West Houston Neighborhoods

[westres1]

AWTY and the Village School are IB private schools. Lamar is an IB school in HISD...Westside might offer IB

[EasilyAmused]

I always forget about Awty.

[cheryjohns]

Originally Posted by catfancier

Okay, I'll play....what the hell is "IB"?? There's no school child around to ask....

International Baccalaureate

[catfancier]

Originally Posted by cheryjohns

International Baccalaureate

You're so fast!! I decided to just Google it then deleted my message but you had already answered. Wish I had a prize for you!

[Maybe So]

The Village School offers an IB program.

[Venus19]

Thanks to everyone for all the postings. We are starting to narrow down our search a bit, but the school issue is still a concern for me. I don't know how I feel about these extremely large highschools, especially if there is no real standard in which to measure success. I don't believe the TAKS is really the way forward. I believe a major part of education is knowing how to drive yourself, defining your own goals and driving towards them, learning to interact with people from different backgrounds, etc. To me this means fluency in at least one other language is essential. This means a tolerance for other cultures. I extend my definition of 'other cultures' to include those from other nations, but also those from the same nation of a different socio-economic background. I.e., I don't really want my child to go to school with only rich kids or only poor kids, but a true mix. However, I think that it is important for all the kids to be self-motivated. This is the true paradox. Are there private schools with IB that have excellent financial aid for poor kids? I like the Cinco Ranch area and the schools are ranked well, but ranking is not everything. Memorial seems nice, but I don't like the style of houses or lack of sidewalks. Please give me some very candid opinions, I will have to live with whatever decision I make. The things that are really important about an education cannot be properly evaluated with an exam. There are so many decent choices here but none of them are perfect.

[fnh]

My kids are at Awty for the very reasons you describe. It is much more diverse culturally and socio-economically than other area schools, public or private in my opinion. Most or many expats don't pay the full tuition, if any, as it is covered by their employer, so the majority of the student body comes from working class families, if typically professional working class. All students must learn a second language and many graduate fluent in at least three. I love walking across the campus and hearing the mix of languages all around me. Self-motivation is critical as every student works toward either the International or French Bac - both largely self-directed programs. The biggest drawback for us is the steep cost (we are not expats.) There is financial aid available but we haven't explored that. We think of it this way: education is expensive, either directly in fat tuition checks or indirectly through housing - a $$$$ cramped home near the few good public schools in town or in a nice home in the far suburbs with a brutal commute. Commuting is not an option for us and we do consider moving to Memorial for the good public schools, but we currently enjoy a spacious home in a beautiful neighborhood inside the beltway at a price that allows us to send the kids to the only private school we considered. It's a tough choice, I know. Good luck!