Possibly relocating to El Paso from Nebraska (Houston, Anthony: low crime, how much)

[meredithmyoung]

Okay, well at least that gives me options of places to go with the children. My husband called me from El Paso last night and said it was really pretty! Although he came in at night and the lights he saw were of Juarez?
He got a better view the next day and said the mountains were really pretty. The job is in El Paso, that is why we are currently looking at the area.
Another location were we could live is Las Cruces, NM but from what I can see, it is much smaller and would offer less in the way of shopping and things to do. Plus don't most people come to the airport in El Paso when they fly out?
And.. What is this I hear of outlets? Where I live now we don't even have a Target, so I have to travel about 40 minutes or so to go to the neighboring town to shop there. If I want something besides TJ MAXX or JCPennys I have to go a littler over an hour in the opposite direction.
I also read the posts on the schools in the area and I think public is the way to go, but if you want P.E. or Art we would need to find outside of school.

[Muhnay]

DOG, do you see up in the upper right corner you have a line that reads Reputation: # That is what others on the forum think of you.. they give you reps for your post and if they agree or not. If something is inflammatory, rude or just plain mean, you can report it too.. see the red triangle thing with a white center and a black like.. that is used to report messages that are against the TOS. ( Terms Of Service ). If you want to give REP to some one you use the little Scales next to it. Hope that helps.

Originally Posted by meredithmyoung

Okay, well at least that gives me options of places to go with the children. My husband called me from El Paso last night and said it was really pretty! Although he came in at night and the lights he saw were of Juarez?
He got a better view the next day and said the mountains were really pretty. The job is in El Paso, that is why we are currently looking at the area.
Another location were we could live is Las Cruces, NM but from what I can see, it is much smaller and would offer less in the way of shopping and things to do. Plus don't most people come to the airport in El Paso when they fly out?
And.. What is this I hear of outlets? Where I live now we don't even have a Target, so I have to travel about 40 minutes or so to go to the neighboring town to shop there. If I want something besides TJ MAXX or JCPennys I have to go a littler over an hour in the opposite direction.
I also read the posts on the schools in the area and I think public is the way to go, but if you want P.E. or Art we would need to find outside of school.

Well I will agree El Paso at Night is very pretty.. the city is asleep, the hustle and bustle has calmed and all is quiet.. you have the twinkle of the city lights, and light plays tricks on you and makes the desert look green like your in San Antonio.. Yes El Paso is really pretty at night. Las Cruces is just 45 mins away from El Paso, so any shopping options you have here you have there.. Las Cruces also has a Mall and great shopping.. dont let its smaller size fool you.

Outlets are discount stores for the big companies. We just had a rather large Discount/Outlet mall built on the west side. We have plenty of Targets here, as well as Wal*Marts, KMarts and so on.. you'll be in shopping bliss.

[DesertDog]

Muhnay
Thanks for the info
6/3
Thanks for the reps

[alliswell]

I also read the posts on the schools in the area and I think public is the way to go, but if you want P.E. or Art we would need to find outside of school.

I can only speak to the EPISD.

Schools are a challenge. Private schools here have their fair share of dissatisfied parents as well and I'm not sure private schools are the answer. We've decided to take what we can get working at the public schools and heavily supplement at home.

You need to be prepared to be active in your child's education. If you are used to sending your kids to school confident in the education and attention they will recieve, you will need to adjust that thinking for EPISD. That's not the way they work.

Many school admin work very hard at avoiding work. The policies in place and the policies that continue to be put in place to bar parents entry and access to the schools under the guise of "security" is mindboggling for a public school system in the United States of America. In my opinion the efforts to keep parents away is rooted in laziness. If a parent is in the school, someone might have to speak to them or heaven forbid work and do something.

Laziness and incompetence abounds in the EPISD school system starting from the very top of the administration and school board right down to the clerks behind the desks in the school. EPISD in unable to manage traffic twice a day at most EPISD schools so it makes one wonder what else, what bigger issues, they are unqualified to handle as well.

