Relocating to Dallas area for husband's work...advice on schools and family-friendly towns (Fort Worth: houses, transfer)

[mami2emily]

My husband is relocating with his company and will be working in the Las Colinas area of Irving. Currently we live in a suburb of Atlanta. Plan to move in summer of 2011, but husband will start commuting in January.

We are a multi-ethnic family with 2 kids and 1 dog. Kids will be entering 5th and 8th grade respectively.

Our first priority are the schools. Right now I have one in a private school and the other one in a magnet school. Looking for top-notch system with an accelerated curriculum. This led me to HPISD and Carroll ISD. Anyone heard of North Hills Prep? We applied there as it is an IB charter school, but it is a lottery system so chances are slim.

We would also like a relatively easy commute to Irving/Las Colinas area and DFW airport, as my husband travels often.

Looking for a family-friendly town, preferably with lots of parks and areas for walking. I personally am looking for a pedestrian lifestyle but I am quickly learning that Dallas is very spread out, very much like Atlanta

I have been looking up information on Park Cities, Southlake, Colleyville-Grapevine. Any other areas with great schools I should be looking at? Recently we learned of another kink in the search...the Barnett Shale! Oy vey!

Thank you for any suggestions you can give us.

[hamiltonpl]

None of the places you mentioned are bad at all. Of those choices, the Park Cities has the best school system -- HPISD. It is also the most expensive -- by a long shot. A livable "starter home" will be $700,000+. It has excellent access to anywhere in the metro area and is more pedestrian friendly than just about any other area. However, both Grapevine and Southlake have town centers or old downtowns that are very walkable.

Dallas ISD has some of the best magnet high schools in the nation. They are consistently named in the top 3.

[Squirl]

Coppell is your best choice if you don't get the kids into North Hills. Do some research and you will find it meets all your criteria. Hope North Hills works out for you. Also check into the Las Colinas area around Campion Trail; zip code 75039. All new schools in the CFBISD but they will definately be rated exemplary soon. Here's a good link to help you obtain school ratings v. physical map location.

TEA ratings for Dallas - Fort Worth area schools

[5stones]

I too 2nd Coppell. for commute and schools.

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

I would look hard at Coppell or the Ranch View area of Las Collinas.

[TurtleCreek80]

Coppell is the closest area meeting your requirements to Las Colinas/DFW, about a 5-10 minute drive. Coppell has a lot in common with Highland Park ISD, ever-so-slightly less prestigious academically (based on SATs and college acceptances)- they are easily the top 2 public districts in the DFW metroplex. They also share the similiar school structure of every student feeding into the same high school. The big difference is class (grade) size- Coppell is around 700 students; HPISD is around 400-500 students. Both excell at athletics and other extracurriculars, too. The bulk of housing in Coppell is in the $350-500k range.

HPISD is hands-down the best district in North Texas, and one of the best in the US. It is about a 15-20 minute drive to Las Colinas, depending on where the home is located. As others have mentioned, housing is extremely expensive. A small cottage (like a 2-3 bedroom, 1-2 bath, 1500sf) runs about $650-750k these days. A liveable family home starts around $900k-$1M and averages $2-3M for new construction.

Coppell is more diverse than the Park Cities (HPISD). HPISD's minority population has doubled in the past few years, but it hovers around the 4% mark. People are accepting of most anyone who can afford to live there, but only you know if your family would feel at home or out of place. If it's a good fit for you, there's no other place in DFW that offers a beautiful neighborhood in the city with world-class schools.

[mami2emily]

I had not looked into Coppell at all. We will certainly add that to our list. I love the idea of living in-town in HPISD, but know we would get less house for our money. We will be visiting after Christmas while the kids are on Winter break and will definitely add Coppell to the area tour.

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

P.S.
We have a lot of experience being the only minorities in an area, particularly when we lived in Massachusetts. One thing I have observed through the years is that if you do the right thing in the environment you are in, are a good neighbor, get involved in the community, take care of yourself and your home, and do not try to play the race card every opportunity you get, people quickly accept you, no matter the color or ethnic background.

[Lakewooder]

See TIBS - Texas IB Schools for a list of IB schools in the area. My alma mater, Woodrow Wilson High School WOODROW TODAY, should be earning the final designation by early spring. Pre-IB is being taught already in the ninth grade. It will be the only Dallas high school to offer the Diploma Programme - you would be eligible to transfer in if you live anywhere in DISD (same as the magnets mentioned by hamilton) but if you move to the attendance zone in Lakewood you would be first priority so long as the student qualifies and the grades are kept up. We are a multi-ethnic school with all socioeconomic levels. Also has the largest parks in Dallas, White Rock Lake and Samuell-Grand-Tenison and several smaller wonderful parks such as Tietze, Glencoe, Lakewood and Randall - and has Santa Fe Trail and soon the Katy Trail extension. Lots of trees, creeks, some gently rolling hills and a lot of character. There is definitely 'a pedestrian lifestyle'. My address has a very high walkscore and many shops, restaurants, parks and the library and theater are 1/3 to 1/2 miles walking distance.

It's small town atmosphere in the big city - you would be farther from Las Colinas than the other places mentioned but then again some of the traffic going in there from the suburbs and exurbs is brutal and might take longer. You could also take DART rail from nearby Baylor or Deep Ellum stations to Las Colinas in the next couple of years (Orange Line).

http://www.relaybuilder.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=vkD4P8Y0f2E%3d&tabid=631 1 (broken link)

[Squirl]

^^OK, I like Lakewood, but really it is just not the best location for EVERYONE. Lakewood to Las Colinas is just an unreasonable commute with so many other choices.

[Rakin]

I don't believe I read your price range of houses but everything mentioned above is good. A little less costly homes with good schools can also be found in Colleyville, Keller, southern Flower Mound, Lantana and Castle Hills.

A good agent can show you around these areas when you are in town. If your interested in Las Colinas there are 3 newer subdivisions that are less then 5 years old that feed into good schools or would be close to North Hills. Check out LaVillita, Riverside or lakes of LC which would all be minutes from your work.