Keystone School v. Churchhill and other school questions (Austin: credit, home)

[houstmom]

Here is a hypothetical question for those familiar with Keystone and NEISD public schools, esp. schools that feed into Churchhill high school.

If your child was zoned to a very good NEISD elementary and middle school & to Churchhill H.S. but was accepted into Keystone for 4th grade, would Keystone be a no brainer? In this scenario, the tuition for Keystone would be a challenge for you but you could scrape the tuition together. You would probably need some financial aid assistance from the school (but that is not available until 6th grade). Also, logistics are a little complicated due to Keystone's distance from your home (and awful traffic on 281) and the fact you have a younger child who must attend the public schools due to special needs.

Your child is very advanced academically in math and doing well in other subject areas. Your child's current school is another private school in the area and is not meeting your child's academic needs. The current school does not offer high school.

The ultimate goal is to take many AP classes and be accepted to UT Austin at a minimum but also get some acceptances at more prestigious universities.

Would it make more sense to continue public school through middle school and then try to get acceptance into Keystone at high school?

Does Churchill offer the same number and variety of AP classes as Keystone? Is Churchhill really competitive in terms of making the top 10% for class ranking (I assume the top 10% rule for UT Austin admission is still in effect).

How do you gain acceptance to UT Austin if you are in private school?



Thanks

[L210]

I think it's top 8% now.

[Bo]

Churchill classes are about 700-750 students. The school takes great pride in having more students taking more AP classes and exams than any other school in NEISD. My kids took a bunch of AP classes there. Both were/are in the top 5% of their classes. It's a competitive school, but I wouldn't say it's cutthroat competitive.

One of the few things I know about Keystone is that it is so competitive that students have to requalify for admission each year. That seems like a lot of pressure to put on a kid.

[zhugeliang1]

I refuse to send mine to Churchill. The students are more and more coming from questionable neighborhoods. The budget cuts in recent years has done a lot of damage in my opinion. Go for the magnet high schools like ISA.

[Bo]

Originally Posted by zhugeliang1

I refuse to send mine to Churchill. The students are more and more coming from questionable neighborhoods. The budget cuts in recent years has done a lot of damage in my opinion. Go for the magnet high schools like ISA.

My kids both know other kids who tried a NEISD magnet, didn't like it, and transferred back to Churchill after a year.

[zhugeliang1]

I know other kids who tried NEISD magnets and liked it and never wanted to go to Churchill. There are several magnet high schools, just have to find the right fit. Actually there was one I knew who tried a magnet didn't like it, went back to Churchill and fell into a bunch of questionable kids there.

[pobre]

NEISD schools offer both AP classes and Dual Credit classes. The % of students in NEISD taking AP classes is about 25%. I do not have stats on performance.

If Keystone will be both an financial and logistical issue, you should think very carefully about what your child will gain, and what they give up. The additional pressure that stems from $ and time/logistics worries is bound to affect you and your child.

BTW, what does your child want to do?

[houstmom]

My child is only in 3rd grade so we are thinking way ahead here.

[neddy]

What school at you at now?

[pobre]

Also, have you tried your local public elementary for this child? Do you know that it will not meet his needs?