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Old 09-24-2014, 09:45 PM
 
2 posts, read 6,467 times
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My husband, an E7, and I will be PCSing to Ft. Bliss in January. Not knowing anything about the area, we would love to stay in military housing, but have not heard anything but horror stories (roaches, difficult management company, etc.)! Are there any families actually living on post at this time (2014) who could give me an accurate account of what base housing is actually like? I think we would either be at Aero Vista or Paso del Norte. Also, any information about the quality of the elementary, middle, and high schools that my children would be zoned for would be much appreciated! We don't have much time, and I am freaking out! Thank you, in advance, for your help!
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Old 09-24-2014, 11:18 PM
 
Location: Glory Road - El Paso, Texas (R.O)
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http://www.city-data.com/forum/searc...rchid=13498523
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Old 09-25-2014, 12:37 AM
 
1,011 posts, read 2,817,844 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by armywifearmylife011510 View Post
My husband, an E7, and I will be PCSing to Ft. Bliss in January. Not knowing anything about the area, we would love to stay in military housing, but have not heard anything but horror stories (roaches, difficult management company, etc.)! Are there any families actually living on post at this time (2014) who could give me an accurate account of what base housing is actually like? I think we would either be at Aero Vista or Paso del Norte. Also, any information about the quality of the elementary, middle, and high schools that my children would be zoned for would be much appreciated! We don't have much time, and I am freaking out! Thank you, in advance, for your help!
The housing in those areas is fairly new; older housing in Aero Vista (at Biggs Field) has recently been torn down and replaced.

That neighborhood is zoned to Austin High (9-12), Ross Middle (6-8) and Milam Elementary (PK-5), which is in the neighborhood. Paso del Norte is zoned to Chapin High (9-12), Bassett Middle (6-8) and Powell Elementary (PK-5); Chapin and Powell are close by. As for quality, I guess they're okay.
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Old 09-25-2014, 07:53 AM
 
Location: Sacramento Mtns of NM
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If you've not yet seen this web site, you might want to start there for information that isn't speculative:

http://fortblisshousing.com/

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Old 09-25-2014, 10:52 AM
 
2 posts, read 6,467 times
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Thank you both for your responses! I have actually looked at various websites but have just been concerned about all the complaints I've seen online about the condition of the homes as well as management not being very user friendly. I realize, however, that people are more likely to write a review when they are upset as opposed to being happy with a product or service. Just wanted to get opinions from people who are either in housing or know the area. Also, do you all have school choice as long as the parent is to provide transportation? One last thing, in your opinions, what are the best schools there and what are the areas we must live in be zoned for them. Thanks again!
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Old 09-25-2014, 05:30 PM
 
58 posts, read 93,284 times
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We are currently living in Aero Vista. The middle section is older homes with a single car garage. They are in decent enough shape and the only real complaint is a tiny kitchen. Not too bad. The east and west sections of Aero Vista are newer homes with 2 car garages. I haven't been in one.

Balfour Beatty's not THAT bad. Kinda clueless but in general, work calls are handled quickly enough, and they will come and do indoor and outdoor bug spraying if you need them to. MOST of the soldiers in Aero Vista are attending the Sergeants Major Academy, but not all. The coolest part (esp for the center section of AV) is the playgrounds. There are several playgrounds and almost always a bunch of kids out there. It's been awesome.

Elementary school is Milam. We have a 4th grader there. His teacher is good but the school is a bit of a disappointment They are very unorganized and anytime something outside of the day to day routine comes up, it's like they've never faced it before and have no idea how to handle it (rainy afternoon pick up for example). I feel my son is getting a good education and am not going to pull him out but I do feel let down from how great I thought it would be. I do really enjoy walking to school with him every day.

Middle school is Ross. I was very skeptical about Ross, but my 6th grader's experience has been wonderful. The counselors were super easy to work with in making sure he got the classes he needed and he is really enjoying Ross. They seem much more organized and we get more communication from the middle school than the elementary school. Our experience with the schools has pretty much been the opposite of what we expected.

I do not know which HS Aero Vista is zoned for but kids seem to be going to Chapin and Austin; I think if you are military, you can actually choose which schools your kids go to but I don't know the details of any cost or transportation.

I do not know as much about Paseo del Norte. There are a few Sergeants Major Academy students that are living over here but I don't know if they chose to send their kids to Powell/Bassett.

A few heads' up about the EPISD in general. (From what I have been able to find), there are no elementary schools that offer unstructured recess time OR offer separate art classes. This was a HUGE shock to me. At Milam (and the other elem schools that I could tell), they do get PE every day, but IMO, it's not the same - I wanted the unstructured free play time. I haven't been able to get a satisfactory answer as to why there is no recess. The classroom teacher provides art projects for the kids so they are getting some art class type exposure. They do have music once a week and go to the library.

All in all, being where we are, I am glad that we are living on post. A good teacher can overcome a bad school and vice versa, a bad teacher can sink a year at a great school and the kids really love hanging out with their friends at the playground every day.

