Nurse relocating to Dallas, kids need orchestra. (Plano, Garland: apartment, house)

[LANurse]

My husband and I are both nurses. I work NICU, and am probably going to be considering Dallas Childrens. We are looking for a suburb with a decent commute, and good schools. My children are 5 and 10, and play string instruments. They are in the Suzuki program in Shreveport, but I notice the price for the Suzuki program in Dallas is much higher--so might need to look for schools that have orchestra. Our budget is limited to 150,000. I have been searching greatschools.com, but am so overwhelmed. Plano and Richardson appear to be too expensive. I have looked at Forney--affordable, but seems to have a long commute, and no orchestra in the schools--even in high school.

[momof2dfw]

There are schools in the Garland ISD that have orchestra and band. My daughter was in orchestra in 4th grade but changed to band in 5th. The only schools though that offer orchestra are the magnets. One is for the arts specifically, Vial, but the G&T magnets offer it as well.

[austinnetx]

You might consider getting an apartment in the area of your choice and saving up your money to buy the house you want. There are some very nice family-friendly places on Preston as well as along the Tollway.

There are a number of new hospitals in Collin County and Collin County has one of the highest birthrates in the US. You should be able to find something in time very close to Richardson/Plano.

[LANurse]

One of my problems: I don't know what area. Any thoughts on commutes from Farmers Branch, Garland, Grapevine to middle of Dallas in early morning. What about Carrollton? Anyone have children in schools in these areas? Do the kids have to test into the magnet schools the year before?

[LANurse]

Thanks for the information about Collin County. I will have to look up that area. Does anyone have any idea of starting salary for a new graduate nurse in Dallas. I have been nursing for 8 years, but I thought that would give me a ground to compare to Louisiana pay. Thanks.

[5stones]

from other posts I know that HEB ISD (hurst, Euless,Bedford..aka midcities) has the Suzuki program. Do a search on this forum.

DISD has suzuki in a magnut school.

McKinney has a strings program I believe as well as Garland ISD

Tarrant county college has classes.

resources for you...
News: More Than a Teacher: A Tribute to Gwen Runyon | Suzuki Association of the Americas (broken link)
Suzuki Institute of Dallas Online might be a resource for public schools that offer classes etc...

[dallas76]

I will tell you this, Children's Medical Center is one of the lowest paying in the metroplex. I work there, I am a RT. Don't get me wrong it is one place that you will love to work, great hospital, alot of politics is to be expected. They have everything you will need. However they do not compensate for the amount of work that you will do in comparison to other hospitals. New grads make less that 50K a year (36-45K) with overtime. That should give you some bases about Children's Medical pay scale. One plus is overtime is unlimited. Now your adult hopsitals that due deliveries and have high demand NICUs pay far better than Children's. If I was you I would do a travel assignment with Children's. They will house you in the uptown area of Dallas, pay all your living expenses, and you can get a good feel for the area. This will also give you leverage if you decide to come on as staff when it come to pay. That is the route I took when I made my move here 3 years ago.

[Spree]

Baylor/Dallas starts new grads at about $20/$21 for 7a-7p, med surg. There is a $5/$6 differential for 7p-7a. You might want to ask if the have the 36 hour for 40. I wish I could help you w/orchestra.

We use to live in Shreveport, over by the gorgeous First Baptist church. I have fond memories walking the sidewalks in those old neighborhoods w/my son in a stroller.

[PlanoGirl]

I grew up in Richardson and they had a excellent orchestra and band program. Check out older parts of north east Richardson...my parents sold their house there (by Big Springs elem) a couple years ago for 145K (about 1800 sg ft I think).

[ChristieP]

Grapevine is an easy commute down 114 to Children's (I used to drive to Stemmons & Mockingbird and it took 25 minutes at 7 AM), but there are VERY few homes here under $150k.