Moving to Dallas -- suggestions on neighborhoods close to top private schools?

[jtrichel]

Some people want their kids in private schools to get very small classrooms with high teacher-to-student ratios, some people want their kids in private schools because of spiritual/religous beliefs, some people want their kids in private schools because of special needs. It doesn't have to be because they are rich a**holes.

When I visit this site every once in awhile, I can always count on finding a thread where certain regulars seem to blast anyone that has a little money or wants to live in North Dallas/send their kids to private schools there. I have never understood it. Some public schools are great, some aren't, just like is the case with private schools. However, in either case, it's not just about SAT scores or how many merit scholars...it's the richness of the overall school experience. Schools like St. Marks are incredible...in terms of facilities, sports, teachers, etc. It's not for everyone, but I think to equate that school experience to the average public school is just silly. Doesn't mean it is a BETTER education, but it is surely a very different school experience. By the way, kids in private schools can still have neighborhood friends, and I dont know many little kids that boycott other neighborhood kids because they dont go to their public school....what a ridiculous notion.

Back to the original poster --- we have a son who just turned 3 and is at Lamplighter. We love it. We arent rich or evil, just want to have our son at what we think is the best pre-school experience in DFW. We intend to send our almost 1 yr old there also when he is older. I would highly recommend you check it out for your 2 yr old girl. They are focused only on early childhood...through 4th grade. Our son hates to leave to come home he loves it so much, most importantly is really having fun learning. "Placement statistics" indicate that for most kids that go there, they have a lot of good options when they leave or "graduate" -- St. Marks, Cistercian, Hockaday, Public Schools, etc. We are shopping for a house in the area, because right now our commute is about 30-40 minutes...not sustainable. Things are much more expensive south of 635, but your commute would be all surface streets to just about every Dallas private school, regardless of what you choose. Your budget will make it tight, but as others have said, I would look between Midway and Inwood, 635 and Royal as a square search area with a lot of homes less than $1MM.

[MSPMom]

Originally Posted by jtrichel

Some people want their kids in private schools to get very small classrooms with high teacher-to-student ratios, some people want their kids in private schools because of spiritual/religous beliefs, some people want their kids in private schools because of special needs. It doesn't have to be because they are rich a**holes.

When I visit this site every once in awhile, I can always count on finding a thread where certain regulars seem to blast anyone that has a little money or wants to live in North Dallas/send their kids to private schools there. I have never understood it. Some public schools are great, some aren't, just like is the case with private schools. However, in either case, it's not just about SAT scores or how many merit scholars...it's the richness of the overall school experience. Schools like St. Marks are incredible...in terms of facilities, sports, teachers, etc. It's not for everyone, but I think to equate that school experience to the average public school is just silly. Doesn't mean it is a BETTER education, but it is surely a very different school experience. By the way, kids in private schools can still have neighborhood friends, and I dont know many little kids that boycott other neighborhood kids because they dont go to their public school....what a ridiculous notion.

Back to the original poster --- we have a son who just turned 3 and is at Lamplighter. We love it. We arent rich or evil, just want to have our son at what we think is the best pre-school experience in DFW. We intend to send our almost 1 yr old there also when he is older. I would highly recommend you check it out for your 2 yr old girl. They are focused only on early childhood...through 4th grade. Our son hates to leave to come home he loves it so much, most importantly is really having fun learning. "Placement statistics" indicate that for most kids that go there, they have a lot of good options when they leave or "graduate" -- St. Marks, Cistercian, Hockaday, Public Schools, etc. We are shopping for a house in the area, because right now our commute is about 30-40 minutes...not sustainable. Things are much more expensive south of 635, but your commute would be all surface streets to just about every Dallas private school, regardless of what you choose. Your budget will make it tight, but as others have said, I would look between Midway and Inwood, 635 and Royal as a square search area with a lot of homes less than $1MM.

Thanks so much for your insight. Lamplighter is actually our top choice and it sounds like your family has a similar outlook on early childhood education. We're not rich or evil either (smile) but very very focused on our daughter's education.

