Questions about moving to El Paso and the schools (Howe: for sale, house)

[mistabinks]

Great post DesertDog.

KSHousewife, don't let Alikate1205 scare you. While I am sure it happens, I have never encountered a situation where I did not fit in because I am not fluent in Spanish. ESPECIALLY at school.

Yes, some people will converse in Spanish. You will definetly never get comfortable here if you hear Spanish being spoken and instantly turn around and walk the other way. Most people will switch to English as a courtesy if you attempt to interact. Not all, but most.

[Caltep]

I will admit, I am biased , but I am also a transplant. I would endorse the far west side (actually northwest) for schools. In fact, we picked the west b/c of schools. I feel my kids are being challenged and their teachers care. The elementary schools in that area are Polk, Tippin, Kohlberg, Guerrero. Polk always ranks Exemplary and the others I believe are no less than Recognized. Brown is the middle school, open only a year and Hornedo I believe will now be the 9th grade center. Franklin and Coronado are the only two HS in that area and they are two of the largest in the city, but good. All schools in the northwest are crowded, portables are prevalent. A new elementary school and middle school are currently being built, scheduled to open in Fall 09 and Spring '10. A very heavy concentration of schools in a relatively small area. Biggest concern is so many feeder schools but no talk of another high school.

Westside has many transplants so you will probably meet a lot of families who have moved to ELP in the last five years or so. I will agree...much to like about ELP and not like about ELP. So there is my non-objective west-centric two cents.

[alikat1205]

i wasn't trying to scare anyone, i did say i thought the schools were good, which was her question. however, as to switching to english, that is often not an option. many, many of the parents in my daughters school did not speak any english. i spoke no spanish. whether intentional or not, we were excluded. it is el paso, and that is what it is, but it is something to know full well in advance of making a decision. if you're okay with that, and with being left out and often lonely, el paso is a gorgeous place and the weather can't be beat.

[missinggreen]

Originally Posted by KSHousewife

Our family has the possibility to move to El Paso in the next 6-9 months because of my husband's job. My husband would like to take the job, but he is not sure he is willing to risk the kid's education for it. We live by Ft Leavenworth now and with the exception of one person who was raised in El Paso, I can't find one person who has a nice thing to say about the schools in El Paso. All I hear is low standards, sub par education, overcrowding, and gangs. This person from El Paso said you have to live in the West area and your kids have to go to Franklin High, and Hornedo Middle, and Polk or Kohlberg Elementary. Is this true? Is it really that bad? What about Horizon City? I hear they have a new middle/high school. Also, what about the commute from Horizon to Bliss? Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

We lived on the westside and my ten year old daughter attened Tippin Elementary. The school has a good academia, the teaches push the children and supply plenty of homework, reading reports, science reports, book reviews etc. However, the school was overcrowded, has portables, no gym, so P.E. is performed outside in the hot sun. The standard of education is good, but I do not believe they nourish and develop the children. The school counsellor was involved with problems with other children calling my daughter names in spanish and also physically hitting her. She is a pretty fair haired petite girl, who went to El Paso, with an openm mind, and came home broken hearted most days because the other girls would not include her. We invited numerous girls over, but they never came. El Paso would have been much more bearable had she had friends and some form of social life. We stayed one year and could not wait to leave.

El Paso is not for everyone. Mistablinks would have you believe it is not for some. Please think very hard on your decision. My husband took the job to further his career, and has regrets about taking us to the place.

However, the weather is great, hardly any need for a jacket and the mountains are pretty.

[alikat1205]

we have talked about this many times, missing, my husband did the same thing, moved us there to further his career. my daughters went with open hearts and hopeful faces, and they left crushed and broken. we also invited girls and no one came. my oldest daughter was middle school aged and got the worst of it, with being called names in spanish. they asked her right in front of her if she spoke spanish, and when she said no, proceeded to talk about her right in front of her and laugh at the white girl. i am not asking el paso to change, i am not saying that they should speak english. what i am saying, is to ask yourself if the career opportunity is worth the loss in self esteem of your children, if you are willing to live in a city with no social life yourself, if it is enough. i am telling you that you need to know this before you go, you need to be very sure you are willing to make that sacrifice, because you will be making it. there is far more to school than academics.

[mistabinks]

Bad things happened to the above two people. It does not mean it will happen to everyone. Was the new girl only excluded because she was white? Probably not. Kids are harsh. Kids are harsh in El Paso, kids are harsh in Nebraska, kids are harsh almost everywhere. I have a little one and I would be crushed if that happened to her. I am sorry you two went through that. I have no doubt it happened but I disagree on why it happened. It is hard to be a kid nowadays. This is El Paso so you have to deal with kids who know two languages. Kids are harsh. They will use that advantage when messing with other kids who only know one language. It is not because they are Hispanic, it is because they are kids. If this was Idaho, the new kids would face similar challenges trying to blend in. Spanish wouldn't be used against them but something would. Again, I am sorry you did not like El Paso, but your experiences are not par for the course.

[alliswell]

We're relatively new here and am on board with it's no one's responsibility but your own to make it work. The notion that a *place* has the power to decide happiness or unhappiness is an interesting concept. Not one I relate to easily, but who am I to say that it's not true for others.

