Private schools Irving, Texas (Dallas, Carrollton: best schools, price, friendly)

[backtotx]

Does anyone have info on The Highlands School in Irving and also The Faustina Academy. If there are any other private schools in the Irving area that have good reputations, please let me know. Thanks

[FarNorthDallas]

I toured The Highlands School since I have relatives at a sister school in another state. It is run by the Legionnairs of Christ, a very conservative Catholic order (some say they are a cult). From 4th grade on, the classes are single gender. There is some criticism that there is too much pressure for students to become priests in this order. The campus is in a lovely setting - hills, trees. They were underenrolled for a long time. Some other Catholic school in Irving closed suddenly a few years ago and The Highlands School picked up a lot of those kids which increased their enrollment a lot.

Cisterician is a great great Catholic school for boys in Irving. GREAT school. I think it starts at 5th grade though.

I have not heard of The Faustina Academy.

There is another poster who has kids at a religious private school in Irving on 183. Maybe she will respond.

[backtotx]

Thanks, although I am a little freaked out by your reply. I did see some varying reviews of The Highlands School on greatschools.net. I have to say that some of the reviews also suggested that the school was unduly strict. I have a daughter who is going into 8th grade so Cisterician is no good. My son will be starting North Hills in August, my daughter is on the waiting list but if she doesn't get into North Hills, I am looking for something else for her.

[FarNorthDallas]

My relatives love their Legionaries of Christ school but they are Catholic - daily mass Catholic, no birth control Catholic. If you're not Catholic I wouldn't even consider The Highlands School. Do a search on the interent and you'll see some of the negative publicity for the order. Or at least read the wikipedia on them.

[backtotx]

Thanks again. I was educated as a Catholic (not in the US) and whilst the academics were good, I didn't like the one-sided view of the religion that was bestowed upon us. Many many years ago my mother was told to only play with good catholic kids!! I will do more searches on the internet anyway. Thanks again !

[catluvr]

It is I you are referring to. There is a nice school that goes pre-K to grade 5 for anyone that is interested called Wesleyan Academe. It's an awesome school at a decent price. My kids love it The drive is an easy one and it is located in the Plymouth Park Methodist church right off 183 by Story. They offer before and after care. They have happy, friendly kids and down to earth parents. Academically challenging, but not to the point of stressful. They offer computers, music, Spanish, Phy Ed and of course your Core subjects. They do a great job with the kids. They have a very caring environment and patient teachers. The kids are very close and caring. We love this place. I drive there everyday from Carrollton down to South Dallas. It is totally worth the drive.

[backtotx]

Your school sounds like the sort we are after but our daughter will be going into 8th grade next year. Do you know where you will send your kids when they leave Wesleyan?

[catluvr]

I am unsure. It will depend on where we actually settle in. I'll ask around and find out names of schools a lot of the kids transition to. I know that some end up going straight to public middle school, but I'm sure many transition into another private school as well.

We just moved here last July and are somewhat unfamiliar with what is out there...at least in Irving. There are Many different private schools in Irving. Check out Greatschools.com. You can find a lot of information on that site, but some of the best schools only list phone numbers...not much information. I find these are the schools tend to be the "hidden gems". You will probably need to come and visit a handful and see what you like. That's what we did.

I'll ask around and post what I can find out.