If money were no object and you were just looking to raise your kids in a nice community...... (Dallas: condos, hotel)

[jeffari-al-texani]

I'm already here...

[RonRut]

Rockwall one of 10 best in America


It took a national magazine to reveal what Rockwall residents have always known – Rockwall is a great town for families. In fact, it’s number one in Texas and one of the 10 best in America
according to Family Circle magazine.

Available on newsstands July 7, the August issue of the magazine rates Rockwall and nine other U.S. cities as the perfect places to call home, citing: good neighbors, A+ public school systems,
affordable housing and green spaces. Additional criteria for the data-driven survey included financial stability, low crime rates and access to health care.
The article describes Rockwall as a lakeside Dallas suburb and one of the fastest growing communities in Texas. It notes that Rockwall was the first school district in the nation to adopt
Rachel’s challenge, a K-12 education program encouraging kids to perform random acts of kindness.

Interviewing several families in the selected cities to confirm research data and for other information, the Terry Crabtree family was used as an example of a normal Rockwall family in the
article.

Family Circle is one of the most widely read monthly magazines in the world with a circulation of 3.8 million and 21 million readers. Information for their annual listing of perfect places to call
home were compiled by Onboard Infomatics research firm in New York City from a list of 1,700 cities and towns with populations between 15,000 and 150,000. The list was then reduced to 800.

Family Circle selected which places best fit their family-friendly criteria and the final 10 were ranked from top to bottom.

The magazine focused on schools for this year’s top family-friendly towns. Greatschools.net, a nonprofit website provided Family Circle with the public school ratings used in the town rankings.

According to a press release, each town honored is made up of forward thinking parents, teachers and students who are: passionate about their hometown; dedicated to bettering their
children’s futures; and involved in advancing their local school systems as exemplified by the implementation of such programs as partnering with private medical groups to ensure treatment
for students without health insurance and integrating dual language classes in grade school.

The other nine cities were:
Evans, Ga.
Sherwood, Ore.
Indian Trail, N.C.
Edina, Minn.
Noblesville, Ind.
Perrysburg, Ohio
Hendersonville, Tenn.
Kenmore, Wash.
Sun Prairie, Wis.

[jpdallas]

if money were no object, i would try to get my boys into st marks school of texas, and my girls into hockaday. they are the best academic institutions in dallas and have a very strong national regard. just look at the website - the schools are truly amazing. yes, you will find affluence - but who can argue with the absolute best academic choice for your kids. and anyone from dallas knows this to be true with those 2 schools. they are the BEST.

i would live in old preston hollow and find a large wooded lot on a street with pretty homes.

if i didnt want to risk getting into very established private schools, i would buy a home in HP for the best investment in Dallas and let my kids try the HPISD. yes, you have to parent effectively and teach values in an affluent environment with many others that are trying to keep up with the Jones. but you can do that in your own way - join fishing lodges, mission work, not buy your kids everything they want and explain why. but HP, and UP, offer safety, kind and attentive neighbors and convenient access to restaurants, the arts, the zoo, etc.

Dallas has its challenges with materialism, but i have found that the people who have the least amount of money are the ones that have to exhibit the most materialism. we live beneath our means in UP and have wonderful friends and are trying our best to parent effectively among affluence. and p.s., diversity is not the strongest suit in the park cities, but diversity is usually a problem in the most affluent neighborhoods - its wrong, but its life - and hopefully changing in new generations. Good luck to you.

[jtrichel]

Originally Posted by jpdallas

if money were no object, i would try to get my boys into st marks school of texas, and my girls into hockaday. they are the best academic institutions in dallas and have a very strong national regard. just look at the website - the schools are truly amazing. yes, you will find affluence - but who can argue with the absolute best academic choice for your kids. and anyone from dallas knows this to be true with those 2 schools. they are the BEST.

i would live in old preston hollow and find a large wooded lot on a street with pretty homes.

if i didnt want to risk getting into very established private schools, i would buy a home in HP for the best investment in Dallas and let my kids try the HPISD. yes, you have to parent effectively and teach values in an affluent environment with many others that are trying to keep up with the Jones. but you can do that in your own way - join fishing lodges, mission work, not buy your kids everything they want and explain why. but HP, and UP, offer safety, kind and attentive neighbors and convenient access to restaurants, the arts, the zoo, etc.

Dallas has its challenges with materialism, but i have found that the people who have the least amount of money are the ones that have to exhibit the most materialism. we live beneath our means in UP and have wonderful friends and are trying our best to parent effectively among affluence. and p.s., diversity is not the strongest suit in the park cities, but diversity is usually a problem in the most affluent neighborhoods - its wrong, but its life - and hopefully changing in new generations. Good luck to you.

while I tend to agree with this post, I think that it will bring some ineresting reactions....

[theloneranger]

Originally Posted by jpdallas

if money were no object, i would try to get my boys into st marks school of texas, and my girls into hockaday. they are the best academic institutions in dallas and have a very strong national regard. just look at the website - the schools are truly amazing. yes, you will find affluence - but who can argue with the absolute best academic choice for your kids. and anyone from dallas knows this to be true with those 2 schools. they are the BEST.

i would live in old preston hollow and find a large wooded lot on a street with pretty homes.

if i didnt want to risk getting into very established private schools, i would buy a home in HP for the best investment in Dallas and let my kids try the HPISD. yes, you have to parent effectively and teach values in an affluent environment with many others that are trying to keep up with the Jones. but you can do that in your own way - join fishing lodges, mission work, not buy your kids everything they want and explain why. but HP, and UP, offer safety, kind and attentive neighbors and convenient access to restaurants, the arts, the zoo, etc.

