confused on the school / school district (Austin, Round Rock: real estate, house, neighborhood)

[didadi]

Dear Austinites..
I'm in the process of searching a house.Given an address in 78717 zip code, I see RRISD with some schools is where the kids will be going.

How does one choose which elementary school a kid will go? (Or for that matter
middle / highschool). There are more than 1 elementary school with exemplary ratings in the RRISD for the same zip. Who decides which school the kid will go?
What factors decide this. I understand that ratings of the school are important than compared to ISD. (which is also important).

Thanks in advance.

[chickenfry]

The school district is zoned by address. your address picks which schools your children will attend. there SOMETIMES are opportunities for your kids to go to a school that you are not zoned to, an example would bel if your kid is in hs and is a math wiz, he/she might qualifiy to go to the hs in the district that has a math academy that isn't the hs your address is zoned to attend.

[iceshots]

What street you live on usually determines the school your kid will go to in that ISD. If you are looking at real estate listings, they should inform you of what specific schools service that area.

If you go to the RRISD web site, they may have a map that shows the boundaries for each school.

[hoffdano]

I think the school district may be just as important as the ratings of an individual campus. The ratings of a particular campus are typically affected greatly by the demographics. One elementary school for example may have more kids from a lower socioeconomic status and if they underperform - they may cause lower ratings. Yet the school may be an excellent school.

Each school district has attendance zones. In general though should be available on the ISD website. Going to a campus out of your attendance zone requires an exception and it may not be easy to get.

[xsloane]

Just FYI, all elementary school, except one, in the RRISD got the EXEMPLARY rating for the last year. Go to their website for more information.

[10scoachrick]

We are on one of the 'boundary' streets in Avery Ranch, 78717...I believe at one point, it actually depends on which side of the street the house is located...RRISD or LISD.

Which brings up a trivia question...why 'independent' school districts(in the name)...independent of whom? each other?, the state?, are there any 'dependent' school districts?

[austin-steve]

Which brings up a trivia question...why 'independent' school districts(in the name)...independent of whom? each other?, the state?, are there any 'dependent' school districts?

Well, if you'd like even more confusion, there's Hays Consolidated Independent School District (HCISD). Consolidated is to become united or joined so as to be stronger. Independent is to be free of other influence or support. Perhaps they consolidated then declared the newformed entity independent, like the United States and our declaration of independence.

I think all school districts in Texas have ISD in their name though. At least all the central Texas schools.

Steve

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

Well, if you'd like even more confusion, there's Hays Consolidated Independent School District (HCISD). Consolidated is to become united or joined so as to be stronger. Independent is to be free of other influence or support. Perhaps they consolidated then declared the newformed entity independent, like the United States and our declaration of independence.

I think all school districts in Texas have ISD in their name though. At least all the central Texas schools.

Steve

No wonder folks are confused. We're in the City of Austin yet our neighborhood youngsters go to schools in Round Rock ISD or Leander ISD. The Round Rock ISD sport stadium sits squarely on Parmer Lane...in the City of Austin.

I remember many schools in North Carolina that used 'Consolidated' in their names...hard to come up with a cheer for "Smithfield-Selma Consolidated High School". Rah-Rah!