Moving to the Houston area, need help, please. (Pearland, Lake Jackson: house, private school)

[Watchful]

While you are looking around - there is an interesting high school option in the Humble School district - very close to Houston Bush Airport.

It is a public school open to applicants who live anywhere in that area.

It is housed at a larger high school, but the total enrollment is pretty small - it is called Quest High School...our son attended there several years ago....it only has about 200 students total.

It is definitely not for everyone - and don't know if it at all would be your thing - but it is a great option to have for the Humble/Kingwood area.

Here is the web site:

Quest High - Quest High School (http://www.humbleisd.net/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectionid=43 - broken link)

The approach has apparently gone through a bit of a change - so some of my info may be dated. But it is definitely small and personal - not so great for athletics though - I think those who want to pursue athletics have to connect up to the program at one of the conventional high schools.

Again...good luck!

[Watchful]

Don't be misled by the stated populations of the city of Webster or the city of Friendswood. That refers only to a specific incorporated area. They are really pretty seamless parts of a very highly populated area.

[Sunshine11]

Originally Posted by Watchful

Don't be misled by the stated populations of the city of Webster or the city of Friendswood. That refers only to a specific incorporated area. They are really pretty seamless parts of a very highly populated area.

watchful...
meaning that the schools are very large, correct? I am thinking the schools there are too large, but surely there is a private school or something w/a smaller student population.

Thanks for the quest idea...I'm going to check that out on the internet to see what I can find.

[Watchful]

Originally Posted by Sunshine11

watchful...
meaning that the schools are very large, correct? I am thinking the schools there are too large, but surely there is a private school or something w/a smaller student population.

Thanks for the quest idea...I'm going to check that out on the internet to see what I can find.

Yes - like if you are driving around Webster you hardly notice when one town starts and an "unincorporated" area begins - and Webster is lumped in with a much larger area for school assignment purposes.

And Yes - all the references to 5A/4A, etc. - these refer to public school classifications. I'm sure almost all of the private schools are quite a bit smaller.

Once again...good luck! Now you have to promise to post back once you make a decision, and let us know how it turns out!!

[Sunshine11]

Originally Posted by Watchful

Yes - like if you are driving around Webster you hardly notice when one town starts and an "unincorporated" area begins - and Webster is lumped in with a much larger area for school assignment purposes.

And Yes - all the references to 5A/4A, etc. - these refer to public school classifications. I'm sure almost all of the private schools are quite a bit smaller.

Once again...good luck! Now you have to promise to post back once you make a decision, and let us know how it turns out!!

I will most definitely post back after my trip down to check out schools and area's. I am still in search and a bit confused since many of the small areas are lumped into large school districts. I will definitely check out some of the schools and areas listed here, but I do not have it narrowed down yet.

I will continue checking this string between now and then to see if anyone has any other suggestions. So, please, if anyone has any others, let me know.

Thanks again to all who post or have already posted; the information has been most helpful.

[Sunshine11]

I forgot to ask does Quest have sports at all? There website has very little info. on how to be admitted, application process, or what kind of school this is.

Is it more of an alternative school for children who have problems in other schools, a gifted school, a special needs school, or a private religious school, a college prep school, or just a small public school in a rural area?

Any info. on classes, sports, extracuricular, student population and diversity, etc. would be helpful.

Thanks again

[Sunshine11]

I posted on the Dallas site about the schools in or around Frisco, Tx because those are choices we have too.

I thought we might prefer Houston, but if I cannot find the school and it exists in or around Dallas we will look there, but my plans are to visit Houston May 1st.

The greatest perk about Frisco is my best friend of 30+ years is relocating there as well. We are currently in same state but different towns. It would be nice to live close again.

[Watchful]

Originally Posted by Sunshine11

I forgot to ask does Quest have sports at all? There website has very little info. on how to be admitted, application process, or what kind of school this is.

Is it more of an alternative school for children who have problems in other schools, a gifted school, a special needs school, or a private religious school, a college prep school, or just a small public school in a rural area?

Any info. on classes, sports, extracuricular, student population and diversity, etc. would be helpful.

Thanks again

If you wanted to do competitive sports at Quest you would have to do it at the regular high school you were zoned to. For example, if you lived in the zone for Kingwood High School - you could probably attend Quest - and then try out for the Kingwood football team. (At least that is the way I understood it.)

Quest is a good alternative to kids who just do not "find their place" in the huge suburban high schools. But it is neither really for "gifted" nor for "special needs."

Our son went there - he had always done real well academically - but was having trouble juggling eight different classes. Quest did a lot of group learning and interdisciplinary study - and it wound up working really well for him.

Having said that - it looks like starting w/ next year's freshmen, Quest is going to emphasize dual credit so that when you graduate you already have a large number of college hours.

Quest is public - it is open to any high school student in the Humble School District (which includes Humble, Kingwood, Kingwood Park, Atascocita and Summer Creek high schools). It is intentionally small.

You have to apply to attend...if your kids are already in high school - that may or may not work - although our son ended up going there midway through his sophomore year.

I just thought of it when you expressed a preference for a smaller high school.

[Sunshine11]

Watchful

thanks for all the help. I will look into Quest for sure, but I am not sure it will work. I have one child it may be perfect for, but the other, not so well.

I will visit the school during my Houston visit and let you kno how it goes.

[Sunshine11]

My husband was in Houston for the past few days for business and used yesterday to drive around to some locations.

Here is what he thought:

Since he must fly out of Hobby (which I did not know) it narrowed some places down. He visited the following towns and located the high schools:

Huffman: too far and he was not sure about the feel.

Barber Hills (Mount Belvieu): he described a very large school, almost like what seemed to be a small college campus----it sounded like an educational villlage (?) that I have read about texas opening a few of...not sure if this is correct. He could not believe the school had only 1048 students grades 9-12. He thought the town did not have much other than a very large school. He did not find that very interesting, but I thought i was quite interesting. Somewhere very near there he located Goosecreek Memorial High School (I looked it up and there are 1800+ student population grades 9-12, too large for us.)

Humble: He spoke to someone regarding Humble and they said the town was very large and the schools were not good at all........so he was detoured from that visit. I really wanted him to visit Quest High School.....and some other little town that was near there. (not sure of the name at the moment).

Crosby: He liked the town very much. It appears to be barely 4A, so the student population seems good; education seemed good with a good selection, and decent sports (I am thinking their record is actually strong,,,,but not sure who they compete with.....which makes a difference)............but I really wish it were 3A.

Sealy: He liked the town, but the location was just too far for a daily commute.

Wallis: He did not mind, but again the location was just too far.

That was a full day of searching. (9:30am -8:30pm)

His favorite was Crosby, which appears to be 30-45 minutes to Hobby airport and an office location. He thought we could get a find a decent rental there as well.

From what he described I may like Crosby as well, but I also liked Barber Hills.

He did not get the chance to visit Splendora, but my trip is next week so I will be visiting Crosby, Barber Hills, Quest, Splendora and any others I may find.

From this info. if anyone has any info. specifically related to Crosby or Barber Hills please let me know. Also, if anyone has any other choices that I should look at please let me know.

I will be visiting Houston for 5 days and then Dallas for 5 days. It appears Dallas has more small towns and small schools to look at, but I am still keeping my fingers crossed for something around Houston, Sugarland or Webster.

Thanks again for all the help. This site really helped specify sites to direct him as well.