One question: does Lamplighter allow any children to start the program who have birthdays in late September? My daughter will be three next year, but I have a sinking feeling most schools will make her wait until 2010, when she will essentially be a year older than many classmates.

[jtrichel]

Originally Posted by MSPMom

Thanks so much for your insight. Lamplighter is actually our top choice and it sounds like your family has a similar outlook on early childhood education. We're not rich or evil either (smile) but very very focused on our daughter's education.

One question: does Lamplighter allow any children to start the program who have birthdays in late September? My daughter will be three next year, but I have a sinking feeling most schools will make her wait until 2010, when she will essentially be a year older than many classmates.

Not sure the answer to this, our son is an April birthday. I can tell you that Matt Brenner (Admissions) is a really great person to deal with (as we have found with all the teachers/administrators) and his contact info is available through their website The Lamplighter School. I would just reach out to him over email and/or phone. I think that you are making a really great choice in Lamplighter for the early years...we heavily researched a lot of other great options (Da Vinci, ESD, St. Alcuins, etc) and liked Lamplighter the best. Feel free to Direct Message me if you have any specific questions.

[FarNorthDallas]

Originally Posted by MSPMom

One question: does Lamplighter allow any children to start the program who have birthdays in late September? My daughter will be three next year, but I have a sinking feeling most schools will make her wait until 2010, when she will essentially be a year older than many classmates.

She won't be significantly older. Many parents hold their April-August kids back - either their choice or the private school's demand - so those kids are older and some private schools have a primer year between K and 1st creating kids who are "old" for their grade. Since many of the top private schools are academically quite demanding, they want the kids to have every opportunity to excel, including being older for their grade. Sometimes private schools make new students transferring in from public schools to go back a grade, too.

[Texafornian]

Also keep in mind that where there's a will, there's a way, regardless of where you end up living in DFW. My family lived in Duncanville, TX, a suburb in the southern region of DFW. I went to Cistercian (Irving/Las Colinas) and my sister went to Hockaday. Since there were about 8 other boys who lived in route from Duncanville to Cistercian, the school chartered a van to pick us up every day. My parents of course had to pay a bit extra, but it was well worth the gas, time and effort savings, as they only had to drive 5 minutes to "bring" me to school, a school which was 1 hour+ away in traffic. Hockaday is even further way (I think it was about 1.5 hour commute in traffic). What you'll find is that most suburbs around Dallas have parents just like you who want to give their children the private school experience, regardless of where they live. Because of this, my sister was able to carpool with a few other girls in Duncanville who all went to Hockaday as well, and my parents only had a 10 minute drive over to the other girl's house to drop off/pick up my sister every day. So long story short, people are making it work from all over the Dallas area to have their kids go to these schools, and it really wasn't difficult or a strain at all for my parents as far as getting us back and forth from them (according to them at least).

[Lakewooder]

Originally Posted by Spree

Parents choose private schools for many different reasons - the principal of Woodrow sends her child to a private school.

Since we have moved around so much, we have done both. At the point in time that my kids were at a private school, it was the best choice for them. They are in public schools and it's the right choice for them now.

Yes she sends her to St. Thomas, which is an elementary school. But unless she has moved, she was living further east in the Bryan Adams feeder area, where there are not as many great elementary schools. However, Sanger has just been ranked exemplary.

I personally did not have a great experience with the kids who left my elementary school to go to St. Mark's. Two of them turned into snobs who would barely talk to us (one of those I have no idea where he is now, the other is still quite dismissive after all these years) and one committed suicide. Similarly a girl who left our school to go to Hockaday died from an overdose either while she was there or very shortly after..We always invite 'the private school kids' to our WW reunions but none of them has ever showed.

I'll probably get flamed for this post as some of my others are admittedly bombastic and unbowlderized to make a point. I know a lot of good kids come out of those schools and I have praised them in the past as truly great private schools, not just white-flight academies. But they are no panacea for problems - neither is my alma mater.