Dallas Private Schools (K-12)

[BLDSoon]

Originally Posted by wynnedutch

This. Don't just go to the "morning coffee" or tours. YMMV, but in my opinion, they need to know you and your kids by name. You need to know the admissions people, the leadership, the professors. Know who is going to be responsible for your children's development. These schools (Hockaday and SM at least) are taking over for your kids' educational growth, and they want you to take a step back. It sounds counter intuitive, but it is the reason they are the cream of the crop. They know what they're doing much better than you.

As a parent at “one of those” for years now, definitely don’t do that. Its a stressful time for admissions teams and the last thing you want is for them to know YOU in that way. I cant stress this enough…admissions at these schools is about your kid. And they see lots of really great kids. It’s not at all personal so resist the temptation to try to make it that.

Ask yourself what you’d like your child’s educational experience to look like then apply to schools that match that vision. Hopefully you find a few that can range from reach to shoo-in. My list was just two and I applied to both a couple of times before we got in at one.


As far as social isolation, that is a real thing. The private schools are heavy with the PH, HP crowd and so school events, playdates etc are primarily in that area. The further away you are from that, the more driving you have to be willing to do or you’ll need to find other social avenue for your kids. That has been a big con for us especially with increasingly heavy traffic and increasingly busy kids. A move is most certainly in our future because I wont have my future teen driver make that commute.(From West Plano, O.K distance, dense traffic)

[numbersguy100]

Originally Posted by wynnedutch

This. Don't just go to the "morning coffee" or tours. YMMV, but in my opinion, they need to know you and your kids by name. You need to know the admissions people, the leadership, the professors. Know who is going to be responsible for your children's development. These schools (Hockaday and SM at least) are taking over for your kids' educational growth, and they want you to take a step back. It sounds counter intuitive, but it is the reason they are the cream of the crop. They know what they're doing much better than you.

These schools expect you to trust them to take the lead in educating your child, but they don't expect you to "take a step back". They expect you to be very involved as a partner in educating your child. They don't want you to be the squeaky wheel questioning everything they do, like parents in public school in this same demographic often do. If you keep asking why little Johnny got placed with the "wrong" 2nd grade teacher and with the wrong group of kids, and on and on, you might find yourself asking in the spring why little Johnny hasn't been invited back for the following school year.

[abeamishday]

I was wondering if anyone who has been through the application process before could shed some more light on what the parent interviews for the private schools are like?

I understand they want to actually meet the parents (and as someone suggested upthread, to make sure they're not lunatics), but what sort of questions do they ask? I imagine it's different than the "describe your child" essay questions they give you on the applications - is it mostly focused on getting a more complete picture of the applicant, or assessing the "fit" of your family's educational values? About how long are they?

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by abeamishday

I was wondering if anyone who has been through the application process before could shed some more light on what the parent interviews for the private schools are like?

I understand they want to actually meet the parents (and as someone suggested upthread, to make sure they're not lunatics), but what sort of questions do they ask? I imagine it's different than the "describe your child" essay questions they give you on the applications - is it mostly focused on getting a more complete picture of the applicant, or assessing the "fit" of your family's educational values? About how long are they?

We went through for PK last year - you should be able to answer why you’re interested in the school and your philosophy on parent / school partnership. Some (all?) schools want your applications in before your parent interview & they will ask follow-up questions. Definitely come prepared with some questions of your own. They were about 20-30 minutes long. Some were still via Zoom last year. My guess is mostly for family fit, especially at younger ages.

[TurtleCreek80]

News from the private school world - Meadowbrook, considered a top “feeder” preschool for decades - has informed their current families that 2022-23 is the final year for the school to operate. They have sold their land to a different schooling group and families need to find a new school for next year.

[numbersguy100]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

News from the private school world - Meadowbrook, considered a top “feeder” preschool for decades - has informed their current families that 2022-23 is the final year for the school to operate. They have sold their land to a different schooling group and families need to find a new school for next year.

Years back I had never heard of it (I'm not from Dallas) and met someone who worked there, so I looked it up. I thought it was interesting/weird that the website at the time said they "allow" you to put your kid on the list expressing interest on the day of their birth, but not before.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by numbersguy100

Years back I had never heard of it (I'm not from Dallas) and met someone who worked there, so I looked it up. I thought it was interesting/weird that the website at the time said they "allow" you to put your kid on the list expressing interest on the day of their birth, but not before.

It’s one school I never knew much about except that they did very well getting their kindergarten boys into St Marks. That was under the original founder who IIRC was British. The school administration changed over at some point in the past few years. I have heard it’s not the same from friends & neighbors who have older kids who went there; though I also know quite a few families there now or recently who love it.

[abeamishday]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

We went through for PK last year - you should be able to answer why you’re interested in the school and your philosophy on parent / school partnership. Some (all?) schools want your applications in before your parent interview & they will ask follow-up questions. Definitely come prepared with some questions of your own. They were about 20-30 minutes long. Some were still via Zoom last year. My guess is mostly for family fit, especially at younger ages.

Thank you for sharing! We are going for PK & K for our boy/girl this year and whereas I'm fairly laissez faire on the CATS, their evaluations, recommendations, etc., I can't help fixating on the parent interview because it's the only component that seems based on how well we (I) come across in a short amount of time. I haven't interviewed for anything in almost 15 years (though my partner has and occasionally conducts interviews), and I was never at ease in an interview anyway, so I suspect I'll have obvious nerves.

I guess we'll have to try to schedule our first parent interviews with our less preferred schools, so when the stakes are highest I may have improved as much as I am able.

If I may ask, did you feel like if you had a particularly good interview it aligned with an acceptance, or vise versa?

[VictoryPlaza]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

There is a HUGE difference between chapel at a school like St Marks or Parish and the “Jesus in your classroom” experience at a TCA, Prestonwood, Schofield, etc type of school. Kids at the Episcopal schools are not praying in the classroom with their teachers or being taught Creationism, American Evangelism/ Nationalism, etc. There is still a huge gulf between Catholic education and what you are picturing. Catholic education is excellent - the schools are all very well run by academic minded people.

Case in point - a bunch of families just left ESD this year for TCA & Prestonwood because they were not receiving the “Christian education” they expected at ESD. I don’t think they were listening on their ESD tour because the phrase “inclusive Episcopalian identity” is only mentioned about 100 times. Chapel seems to be more about morals & ethics - integrity, kindness, honesty, empathy, etc. Even a school as conservative as ESD is not teaching that wives obey husbands.

I think you would be well served to go visit some schools as soon as their events start this fall. It will answer your questions and resolve your hesitancy.

There are differences but not the ones your are insinuating. You just can’t stop…