Whitehouse, Lindale, Bullard, or Tyler proper (Hollytree area) (Combine, Moore: houses, transfer)

[Sanford79]

We are relocating to Tyler, TX from Shreveport, LA with young children and have done extensive research on school and spent hours online hunting houses. We have narrowed our search to the four areas listed in the thread title.

Tomorrow morning my wife and I are headed to Tyler to look at houses. Below is our take on the areas we are considering and I am hoping to get feedback (positive or negative) from people who know more than I do about the area.

Bullard - nice area with good schools, but just a little too far out from Tyler

Lindale - convenient to I-20 with really good elementary and middle school

Whitehouse - great schools, maybe a little nicer than Lindale

Hollytree area - Jack school district is the best around, but TISD is not an option for middle & high school. Very convenient to shopping.

All feedback is welcomed and please don't take the comments above personal...just let me know why the comments are wrong.

THANKS!!

[Mark Senior]

Bullard - you will think it is part of Tyler, very close to all South Tyler "stuff". 3-4 minutes. Fair home selection

Lindale - OK, has Lowes, Super Walmart - not much but as you said good schools 20 plus minutes to most of Tyler, large medical clinic, fast foods, some dine-ins. Growing

Whitehouse - sitting right next to Tyler good schools, better selection for all price range of houses, really just bedroom community

Hollytree area - Hollytree itself high end homes, new jr. high within the next two years, is "in" South Tyler so, close to much

Don't forget 4 private schools thru 12th grade if that suits you - live where you like

I'm a former broker, not active so NO sell commission just good free accurate advice - a real buyers market in Tyler, even more so after the June 30, 2010 incentives ended. Above $200,000, lots of houses, this is where the prices have dropped, so be careful, what sold for $350,000 a 2 years ago should sell for $275,000 or at least you should get a much newer or larger house now for the same money of two years ago. Just really take you time if possible and know the area well before buying, don't overpay. This you may well know this and realtor.com is pretty good source.

Oh, if you are thinking of the Hollytree type price range, then check out, The Cascades, Stonegate, The Woods, and several areas scattered in South Tyler. All the last areas you would need private schools except Stonegate in Tyler but within the Whitehouse ISD

[laina1980]

Mark, what are the private schools you mention? Which is best and which is not too expensive? The only one I heard of was Brook Hill in Bullard and a Catholic one in Tyler. Thanks.

[Mark Senior]

All Saints, Grace Community, Good Shepard, and another that is newer on Shiloh Road, somethin' Academy, is expanding now. This one may now be in the "Good ole'" yellow pages. lol

[mikel1291979]

Whitehouse schools in my opinion are not good at all. There is no official curriculum. The teacher is responsible for writing their own. Including first year teachers. My daughter went to attended the junior high and was not even issued a science text book. We were told they were really outdated and we don't have enough...
Now because there is no official curriculum there's no guarantee kids in the same grade with different teachers are taught the same things at the same time or even at all.
People can flame me if they wish, but I own a afterschool program in Whitehouse and everyday I have 15 kids between 5 and 12 trying to do homework. Combined with that I am also a parent.

[KathrynAragon]

Originally Posted by mikel1291979

Whitehouse schools in my opinion are not good at all. There is no official curriculum. The teacher is responsible for writing their own. Including first year teachers. My daughter went to attended the junior high and was not even issued a science text book. We were told they were really outdated and we don't have enough...
Now because there is no official curriculum there's no guarantee kids in the same grade with different teachers are taught the same things at the same time or even at all.
People can flame me if they wish, but I own a afterschool program in Whitehouse and everyday I have 15 kids between 5 and 12 trying to do homework. Combined with that I am also a parent.

I agree. I raised four kids in Whitehouse, and then south Tyler, schools. I moved TO Whitehouse when they were small, because I had heard so much great stuff about the schools, but by the time they got into junior high I was completely disenchanted with the schools, and Whitehouse in general.

Whitehouse seems to me to be an odd little bedroom community - with a poorly designed traffic flow/expansion which creates horrible rush hour traffic situations, a small but overly zealous police department (with officers that will pull you over with glee if you aren't wearing a seatbelt - or if you happen to be Hispanic) and a city council with a Peyton Place mentality, and lots of youngish families crowded into cheaply built houses they bought with no down payment - all competing with each other about who can cram the biggest above ground pool in their tiny back yard.

I know that's a harsh view, and full of generalizations, but that's how I felt after living in Whitehouse for five long years that I'll never get back.

My kids HATED WISD's jr high and high school. I found the faculty to be unsophisticated and inflexible, and the programs were quite limited. The kids in the school district are, shall we say, a product of their upbringing. Not much diversity, so it's a very closed little society. I have one daughter who is a social butterfly and she was part of the "popular" crowd (not that I was impressed with these kids or their families), but my other daughter, who is much more artistic and individualistic, was frustrated and unhappy with the curriculum and her classmates.

I moved to the Azalea District in south Tyler and put my kids in TISD. They flourished and I was much more impressed with the curriculum and infrastructure of Moore Magnet School (had my kids transferred there) and Robert E Lee High School. They also loved the diversity of the student body, and the wide range of activities and groups they could join.

Just my personal opinion.

[jodieinwhitehouse]

I have lived in Whitehouse for 7 years and have raised a child through the Whitehouse school system.
It is a nice town to raise children. The town is very invested in their football team and the football field is filled at every game. Kids at the high school still pray at the flagpole. Overwhelmingly Christian community. If this is what you are looking for, then come check Whitehouse out. Just a word on the schools. Three exemplary rated elementary schools and the Junior High and High School are recommended state rated. This is the state rating compared to all other Texas schools. That should say it all.

[ETex2]

Originally Posted by jodieinwhitehouse

I have lived in Whitehouse for 7 years and have raised a child through the Whitehouse school system.
It is a nice town to raise children. The town is very invested in their football team and the football field is filled at every game. Kids at the high school still pray at the flagpole. Overwhelmingly Christian community. If this is what you are looking for, then come check Whitehouse out. Just a word on the schools. Three exemplary rated elementary schools and the Junior High and High School are recommended state rated. This is the state rating compared to all other Texas schools. That should say it all.

After two and a half years, I'm betting the OP has found a place already.