Anyone in Stonebridge Ranch? (Houston, McKinney: home builder, neighborhoods, to buy)

[Nature Girl]

Hello,
Is there anyone out there that lives in Stonebridge ranch in Mckinney? We are considering a move there from Oregon, but was hoping to get some feedback from the locals since it is a big move. I heard the school system is wonderful, the community is beautiful, and it is very family friendly. Are there any negatives or information I should know before hand? I would appreciate any feedback you have to help make our decision easier. Thanks in advance!

[stargazer]

I live in Mckinney and am very close by since I am off of one of the main parkways that intersects with the community. Stonebridge is a great place to live. The homes are very pretty too. The elementary schools are all very good there, please though check out the middle schools.
From a friend who works in the alternative school in town which is where all the trouble makers go from Middle School and High School, she sees more of a concentration of kids from Evans Middle School and not that many from Dowell which though has a bad reputation for allowing bullies to stay in school. I have had parents personally tell me of the problems there due to the principal who sheilds them there. So for me in my thinking, the principal at Evans is not allowing the trouble makers to stay however it is not good when most of the kids in the Alternative School come from one middle school.
Scott Johnson in Stonebridge tends to be by reputation to be the better middle school. The best middle school though is Fabioun which is not in Stone Bridge but I believe that some parts of Stonebridge might have kids zoned for that school. Fabiuon has a reputation as having the best teachers there. It is also the most diverse school in district. Boyd High School just opened it's doors and it is considered to be an excellent school thus so far and I have heard many positives things, Mckinney High School as well by reputation has a great school as well. I have heard though that North Mckinney has had some issues in the past but that there is new leadership and that they are turning it around there. Good luck on finding your house. I really do like living here.

[stargazer]

Oh one more thing, they are going to be building more schools in the future too, so if your kiddos are young, there could be some more middle schools popping up. My daughter will be at Fabiuon but I don't know about where my son will be. Fabioun is far away for us so I imagine in 5 years there will be another middle school popping up.

[Nature Girl]

Thanks for the info Stargazer! Getting important facts about the schools is essential and the best way to do that is from parents who are there! My daughter will be going into the 3rd grade, and we plan on having a couple more babies so it will be a while before they start school. Do you know how the private schools are there? Any Christian schools near by that you can recommend? Also, is McKinney hilly with a good amount of trees? Coming from Oregon that is something we will miss terribly! And does the weather get pretty cold in the winter months? Believe it or not, I would prefer that it does. haha.

Thanks!

[stargazer]

Hey Nature Girl,
Stonebridge does not boast of having huge natural areas or trees that are left in place in neighborhoods however the El Dorado area of Mckinney does and that is a very beautiful prime area to live. El Dorado is very close to Stonebridge and your friend. Here are some nice areas in Mckinney with trees
Village Creek area, areas around Country Club, Pembroke, Provine, Some areas off of Hardin going north, Kensington Estates, St Georges Estates, Valley Creek Road, Sylvan area. Good luck on finding a nice house.



The weather will be much warmer for you but trust me, this is not Florida. I have lived there and we did not have too many cold days there. It can get cold in the winter months sometimes being in the 40's to the 50's. We do have cold snaps and freezes and have maybe one or two times in the winter that it is below freezing and yes I have seen snow here. I moved here in 1990 and moved away briefly 12 years later but have been back for a year. We have seen on average it snow about once a year. We don't get tons but it is enough to blanket the ground and the kids get out of school. Summers are very hot after 4th of July and it stays extremely hot with 100 degree days many times till the beginning of September. The beginning of September of this year, it was so dramatic for us, the triple digit heat went away it seems once September came. The days were warm but very managable, not that triple digits that make you sick just being out in. Here it is October and it is still warm but it is so lovely still. We hope it will go down just a tad bit in weather. I love Fall weather in the 60's. If you have anymore questions, just pm me. I would be glad to answer them.

[momof2dfw]

My sister lives in Stonebridge and teaches in McKinney. Stonebridge is a HUGE master planned community (almost a city w/in a city). The homes built and being built are the entire range of the spectrum from the very low-end, cookie-cutter, tract home builder all the way to the monster huge, ultra high-end custom home builder. Some areas are gated w/in the community. Right now she is having trouble w/ the police dept concerning junked cars parked in the front driveway. There is nothing they can do about it and it is allowed. As long as they slap a current sticker on it they can park it there forever.