My kids have had no problem fitting in and making friends. In fact, I wish the doorbell would ringing a little less. Seems like as soon as the kids get home from school, the packs of kids are out knocking on doors looking for playmates. We've had to curtail the bring a friend home thing because it was getting a little tiring having a kid guest over all the time. All of my boys are big in stature and I honestly think that makes a difference. No one messes with them. Plus, in general, I think boys can have an easier time socially than girls. Girls can be ruthlessly mean to other girls.

We live on the westside. I like it here. I was immediately invited into a ladies group who meet every other week for lunch -- they all speak english. I have not had one instance where not speaking Spanish was an issue. Not one. Not in the neighborhood, not at school, not out and about.

The schools are okay to pretty good. Crowded is probabaly a matter of perspective. Each of my kids are in classrooms of 21 to 23 children. Even tho there are high populations at the schools, that does not automatically mean that classrooms are overcrowded in my opinion.

There is a new school underway on the westside in the Franklin Hills area. That will help with the high popluations at the schools in that area. The style of teaching is very rote. Not a whole lot of creativity or innovation on the education front here but they seem to do a good job focusing on the basics and I sense a very strong desire from most (not all) school staff that they want each child to experience academic success.

The school my kids attend do not have a gym either. There is no art and no music outside of what their classroom teacher can provide. That is disappointing. We have had to make arrangements for extracurricular art and music activities because I happen to believe those subjects are just as vital as math and reading. The schools are lacking in some key areas for sure so be prepared to supplement what they receive from the public schools and compensate for what you feel is lacking.

There is a big population at most of the schools. As a parent be prepared to speak up and push a little. If your kid needs something extra or has issues, no one is going to notice or care and certainly not just jump right in and help or do anything unless you make them; be prepared for a fair amount of excuses just don't accept them. There is a tendancy here to offer excuses as to why something can not or could not be done. Lots of looking for opportunity to get out of having to do work even in the schools. Have to find your voice and grow set and push a little bit in order to construct the reality that you want to live and to get stuff done around here -- the schools are no exception.

[alikat1205]

well, we're in st. louis now, and those problems don't exist, the girls have blended in and have been invited to play dates, parties, and the like. they love it here, so for us, yes, it was el paso. maybe not true for everyone, but definitely true for us.

[smguy101]

I graduated from school last year in El Paso and I will be the first to tell you that the above posts were very very isolated incidents. I never had a problem like that attending school in El Paso from K-12. Sure, they speak spanish and i dont know a lick of it, but they do speak in english.
Every school has it's cliques and it's bullies, not just EL Paso

[missinggreen]

Originally Posted by alliswell

We're relatively new here and am on board with it's no one's responsibility but your own to make it work. The notion that a *place* has the power to decide happiness or unhappiness is an interesting concept. Not one I relate to easily, but who am I to say that it's not true for others.

My kids have had no problem fitting in and making friends. In fact, I wish the doorbell would ringing a little less. Seems like as soon as the kids get home from school, the packs of kids are out knocking on doors looking for playmates. We've had to curtail the bring a friend home thing because it was getting a little tiring having a kid guest over all the time. All of my boys are big in stature and I honestly think that makes a difference. No one messes with them. Plus, in general, I think boys can have an easier time socially than girls. Girls can be ruthlessly mean to other girls.

We live on the westside. I like it here. I was immediately invited into a ladies group who meet every other week for lunch -- they all speak english. I have not had one instance where not speaking Spanish was an issue. Not one. Not in the neighborhood, not at school, not out and about.

The schools are okay to pretty good. Crowded is probabaly a matter of perspective. Each of my kids are in classrooms of 21 to 23 children. Even tho there are high populations at the schools, that does not automatically mean that classrooms are overcrowded in my opinion.

There is a new school underway on the westside in the Franklin Hills area. That will help with the high popluations at the schools in that area. The style of teaching is very rote. Not a whole lot of creativity or innovation on the education front here but they seem to do a good job focusing on the basics and I sense a very strong desire from most (not all) school staff that they want each child to experience academic success.

The school my kids attend do not have a gym either. There is no art and no music outside of what their classroom teacher can provide. That is disappointing. We have had to make arrangements for extracurricular art and music activities because I happen to believe those subjects are just as vital as math and reading. The schools are lacking in some key areas for sure so be prepared to supplement what they receive from the public schools and compensate for what you feel is lacking.

There is a big population at most of the schools. As a parent be prepared to speak up and push a little. If your kid needs something extra or has issues, no one is going to notice or care and certainly not just jump right in and help or do anything unless you make them; be prepared for a fair amount of excuses just don't accept them. There is a tendancy here to offer excuses as to why something can not or could not be done. Lots of looking for opportunity to get out of having to do work even in the schools. Have to find your voice and grow set and push a little bit in order to construct the reality that you want to live and to get stuff done around here -- the schools are no exception.

I believe you are correct that generally boys have an easier time than girls. My daughter after repeatedly trying to get involved with the girls, actually teamed up with a couple of boys at recess and had a great time playing soccer with them.

I could not comfortably let my daughter go looking for playmates on my neighbourhood. We were in the new part of Franklin Hills, and workers were working on many houses. They watched you. And I was not comfortable letting her walk on her own. At the end of the week, these men would get a 24 pack of beer and sit outside the house they were building, and then get in their vehicles and drive off. This was not a place I was going to let my daughter walk on her own