Shopping by School District . . . Eanes, Lake Travis, Lago Vista . . . (Austin: homes, neighborhoods)

[Philip T]

Hi,

We are thinking about heading to Austin.

We are sort of shopping by school districts . . . we see that Eanes ISD, Lake Travis ISD and Lago Vista have good numbers.

Are there others we should consider, or downsides we should know about in those listed?

Thanks.

[texastea]

You may want to include Leander ISD in your search because some of the nice areas and neighborhoods near the lake will be in that district. If you're going by "numbers," the individual schools in those areas are highly rated.

[hound 109]

Originally Posted by Philip T

Hi,

We are thinking about heading to Austin.

We are sort of shopping by school districts . . . we see that Eanes ISD, Lake Travis ISD and Lago Vista have good numbers.

Are there others we should consider, or downsides we should know about in those listed?

Thanks.

IMO...kids go to schools not districts....might want to focus the research on the SCHOOLS your kids might be attending.

Note: The 3 "districts" you mention are all very small & have only 1 HS & 1 or 2 MS. All are good, but it's a pretty narrow "search".

Here's a website that might be helpful:

Texas School Performance Maps

There are nice areas & superlative schools within AISD, RRISD, LISD & Dripping Springs ISD as well as the 3 you mention.

Good luck.

[centralaustinite]

Yes, Westlake (the high school for Eanes) is a very good school but it is also a huge school and that isn't always the best fit for a particular kid.

Anderson High in AISD shouldn't be overlooked, neither should Westwood in Round Rock ISD or Round Rock High itself, there is also the Liberal Arts and Science Academy at LBJ in AISD, and Austin and Bowie High as well.

[Philip T]

Originally Posted by texastea

You may want to include Leander ISD in your search because some of the nice areas and neighborhoods near the lake will be in that district. If you're going by "numbers," the individual schools in those areas are highly rated.

Thanks texastea.

We see what you mean, it looks like Leander has some high scoring elementary, middle and one "good number" high school all towards the Southwest nearest the lake?

And then the rest sort of falls off across Cedar Park? What is up with that?

[Philip T]

Originally Posted by hound 109

IMO...kids go to schools not districts....might want to focus the research on the SCHOOLS your kids might be attending.

That is a good point. There are some high performing schools in some not so hot districts, huh? What we have generally noticed is that some middlin districts have a high performing elementary system and then fall off by high school. It seems that to keep the numbers going all way to the top, the district would have to have its act together -- or at least be good at cheating the tests. dunno.

Note: The 3 "districts" you mention are all very small & have only 1 HS & 1 or 2 MS. All are good, but it's a pretty narrow "search".

We really have too many options, and only limited good options, so narrowing it all is sort of a good thing from our point of view.

Here's a website that might be helpful:

Texas School Performance Maps

THAT is a helpful map. We have mostly been using schooldigger.com and the TEA site for basic information.

There are nice areas & superlative schools within AISD, RRISD, LISD & Dripping Springs ISD as well as the 3 you mention.

Good luck.

Yeah, it looked like Dripping Springs had some favorable and texastea noted Leander, above. Our concern is for a District that does not have its act together is that administrators and cannot really run the district they have well, is that they may wind up harming the performing schools within their own district. Dunno if that is all valid but we have seen some pretty bad stuff in real life operations and while shopping.

Thank you, hound.

[Philip T]

Originally Posted by centralaustinite

Yes, Westlake (the high school for Eanes) is a very good school but it is also a huge school and that isn't always the best fit for a particular kid.

Anderson High in AISD shouldn't be overlooked, neither should Westwood in Round Rock ISD or Round Rock High itself, there is also the Liberal Arts and Science Academy at LBJ in AISD, and Austin and Bowie High as well.

Hi centralaustinite,

We are operating at the elementary level to start with. One first grader and a 4 y.o. and a 15 monther coming up behind.

We follow the charter/magnet stuff in some of the bigger districts, but that there is also some gaming involved in some -- is there any of that we should be aware of?

[austin-steve]

What we have generally noticed is that some middlin districts have a high performing elementary system and then fall off by high school.

I think, since you are in the "thinking about moving to Austin" stage, the primary question is "will there be ample available candidate homes from which to choose, that attend very good school tracks?". The answer is "yes", you'll have plenty of options and choices no matter which area of Austin you choose to settle. (with some exceptions)

At some point though, it becomes a very nuanced "Camry vs. Accord" type of choice, (to use an automobile analogy), where no matter what you decide, you're making a good choice.

The reason the scores fall as the kids move up is that the smart kids from specific elementary schools get mixed in with the other less motivated/capable kids once they hit middle school. The dilution increases at the high school level. At that point, I think most/all of the kids are receiving a good opportunity to learn, but it's almost impossible to fine tune the output of 1500-2600 students in a high school setting whereas it's easier to control the small populations in elementary schools.

Westlake is the only 5A rated high school in Texas to receive the "Exemplary" rating. That said, I doubt that a really smart, motivate student graduates Round Rock, Westwood, Leander, Bowie, Dripping Springs, etc. high schools any less prepared for college. Westlake just manages to produce a higher concentration of better prepared students because of the demographics feeding in.

Steve

[southdown]

Originally Posted by hound 109

IMO...kids go to schools not districts....might want to focus the research on the SCHOOLS your kids might be attending.

Great advice!

http://www.greatschools.net/modperl/go/TX/ is useful too, parent reviews, comparison charts, lots of background on the test result by subject, plus class size etc.

If you are looking at High schools remember the top 10% rule means stiffer competition at the 'better' schools .....College for Texans - Additional - Top 10% Rule (http://www.collegefortexans.com/additional/top10rule.cfm - broken link)

[centralaustinite]

PhilipT

Please remember, so much can change before your kids are ready for high school. Small districts with small high schools now can grow exponentially and become big schools in big districts. Schools with great reps and test scores now can decline, schools that are struggling today can turn around, the entire demographics of a district can change, new administrators can come in, the State legislature could come up with an entire new funding formula for public education.

I'm not sure what the perfect answer is but it can be very hard to judge what a high school will be like 10 years in the future.

That said, in big districts like Austin look for a solid track from elementary to high school like Doss-Murchison-Anderson or Casis-OHenry-Austin). Looking at numbers only, many overlook Highland Park-Lamar-McCallum, and Gullet-Lamar-McCallum but those schools provide a great education from elementary to high school.

Fast-growing districts like LISD, Lake Travis and Dripping Springs are changing so fast and growing so quickly, that it is very hard to say what they will be like when your kids are in high school.