I would avoid Evans also. The first year this school was trashed w/ graffiti. The teachers were told the first week of school to stop sending kids to the office for dresscode violations as they did not have the time to deal w/ it. Fights daily. Teacher caught the kids smoking pot in the bathroom and reported it to the office and they never bothered to do anything about it. One of the asst. principals walks thru the halls calling the kids by their street names (kids are bused over from the East side of town), excusing them from detention and trying to be their "homey" over an authority figure. My sis hated teaching there. Got tired of hearing about the parties the kids were having over the weekend and the things that they did of an intimate nature. Also got tired of being told that she could not count homework never turned in against the students to just keep sending it home.

Every school district has their problems and they have them too. All boils down to parents being parents and knowing what is going on. Even in elementary they have some parents that want their kids catered to as lil jr or princess can do no wrong. But alas, that is everywhere.

[stargazer]

Oh my gosh, I had heard there were trouble makers there but I did not know the extent of it. I have seriously considered homeschooling my child next year through 8th because I have been told the Middle School years are the worst but for some reason magically by high school that many of the kids get straightened out. My friend who teaches alternative tells me she has more middle school students than high schoolers and the alternative is for the whole district. I have also heard that many parents try to move into Fabioun district just so their children can go. The schools reputation is made by the teachers and the prinicpal. I have had only a few parents tell me there kids were doing great there and one parent who actually subs there and at all middle schools telling me that the kids are more well behaved at Fabioun compared to anywhere else. What school is your sister teaching at now?

Too my husband was telling me he got his tires slashed every week when he was in 6th grade and he went to a good middle school in Alief in Houston ( back in the 70's). He said that he took up football to be tough to not get picked on. He and his bf wore plaid shirts everyday and called themselves lumberjacks to look tough. They weren't really but somehow after they started doing that, no one picked on them. It was part of survivial. Middle school can be so mean and I am really worried about it.

[Nature Girl]

This is why I am looking at private schools! I worry about these type of things. It's so frustrating when behavior like this hinders the children's time that want to learn and do well! When a teacher has to stop their teaching to talk to out of hand kids it really disrupts the class and concentration. It drives me nuts!
Thanks for the tips ladies, this helps us out a lot! The weather sounds OK to me. As long as it's not too humid I am happy. I am use to triple digit weather, I use to live the central Californa! Wow, I had no idea you get a bit of snow! That is so cool. I will just have to get a visit out there and really look around. Thanks for the tips!!

[momof2dfw]

Now, private schools are no haven of safety either. The kids that get kicked out of public schools and their parents have money do end up in the private schools. You will also still see the kids in private schools that you do in public that have parents w/ more money than they do sense that throw money and material things at their kids to keep them busy and out of their hair. The only benefit that I personally see from a private school is the size, it is smaller and more intimate so if you are a parent that is involved w/ their child and their education you are going to know EVERYTHING and EVERYONE. Even kids at private schools get into trouble. I have one really good friend and they all went to a private Christian school and one sibling is sitting in prison right now for something like the 4th time for drugs. And this guy is only about 30. Really sad because the family is really great. But they still have the same temptations that kids in public school do. And if they are out at the movie theaters, mall, etc they are going to be around it. I think it is just parents that KNOW there is bad out there and take the time to talk to their kids (before it is too late) about the dangers out there. The parents are not oblivious to the world and what is going on. The parents know that not all parents care about what goes on. Even though my oldest is only in middle school we have already had the talk about who they ride in a car with. If someone shows up to pick her up and they have been drinking (like when they are at a school function or movies or such and another parent is responsible for picking them up) or their friends older sibling shows up to pick them up in a car that is overloaded w/ passangers/teenagers. All of these things happen and just because a kid is in private school does not mean they will not experience this things. It also boils down into knowing your childs friends parents and all of you parents sitting down and talking about what you each allow and the parents coming to an agreement that is best for ALL of the kids. So help me, any parent/adult provide alcohol to my child......

BTW, that was just the tip of the iceberg of the stuff I know about that particular school. It really is sad about what goes on there.

[GoPadge]

When I was growing up, the local private schools were the best place to buy drugs. (Um. So I heard. )