Salado...Georgetown...or Leander Isd (Fort Worth, Temple: new home, neighborhoods, buying)

[hh12345]

My husband will be going to Scott & White (Temple TX) for a medical fellowship. We currently live in Fort Worth (eagle mountain Saginaw isd). I have been searching the schools vs. his commute time. I do not want my kids in Temple isd just from the ratings I've seen. So I am seeking advice on Salado because it's the quickest commute for my husband. My kids are 4th grade, 3rd grade (mainstreamed) & 1st (special Ed). It's nice that the schools are small for a better student-teacher ratio but will my kids feel left out as newcomers? I also have two children with autism (one non verbal and one who is mainstreamed but has behavior issues/ADHD), will Salado have the resources? Georgetown is a longer commute but when I looked at Cedar Park/Leander ISD, its almost the same as Georgetown. The schools seem better in Leander isd. I feel bad for hubby driving but i really need good school especially for special needs. Our current school is ok, it's Exemplary, and it's the best in this district but it doesn't match up to Keller, Colleyville, which is what we should have chosen. When we moved here we should have rented/tested out first before buying. So I don't want to make that mistake again. Even though it will only be for three yrs we want to be able to resell when he's done with fellowship. My husbands commute to work now is 13-20 minutes compared to Keller which would have been hell on 35north. He gets to come home for lunch sometimes and eat with the kids at school. So it's a give & take. Some teachers are good and some are lazy. We've had both & i know that varies school to school even in the best areas. I know TAKS scores are more of a school economic environment kind of thing & unfortunately there are 2-3 months where the kids practice TAKS and leave science/social studies to the side. It's not only TX. In this school I also noticed after we moved, on greatschools.com, which is my #1 source now, that there is 35% economically disadvantaged. I don't mind some but that was too high & you could tell with some of the parents & students.
Anyway these are my criteria: (not really in order of importance)
1. Commute time
2. Schools with strong academics & strong special Ed program
3. We would probably buy if we can sell our current home but we need to seriously downgrade with my hubbys fellowship salary. Homes priced $180,000-$250,000.
4. Prefer new home with at least 4 bedrooms.
5. I like to see cows & horses which is like where we are now. Developments but still some farms.

Thanks.

[Fleur~de~lis]

I grew up in Temple & graduated from THS, so it's really sad to see those school ratings. I have several friends who still live there and have chosen to stay in TISD. Apparently, THS has a very good baccalaureate program which has enticed them to continue w/Temple schools.
Have you considered Belton? I also have several friends who made the big move from Temple to Belton for the schools. It's smaller than Temple (although growing) and I've heard good feedback about the schools. Don't know much about Salado, but I'd probably go a bit further to Georgetown instead. There's also several private schools in Temple that have good reputations - Holy Trinity & Central Texas Christian Schools are worth checking out.
Good luck w/your move - S&W has grown leaps & bounds since my Temple days.

[love roses]

I'd never been to Belton before until last weekend. We were there to go to the Lake and we passed several nice looking neighborhoods that were close to the Elementary school. It looks like a nice town, cleaner looking than Temple.