Preston Hollow v. HPISD for Young Family (Dallas, University Park: sale, mortgage)

[SVTRay]

Originally Posted by GreyDay

It's all about choices, Do what makes the most sense for you and yours. My realtor had 6 boys however, so they went public.

Agreed, and I would seriously consider public schools if I had 6 kid as well

[Momnxtdr]

Lots of good advice. We too chose Preston Hollow over HPISD because of the diversity, and are happy with our decision. Our children are in private school now. As the IB program develops at Preston Hollow Elementary, we plan to switch to public.

[GreyDay]

Originally Posted by Momnxtdr

Lots of good advice. We too chose Preston Hollow over HPISD because of the diversity, and are happy with our decision. Our children are in private school now. As the IB program develops at Preston Hollow Elementary, we plan to switch to public.

Preston Hollow is diverse? The private schools may be slightly more diverse than HPISD but Preston Hollow?

[bencronin04]

Originally Posted by GreyDay

Preston Hollow is diverse? The private schools may be slightly more diverse than HPISD but Preston Hollow?

Preston Hollow Elementary School | The Texas Tribune

[GreyDay]

Her children are in private school. Most in PH do not send their children to the local elementary schools. Many of the children that attend what would be the local elementary school do not live in PH which is laid out in the demographics.

[HockDad]

Originally Posted by GreyDay

Preston Hollow is diverse? The private schools may be slightly more diverse than HPISD but Preston Hollow?

Not my street. Moreover, when I am walking the dog, I see a bunch of people that look white to me. Even the bodies are not diverse, these moms must spend an inordinate amount of time working out!

[Momnxtdr]

Preston Hollow residents do primarily send their kids to privates. However, they are more diverse than we have experienced in HP. My husband is white, I'm Mexican-American, so our kids our mixed. We know PH residents who are Chinese American, Italian from Italy, Indian, Jewish, African American, Columbian, and Cuban. I don't remember there being any other diversity in any of my my daughter's classes at Hyer or son's class at MIS. There may have been other mixed children that we didn't know. Within our neighborhood, there are children at PHE, Alcuin, Parish, Greenhill, Akiba, and St. Marks. As far as preschools, there are kids at da Vinci, ESD, Parish, and Preston Hollow Presby.

I know two Preston Hollow residents who pulled their children from privates and are sending their children to Preston Hollow Elementary this year and are thrilled so far. It's only day 4, but the teachers, staff, and curriculum are impressive. I've spent some time at the school and do believe the parents, teachers, and new principal have their heart in the right place.

[JTC Mom]

Lack of diversity comes up often in discussions of HPISD and it is surely an issue, and from my perspective the biggest negative of living here. Having said that, I was very pleasantly surprised to see that my first grader's class of 23 students includes 7 students that are Asian, Indian, and Hispanic. I feel like that must be some kind of record in HPISD! Sadly still no AA.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

I'd go Park Cities over PH in your situation for several reasons:

1. The Park Cities has more of a singular community feel as 80%+ families have their kids enrolled in HPISD. Your kids will likely go to pre- school, K-12, church, Y sports, etc with the kids in your neighborhood. It really fuels the community bond and it starts at birth with each elementary school having an early childhood association for families with kids aged newborn to Pre-K. There are both kid- and adult-oriented activities and events each month so the social network is building even before school starts. additionally, the many parks and town pools for both HP and UP are fabulous community assets.

Preston Hollow is a different vibe- most kids go to private schools, but they are scattered amongst 10-15 of them (especially for lower school) so the neighborhood kids are all going in different directions for school, sports, and other activities. It also seems to be more of a "play in the backyard" or "go to the country club to swim / play/ etc" place than the Park Cities. I think it would be harder to be plugged into your neighborhood there and you would use kids' school, your church, etc as your social web vs your street. Not a bad thing- just very different than the Park Cities.

2. Schools. Unless you're loaded wih exceptionally brilliant and well-rounds toddlers, there is no guarantee they will be admitted to private schools on caliber with HPISD- or all accepted to the same school. Do you want to be dropping off at Good Shephard and the driving north to drop the other one off at Greenhill? It could happen. Also, the general rule of thumb is that 2 kids is the "breakeven" point for weighing HPISD v PH/Dallas + private schools. 3 kids is solidly in HPISD's favor as that $70-75k+ private school annual tuition would pay for a $2M HPISD home's $32k peppery tax bill and still leave $40k in your pocket.

3. Everything else on your list ( errands, house styles, schools, social, etc) is readily found in the Park Cities. As for the social competition, if you can afford an average price point home ($1.2-1.5M) without scraping by, it's unlikely you'll feel competition because your lifestyle / income probably resembles the "norm". If you'll have to cancel all vacations in the near future and not be able to buy any furniture for a $800k entry level cottage- yes, you'll probably feel like a "have not" even though no one will be condescending towards you (it will just come out in the, "no, we can't afford to go on a double date with you to Hibiscus ($200/ couple dinner)" or "no, jr can't go skiing with your family ($400 airfare + ski clothes))". Make sense?

Agree with the poster who said Hyer moms are younger. Hyer and UP seem to have more younger moms and SAHM's than Bradfield & Armstrong (my 36 & 42 year old friends with a Kindergartnerer there are among the younger end of parents this year, fwiw).

This post should be made into a sticky and affixed to the top of the page for all times.

Regarding item #2. I'd tend to agree that the break-even point for most families, HP+HPHS v. PH+ private tuition is $50-$55K. I'd be careful about thinking of that in terms of the number of kids tho. One can send three kids to Jesuit or maybe even UA for less than $55K. Obviously, these numbers fall apart up the cost scale.

[BabyDoctor77]

We live in University Park and send our daughter to Hockaday. In fact, a lot of families on our street send their children to elite privates. Lower taxes and better city services/safety are a strong point in the Park Cities.