Everyone's moving in (so am I)! (Dallas, Austin: real estate, 2013, rent)

[masonsmom4]

I posted this on the Dallas forum, but I'm hoping I might get some input from you guys also. I'm not really sure where the dividing line between Dallas/Fort Worth is, and what suburbs belong where so if this is wrong I'm sorry.

My family will be moving to the area in February. My husband's office is in Southlake. We will have three children in the school system - 6th grade, 8th grade and another son also 13 who has Cerebral Palsy, non-ambulatory, non-verbal. Finding what would be the best place for him is our first priority. I've been reading as much information as possible on these boards, but it seems as far a special education goes for every person that has a good experience somewhere there is another person that is having a bad experience. I did find a private special needs school called Chase's Place that seems perfect for him, but it is in Richardson. While I've yet to see the area in person, Richardson to Southlake seems less than ideal.

We will be coming out after Christmas to get our first look around. If anyone knows anyone who knows anything that would be helpful, I would appreciate all input. I would love to find somewhere to live where my disabled child can thrive as well as my non-disabled children. We will definitely be renting first, but when we purchase our budget will be 600-700k. I would love to be in a smaller system with smaller schools and a community feel, but I doubt I can find that and still be somewhere that has resources for my disabled child as well.

Part 2: From reading these boards I'm getting the vibe that Keller is okay school wise, but if you can afford more it's not anyone's first choice. Is that accurate? It seems like whenever anyone mentions Keller they are pointed elsewhere. Is there just nothing special about it or what?

Thanks in advance!

[JackieB23]

Richardson is a LONG haul from Southlake. LONG. Very long. Any chance you can keep looking, hopefully somewhere in Tarrant County?

Southlake fits your budget well, and has some of the best schools in the area. That's the Southlake-Carroll ISD.

You might also check out Colleyville and parts of Grapevine. Grapevine is a great place as it is easier, IMHO, to commute east than any other point on our side of DFW Airport. The Colleyville-Grapevine ISD is also very good.

Another option to consider is going north into the Northwest ISD. I have heard nothing but rave reviews up there about their schools. That'd be places like Roanoke, Trophy Club, and north Fort Worth.

Keller is a nice town, a little insular maybe, with excellent schools. Whomever is dissing Keller doesn't spend any time there, IMHO - I don't live there but I'm over there all the time (I live on the border with Keller), and I like Keller a bunch. If I relocated out of North Richland Hills, Keller is in my top three cities I'd move to (having kids). Keller ISD is regularly cited for excellence.

I'm in North Richland Hills and my kids will go to Birdville schools, which are not as nice as everything I've cited (but my budget is far, far less than yours ) But, there are neighborhoods near me that would also fit your budget, if Birdville ISD has what you need.

Check each of these ISD web sites and inquire about services for your child, as I don't know what you require and am not sure what to look for. We all have kids with disabilities around here too, so I would suspect there has to be something.

To summarize, in my opinion, Keller, Southlake, Grapevine, Colleyville, and the Northwest ISD and parts of Birdville ISD might fit the bill for what you are looking for.

Hope that helps!

[ChristieP]

Excellent advice from Jackie.

Richardson to Southlake would be a really long commute, as in over an hour each way, and it would be on a toll road, too.

[masonsmom4]

Thank you both. Great information. School districts never have specific information regarding special education on their websites, just the most general. It always requires a phone call and then they don't want to give any information without seeing your IEP. So I was hoping to get information to narrow down the ISD phone calls required. Thanks for your help

[StevenmaxwellTCU]

Masonsmom4 -

Southlake ISD is a very strong school district and so is Keller ISD. It may be more ideal for you to consider the Southlake option so everyone is close to home. I know making the move into a completely foreign area can be stressful but I would be more than happy to be a resource for you if you have any questions. [Mod Cut: No real estate advertising allowed]

[synchronicity]

Echoing prior posters - your budget works for Southlake so I'd recommend checking there first. I have no idea what resources they have for your special needs son and completely understand making that your top priority. The Southlake schools (Carroll ISD) are excellent overall. Southlake has a bit of a rep for being pretentious, but although there is some of that there the rep appears to be overblown IMHO. As others have stated, Colleyville and Grapevine are also great places to live and GCISD is very good.

Keller is nice as well, but the Keller ISD, although very good in some areas (generally the feeders into Keller HS are the best, with the other schools not quite as good), is a bit below the two noted above. That said, if they have resources for your one son it's a perfectly fine place to live. I'm not dissing Keller in saying this, just that it's not as "good" as GCISD or Carroll, which is stuff competition in the DFW area.