You will need to be aggressive in reminding these people that they are being paid (with your tax dollars) to serve your child. They dislike being reminded that they work for you and your children and dislike it even more when parents are informed of parent/child rights and of what they (the schools) are obligated to do in terms of serving students.

Whether it is a status quo student, a gifted student, or a student who struggles you will find similar stories of parents having to be informed, aggressive and involved in their children's education. If it seems as though you will be tapping their resources or time or effort in any way whatsoever, be prepared to push back. EPISD would just as soon you don't know what goes on in their ill-planned and ill-managed schools and would be perfectly happy letting as many kids as they can slip through the cracks -- it's less work that way.

Now the flip side: There are parents/children who get incredibly lucky with teacher assignments. There are deciated, worthwhile, gifted teachers to be found in the EPISD. Network as much as you can and do what you have to do for your kids. It can be done. Just don't let defeatist attitudes win you over once you're here.

Things to remember about living in EP: Knowledge is power. Must be creative in finding alternatives. Networking works. Attitude is everything.

[Muhnay]

Wait it gets better.. get in their business and I bet you the school system will threaten you with CPS and other actions. Happened to me, but there was no case so the investigator left and closed the case. After that I went to the school board with CPS and got that teacher fired.

[alliswell]

Muhnay, I'm so sorry that happened to you. I can only imagine how stressful that was emotionally as well as taxing on your time. I'm glad the final outcome was "no case".

[mistabinks]

I have nothing good/bad to say about the YISD. It was as good as you made it out to be. I have nothing but great things to say about SISD. I am really happy with them.

[Muhnay]

YISD, my wife went to.. and she has no complaints either.. it was what it was.. SISD I think is too much in your home life and business. EPISD I wish I had something good to say.

[malamute]

Originally Posted by meredithmyoung

Okay, well at least that gives me options of places to go with the children. My husband called me from El Paso last night and said it was really pretty! Although he came in at night and the lights he saw were of Juarez?
He got a better view the next day and said the mountains were really pretty. The job is in El Paso, that is why we are currently looking at the area.
Another location were we could live is Las Cruces, NM but from what I can see, it is much smaller and would offer less in the way of shopping and things to do. Plus don't most people come to the airport in El Paso when they fly out?
And.. What is this I hear of outlets? Where I live now we don't even have a Target, so I have to travel about 40 minutes or so to go to the neighboring town to shop there. If I want something besides TJ MAXX or JCPennys I have to go a littler over an hour in the opposite direction.
I also read the posts on the schools in the area and I think public is the way to go, but if you want P.E. or Art we would need to find outside of school.

There is more shopping in El Paso than Las Cruces and yes the airport is a consideration if you fly fairly often.

El Paso is kind of a convenient kind of town. It depends on the person because because some people want academics or fine arts but for many people there are enough things to do here.

We don't get a lot of operas and ballets -- but we have very nice monster truck shows. There are county fairs, rodeos, and the perfect weather makes for nice bike riding and hiking.

[Caltep]

you can see that honkin' huge star up on the mountain at night. It wasn't working when I arrived, but since being repaired, one of the coolest things in ELP.

Originally Posted by Muhnay

DOG, do you see up in the upper right corner you have a line that reads Reputation: # That is what others on the forum think of you.. they give you reps for your post and if they agree or not. If something is inflammatory, rude or just plain mean, you can report it too.. see the red triangle thing with a white center and a black like.. that is used to report messages that are against the TOS. ( Terms Of Service ). If you want to give REP to some one you use the little Scales next to it. Hope that helps.



Well I will agree El Paso at Night is very pretty.. the city is asleep, the hustle and bustle has calmed and all is quiet.. you have the twinkle of the city lights, and light plays tricks on you and makes the desert look green like your in San Antonio.. Yes El Paso is really pretty at night. Las Cruces is just 45 mins away from El Paso, so any shopping options you have here you have there.. Las Cruces also has a Mall and great shopping.. dont let its smaller size fool you.

Outlets are discount stores for the big companies. We just had a rather large Discount/Outlet mall built on the west side. We have plenty of Targets here, as well as Wal*Marts, KMarts and so on.. you'll be in shopping bliss.