As I said, both are truly excellent schools. There isn't really a wrong choice.

Last edited by centralaustinite; 03-19-2009 at 10:14 AM..
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Old 03-19-2009, 06:28 PM
 
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THANKS! I think the zone with the most motivated seller may dictate.
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Old 03-19-2009, 08:18 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by centralaustinite View Post
I've heard that the social groups there are fairly rigid.
My wife went to Anderson and that is exactly what she's always said. The cliques were well formed in middle school and no one was let in.
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Old 03-20-2009, 05:12 PM
 
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We live on property on the cusp of HP and Doss, but we are formally in the Doss district. A lot of why we purchased the home was the overall "tract." Right or wrong, it is generally believed that the Doss tract is better than the HP one. In fact, the HP area has nicer homes, but we went for resale potential of our home. That being said, we had two preschoolers are the time we purchased, so the actual quality of education was important to us.

Our eldest started kindergarten this year, and he is doing very well. Doss is very well run and he loves it. My biggest issue is getting used to public education in general; I went to private K-12 so I am adjusting to things. Great Schools has the schools' data for your review. Doss did slightly better on TASK (which means nothing to me) and HP has more white kids. It really is shades of grey.
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Old 03-20-2009, 08:01 PM
 
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Thanks all! As former public school teacher, I'm not sure I'm hip on public schools after about 3rd grade anyway due to all the testing. Good to know either would work. I may become one of those psycho PTA moms campaigning against standardized test prep.

Central- wowza about being the only school without naturally segregated lunch rooms. Maybe that is something elementary school moms can work on. I know I'll try.
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Old 03-21-2009, 09:58 PM
 
Location: San Antonio, TX
2,089 posts, read 3,879,730 times
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Northwest Austin PK-5:

1. Hill
2. Doss
3. HP
4. Pillow
5. Summit
6. Gullett

And, Murchison/Anderson are light-years better than Lamar/McCallum.
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Old 03-21-2009, 11:54 PM
 
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Another factor- Anderson has an International Bacalaureate program. Academically, I would put it head and shoulders above McCallum, for sure. I would want my kids in Doss/Murchison/Anderson.
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Old 03-22-2009, 08:48 AM
 
Location: central Austin
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mimimomx3 View Post
Another factor- Anderson has an International Bacalaureate program. Academically, I would put it head and shoulders above McCallum, for sure. I would want my kids in Doss/Murchison/Anderson.
Meh to IB. I went to a high school with an IB program. I took several IB classes and actually dropped one because the content was so dry (I was a senior with credits to graduate, the IB program was just starting). IB won't work for my kids because they are dyslexic and could not handle learning two foreign languages. The dirty little secret of IB is that it is a European program and it is designed to weed people out. If 100 kids start in the IB program in 9th grade, then maybe 10 will actually get the IB diploma when they graduate. IB tends to grind kids up and then they hit college burned out on learning already.

I'd take the global academy at Austin over IB at Anderson any day (but my kids would get hit with the double foreign languages there too). McCallum is smaller, more tolerant of diversity and they have some amazing AP teachers. Don't forget LASA, that is probably the premiere public education in central texas, yes, maybe even over Eanes. Parents in Eanes are starting to complain about class size in the elementary school and in the AP high school classes.

(Can you tell that I am starting to research high schools in earnest? But I still don't know where I am going to send my kids, sigh.)
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Old 03-22-2009, 01:00 PM
 
8,231 posts, read 17,248,496 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by centralaustinite View Post
Meh to IB. I went to a high school with an IB program. I took several IB classes and actually dropped one because the content was so dry (I was a senior with credits to graduate, the IB program was just starting). IB won't work for my kids because they are dyslexic and could not handle learning two foreign languages. The dirty little secret of IB is that it is a European program and it is designed to weed people out. If 100 kids start in the IB program in 9th grade, then maybe 10 will actually get the IB diploma when they graduate. IB tends to grind kids up and then they hit college burned out on learning already.

I'd take the global academy at Austin over IB at Anderson any day (but my kids would get hit with the double foreign languages there too). McCallum is smaller, more tolerant of diversity and they have some amazing AP teachers. Don't forget LASA, that is probably the premiere public education in central texas, yes, maybe even over Eanes. Parents in Eanes are starting to complain about class size in the elementary school and in the AP high school classes.

(Can you tell that I am starting to research high schools in earnest? But I still don't know where I am going to send my kids, sigh.)
To each his/her own.

From what I hear from parents who've gone public at AH, the 'global academy' is pretty much just internal 'white flight'- the courses are still watered down from the private middle school they've left. Our HS junior is at a private HS and the curriculum is much more rigorous than the global academy or even the IB program at AHS. Actually, my choice would be Westwood over AH or AHS. As far as LASA goes, it's still too 'institutional' for my taste.

Again, to each his/her own.
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