Richardson is very nice in many ways but is, as noted, a hella long and difficult commute to Southlake. It's a much different vibe that I like quite a bit (older suburb as opposed to the much newer Southlake or Keller) and Pearce HS is one of the top 10 in DFW, but not at all convenient for an office in Southlake.

[ChristieP]

And just a FYI: Grapevine has a playground that is accessible for your disabled son.
Casey’s Clubhouse in Grapevine: A place where everyone can play | Mom2MomDFW.com

[dfwerdoc]

1. if we works in southlake, drive north on 114 and live somewhere close to trophy club, roanoke or west lake. go visit west lake academy, you'll be impressed.
2. rent before you buy
3. drive in an area you like and use zillow's iphone app .

highest rated middle schools in the area (north texas rank and then state rank)


C M Rice Middle Plano ISD Collin 1 3 north texas rank, state rank
William B Travis Acad/Vangrd For A Dallas ISD Dallas 2 4
Fowler Middle School Frisco ISD Collin 3 7
Irma Rangel Young Womens Dallas ISD Dallas 4 8
Austin Acad For Excellence Garland ISD Dallas 5 11
Schimelpfenig Middle Plano ISD Collin 6 12
Uplift Education-North Hills Prep Uplift Education Dallas 7 15
Robinson Middle Plano ISD Collin 8 16
Creek Valley Middle School Lewisville ISD Denton 9 17
Forestwood Middle Lewisville ISD Denton 10 23
Keene J H Keene ISD Johnson 11 25
George Dawson Middle Carroll ISD Tarrant 12 33
Universal Academy - Flower Mound Universal Academy Dallas 13 35
Highland Park Middle Highland Park ISD Dallas 14 36
Lamar Middle Lewisville ISD Denton 15 37
Henry W Longfellow Career Explorat Dallas ISD Dallas 16 40
George Bannerman Dealey Intl Dallas ISD Dallas 17 42
Otto Middle Plano ISD Collin 18 44
Clayton Downing Middle School Lewisville ISD Denton 19 46
Parkhill J H Richardson ISD Dallas 20 47
Carroll Middle Carroll ISD Tarrant 21 48
Murphy Middle Plano ISD Collin 22 50
Shadow Ridge Middle School Lewisville ISD Denton 23 52
Staley Middle School Frisco ISD Collin 24 53
Griffin Middle School Frisco ISD Collin 25 54
Wilson Middle Plano ISD Collin 26 56
Killian Middle School Lewisville ISD Denton 27 59
Renner Middle Plano ISD Collin 28 61
Haggard Middle Plano ISD Collin 29 62
Hendrick Middle Plano ISD Collin 30 73
Hunt Middle Frisco ISD Collin 31 74
McKamy Middle Lewisville ISD Denton 32 78
Classical Center At Brandenburg MS Garland ISD Dallas 33 80
Reynolds Middle Prosper ISD Collin 34 84Bowman Middle Plano ISD Collin 35 85
Wester Middle School Frisco ISD Collin 36 86
Dowell Middle McKinney ISD Collin 37 90
Sunnyvale Middle Sunnyvale ISD Dallas 38 92
Pioneer Heritage Middle School Frisco ISD Collin 39 96
Clark Middle School Frisco ISD Collin 40 100
Frankford Middle Plano ISD Collin 41 107
Cobb Middle Frisco ISD Collin 42 110
Scoggins Middle Frisco ISD Collin 43 115
Bush Middle Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD Dallas 44 116
Middle Campus Uplift Education Tarrant 45 119
Lone Oak Middle Lone Oak ISD Hunt 46 120
Roach Middle School Frisco ISD Collin 47 124
Branch Park Academy Honors Academy Dallas 48 126
Stafford Middle Frisco ISD Collin 49 129
Briarhill Middle Lewisville ISD Denton 50 132
Ereckson Middle Allen ISD Collin 51 133
Keller Middle Keller ISD Tarrant 52 136
Uplift Education-Peak Prep Middle Uplift Education Dallas 53 140
Bedford J H Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD Tarrant 54 144
Uplift Education-Williams Prep Mid Uplift Education Dallas 55 147
Dallas Environmental Science Acade Dallas ISD Dallas 56 149

[synchronicity]

Re the prior post, at a 600K-700K budget, Westlake is likely out of your price range. Again, assuming you can get the sort of support you need for your one son, Southlake makes the most sense, likely followed by Grapevine and Colleyville, then Keller. Also consider Coppell (not far from Southlake, EXCELLENT schools, but good homes there go fast because it's an easier commute to downtown DFW) again, if they have good resources for your son.

[adixyz]

Agree with synchronicity recommendations. Also call Lewisville ISD about your son and if you get a positive response consider Flower Mound. It has excellent schools and relatively newer houses in your price range. My neighborhood has lots of folks working in Sabre, Southlake and their commute is 30-35 mins.