Preschool options now for future K private schools vs Vanguard (Houston: apartments, houses)

[rprasan1985]

Hello! We're looking for good preschools for our 2 year old daughter. We both work in the Med Center, but are willing to commute a bit for preschool if it means a great early childhood education. Our ultimate goals when it's time for her Kindergarten are either 1) vanguard public school (hopefully if she qualifies), or 2) private school like St. John's, Kinkaid or Awty. Not quite sure yet about public versus private school for K and onward. Unsure if we can afford to buy into a great neighborhood school that's not too far from the med center, so would like to keep both public and private options open at this time. Ideally, we'd send her to a preschool that inculcates a love for school and learning, and whose curriculum is "prep" for Vanguard testing and private testing (WPPSI/WISC) would be perfect.

Are there preschools that are known within the (seemingly impenetrable) academic social circles for being "feeder" preschools? Or to put it differently, what preschools are heavily represented among students who are now in Vanguard public or competitive private schools?

Thanks in advance!

[Meyerland]

HISD has taken away so much funding for the magnet and vanguard schools, I would not go into it at this point. You must be zoned for the schools you want going forward in HISD. They’ve done away with waitlists for the magnet/vanguard schools, so getting in is very questionable at this point. We will know more after this year’s magnet/vanguard applications go. After being in the HISD system for many years as a parent and educator, I would tell you to proceed with caution.

Changes- less funding and seats available

After lottery is run, the winners and losers have no recourse, any available seats are given to new students that are zoned or to out of district applicants for tuition

My advice: use zoned schools or get a k-12 private school

[asonnier]

I would look into St. Mark’s Episcopal school. It is right outside the medical center and is a great school. They start at 2 years old.

[Vicman]

rprasan1985 : I would check which schools the houses under consideration are zoned to. You can assemble a table and we can check which schools are good or not so good?

[Meyerland]

I would try to live in Spring Branch ISD or possibly Friendswood ISD as they have a good handle on keeping the good schools good. HISD is too mired in strange school board politics and no desire to keep the good schools good. Individual campuses are fine, as long as you are zoned. The school board wants to do away with the magnets and vanguard because they consider them unfair. They want a level playing field in HISD, instead of getting kids out of poor schools. It’s really sad because I’ve known and taught so many children whose lives were changed by the magnet program for the better.

However, there are pockets in HISD that are good. It just really depends on your budget.

[Vicman]

To build upon Meyerland's post: the problem with Harrison Bergeron approaches is it means the upper middle class, the people who keep investment into HISD schools, would leave, and no significant support would remain. The poor get even poorer. Look at places like Detroit.

Which board members don't support magnets (although I think the TEA is going to chuck the school board anyway at this point)??

Originally Posted by Meyerland

I would try to live in Spring Branch ISD or possibly Friendswood ISD as they have a good handle on keeping the good schools good. HISD is too mired in strange school board politics and no desire to keep the good schools good. Individual campuses are fine, as long as you are zoned. The school board wants to do away with the magnets and vanguard because they consider them unfair. They want a level playing field in HISD, instead of getting kids out of poor schools. It’s really sad because I’ve known and taught so many children whose lives were changed by the magnet program for the better.

However, there are pockets in HISD that are good. It just really depends on your budget.

[dkag]

Originally Posted by Meyerland

I would try to live in Spring Branch ISD or possibly Friendswood ISD as they have a good handle on keeping the good schools good. HISD is too mired in strange school board politics and no desire to keep the good schools good. Individual campuses are fine, as long as you are zoned. The school board wants to do away with the magnets and vanguard because they consider them unfair. They want a level playing field in HISD, instead of getting kids out of poor schools. It’s really sad because I’ve known and taught so many children whose lives were changed by the magnet program for the better.

However, there are pockets in HISD that are good. It just really depends on your budget.

Thank you so much for your advice. We have our son in Awty pre-K 4 and are now considering whether to keep him there for K or buy a house zoned to a similar quality public school. Can you please advise which schools are comparable in quality? We love Awty but we could probably afford a better house. We considered Horn and and River Oaks, oak Forest maybe? Btw we are now zoned to Poe. We would prefer to stay within beltway or may be just outside for commute.

[nana053]

Originally Posted by rprasan1985

Hello! We're looking for good preschools for our 2 year old daughter. We both work in the Med Center, but are willing to commute a bit for preschool if it means a great early childhood education. Our ultimate goals when it's time for her Kindergarten are either 1) vanguard public school (hopefully if she qualifies), or 2) private school like St. John's, Kinkaid or Awty. Not quite sure yet about public versus private school for K and onward. Unsure if we can afford to buy into a great neighborhood school that's not too far from the med center, so would like to keep both public and private options open at this time. Ideally, we'd send her to a preschool that inculcates a love for school and learning, and whose curriculum is "prep" for Vanguard testing and private testing (WPPSI/WISC) would be perfect.

Are there preschools that are known within the (seemingly impenetrable) academic social circles for being "feeder" preschools? Or to put it differently, what preschools are heavily represented among students who are now in Vanguard public or competitive private schools?

Thanks in advance!

You do know she is two years old. Let her be a kid and don't push academics at this age. Preschool should be play based and fun. You cannot know at this age what kind of student she will be later on.

[Vicman]

I checked the 2019 rankings of the organization Children at Risk for elementary schools: https://texasschoolguide.org/content...ry_Houston.pdf

Horn is #7, River Oaks Elementary is #23, Oak Forest is #92, and Poe is #188. Horn and River Oaks are ranked "A+", Oak Forest is ranked "A-", Poe is ranked "B+". I'm not sure if the differences are really that big; you could stay zoned to Poe and be OK, I think. Keep in mind ROE's attendance boundary is quite small and more or less covers River Oaks, Avalon Estates, and Royden Oaks: https://www.houstonisd.org/cms/lib2/...er_Oaks_ES.pdf

Other boundaries:
* Horn: Parts of Bellaire inside 610 and some apartments in Houston just south of Bellaire: https://www.houstonisd.org/cms/lib2/...ps/Horn_ES.pdf
* Oak Forest: The central sections of Oak Forest: https://www.houstonisd.org/cms/lib2/..._Forest_ES.pdf
* Poe: Serves multiple areas: Boulevard Oaks, Southampton, much of the Museum District area, parts of Upper Kirby, and Greenway Plaza: https://www.houstonisd.org/cms/lib2/...aps/Poe_ES.pdf

Originally Posted by dkag

Thank you so much for your advice. We have our son in Awty pre-K 4 and are now considering whether to keep him there for K or buy a house zoned to a similar quality public school. Can you please advise which schools are comparable in quality? We love Awty but we could probably afford a better house. We considered Horn and and River Oaks, oak Forest maybe? Btw we are now zoned to Poe. We would prefer to stay within beltway or may be just outside for commute.

[Meyerland]

I would go with West U, Horn, Lovett, River Oaks. Poe is fine. I would have put my children there. I can’t predict what the middle schools will be like by the time you get there. They have taken away all entry requirements for middle schools, so they may be fine or go downhill.