Dallas has its challenges with materialism, but i have found that the people who have the least amount of money are the ones that have to exhibit the most materialism. we live beneath our means in UP and have wonderful friends and are trying our best to parent effectively among affluence. and p.s., diversity is not the strongest suit in the park cities, but diversity is usually a problem in the most affluent neighborhoods - its wrong, but its life - and hopefully changing in new generations. Good luck to you.

I agree with the most part but I would say that a large number of people would say that Cistercian is a better school than St. Mark's.

I don't think that St. Mark's offers anything academically that a dozen or more other schools don't offer, other than the ability to have your children educated in an enviornment where the affluence is mind-blowing.

But it is accurate to say that CPS and St. Mark's are considered to be the two best schools for boys in DFW academically.

[mayhem154]

I'd stay right here in Waxahachie. Probably have a nice spread on the lake with Dale Hansen as my neighbor...

[Huckleberry3911948]

i would first get into a nice childrens club, aka network. b4 i tried to move. assuming you have not moved yet. what i find is a whole lota malcontents with rotten kids somehow think going to a nice neigborhood will make their experience better. present company excepted of course. my favorite groups are parent organizations.

[W James III]

If money was no object and we won the lottery,

I would then splurge on a double wide trailer that didn’t require tires on the roof. I would also get a paved driveway and a covered car porch that would hold my new 4X4 truck and the wife’s car. We would defiantly get a nice 4 foot high chain link fence to surround the place to protect the above ground pool from critters and other unwanted visitors. Might even put the trampoline next to the pool, as you know the boys like that daredevil stuff.

Of course this would have to be located in Seagoville or Pleasant Grove, both which has decent school systems for fifth graders and our son has been in fifth grade three years now, and just loves his teachers.

Sorry… that’s what comes to mind when I think of lottery winners and I am sure you know I am just having fun!

[W James III]

Originally Posted by RonRut

Rockwall one of 10 best in America


It took a national magazine to reveal what Rockwall residents have always known – Rockwall is a great town for families. In fact, it’s number one in Texas and one of the 10 best in America
according to Family Circle magazine.

Available on newsstands July 7, the August issue of the magazine rates Rockwall and nine other U.S. cities as the perfect places to call home, citing: good neighbors, A+ public school systems,
affordable housing and green spaces. Additional criteria for the data-driven survey included financial stability, low crime rates and access to health care.
The article describes Rockwall as a lakeside Dallas suburb and one of the fastest growing communities in Texas. It notes that Rockwall was the first school district in the nation to adopt
Rachel’s challenge, a K-12 education program encouraging kids to perform random acts of kindness.

Interviewing several families in the selected cities to confirm research data and for other information, the Terry Crabtree family was used as an example of a normal Rockwall family in the
article.

Family Circle is one of the most widely read monthly magazines in the world with a circulation of 3.8 million and 21 million readers. Information for their annual listing of perfect places to call
home were compiled by Onboard Infomatics research firm in New York City from a list of 1,700 cities and towns with populations between 15,000 and 150,000. The list was then reduced to 800.

Family Circle selected which places best fit their family-friendly criteria and the final 10 were ranked from top to bottom.

The magazine focused on schools for this year’s top family-friendly towns. Greatschools.net, a nonprofit website provided Family Circle with the public school ratings used in the town rankings.

According to a press release, each town honored is made up of forward thinking parents, teachers and students who are: passionate about their hometown; dedicated to bettering their
children’s futures; and involved in advancing their local school systems as exemplified by the implementation of such programs as partnering with private medical groups to ensure treatment
for students without health insurance and integrating dual language classes in grade school.

The other nine cities were:
Evans, Ga.
Sherwood, Ore.
Indian Trail, N.C.
Edina, Minn.
Noblesville, Ind.
Perrysburg, Ohio
Hendersonville, Tenn.
Kenmore, Wash.
Sun Prairie, Wis.

Wonder how much Rockwall paid to get on that list? Just kidding

I remember Rockwall from back in the day when Faulkner built all those apartments and condos, hundreds of them and then had all those troubles and they were all left unfinished and became a huge eye sore.

Then the huge Church was located out there and for me Rockwall was always just a little too weird for me, maybe it’s changed in the past 20 years like everything else has.

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by W James III

Wonder how much Rockwall paid to get on that list? Just kidding

I remember Rockwall from back in the day when Faulkner built all those apartments and condos, hundreds of them and then had all those troubles and they were all left unfinished and became a huge eye sore.

Then the huge Church was located out there and for me Rockwall was always just a little too weird for me, maybe it’s changed in the past 20 years like everything else has.

The area your referring to with the Faulkner condos was actually in Garland.

That church is long gone now and LakePointe has moved into there. LakePointe Baptist was in Rowlett and their membership was growing and Church on the Rock in Rockwall was dwindling so they basically swapped properties. LakePointe has continued to grow like crazy and Church on the Rock is no more.

Rockwall has changed a LOT in the last 10 years, heck even 5 years. It is a GREAT area and a good area to raise a family.