If we had not lived on post, we were also looking at the Northeast - Fannin/Bradley/Charles schools area and Nixon/Lea/Richardson schools area.

ETA - Here is the greatschools link with info about districts for the different schools. I have learned to pay attention to parent reviews in addition to the rating. Milam has an 8/10, but parents only rate it 2/5. If my son were younger or more sensitive to the disorganization, we may have made a different choice but he's doing great so far.

http://www.greatschools.org/school-d...=2372&state=TX

Last edited by kparker313; 09-25-2014 at 05:58 PM..
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Old 09-25-2014, 08:42 PM
 
1,011 posts, read 2,817,844 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kparker313 View Post
We are currently living in Aero Vista. The middle section is older homes with a single car garage. They are in decent enough shape and the only real complaint is a tiny kitchen. Not too bad. The east and west sections of Aero Vista are newer homes with 2 car garages. I haven't been in one.

Balfour Beatty's not THAT bad. Kinda clueless but in general, work calls are handled quickly enough, and they will come and do indoor and outdoor bug spraying if you need them to. MOST of the soldiers in Aero Vista are attending the Sergeants Major Academy, but not all. The coolest part (esp for the center section of AV) is the playgrounds. There are several playgrounds and almost always a bunch of kids out there. It's been awesome.

Elementary school is Milam. We have a 4th grader there. His teacher is good but the school is a bit of a disappointment They are very unorganized and anytime something outside of the day to day routine comes up, it's like they've never faced it before and have no idea how to handle it (rainy afternoon pick up for example). I feel my son is getting a good education and am not going to pull him out but I do feel let down from how great I thought it would be. I do really enjoy walking to school with him every day.

Middle school is Ross. I was very skeptical about Ross, but my 6th grader's experience has been wonderful. The counselors were super easy to work with in making sure he got the classes he needed and he is really enjoying Ross. They seem much more organized and we get more communication from the middle school than the elementary school. Our experience with the schools has pretty much been the opposite of what we expected.

I do not know which HS Aero Vista is zoned for but kids seem to be going to Chapin and Austin; I think if you are military, you can actually choose which schools your kids go to but I don't know the details of any cost or transportation.

I do not know as much about Paseo del Norte. There are a few Sergeants Major Academy students that are living over here but I don't know if they chose to send their kids to Powell/Bassett.

A few heads' up about the EPISD in general. (From what I have been able to find), there are no elementary schools that offer unstructured recess time OR offer separate art classes. This was a HUGE shock to me. At Milam (and the other elem schools that I could tell), they do get PE every day, but IMO, it's not the same - I wanted the unstructured free play time. I haven't been able to get a satisfactory answer as to why there is no recess. The classroom teacher provides art projects for the kids so they are getting some art class type exposure. They do have music once a week and go to the library.

All in all, being where we are, I am glad that we are living on post. A good teacher can overcome a bad school and vice versa, a bad teacher can sink a year at a great school and the kids really love hanging out with their friends at the playground every day.

If we had not lived on post, we were also looking at the Northeast - Fannin/Bradley/Charles schools area and Nixon/Lea/Richardson schools area.

ETA - Here is the greatschools link with info about districts for the different schools. I have learned to pay attention to parent reviews in addition to the rating. Milam has an 8/10, but parents only rate it 2/5. If my son were younger or more sensitive to the disorganization, we may have made a different choice but he's doing great so far.

School and District Boundaries Map | GreatSchools
Like I said, the official high school for Aero Vista is Austin (here are the EPISD attendance zone maps), but I guess some high-school kids from Aero Vista going to Chapin would make sense--it's actually closer to Aero Vista than Austin.

The school pages have state and federal NCLB data if you put any stock in that stuff.

I thought the entire Aero Vista neighborhood had been torn down and rebuilt. Thanks for the info.
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Old 09-26-2014, 09:11 AM
 
58 posts, read 93,284 times
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When we were moving in, the movers referenced older housing that used to be where our house is now. I don't know what year our houses were built (middle section), but I would GUESS the 80s.
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Old 09-26-2014, 09:22 PM
 
1,011 posts, read 2,817,844 times
Reputation: 656
Quote:
Originally Posted by kparker313 View Post
When we were moving in, the movers referenced older housing that used to be where our house is now. I don't know what year our houses were built (middle section), but I would GUESS the 80s.
I think the housing on Biggs that was torn down had been there for a long time when Ronald and Nancy Reagan moved into the White House. Some of the people living in the neighborhood were calling it Bedrock, after Fred and Wilma Flintstone's hometown, by the time the demolition started.
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Old 09-27-2014, 05:57 PM
 
5 posts, read 6,252 times
Reputation: 10
Best highschools are El Dorado, Franklin and maybe Burges...DO NOT SEND YOUR KIDS TO CHAPIN OR ANDRESS IF YOU WANT TO KEEP THEM SAFE, OUT OF HARMS WAY AND NOT PREGNANT.

Housing is wonderful, the houses are big. Neighborhood is quiet. Frequently patrolled by the MPS ..
Just watch out for your teens
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