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Old 03-08-2016, 12:13 PM
 
24 posts, read 33,204 times
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Hello Everyone -

My partner and I currently live in SF and looking to possibly move back to Austin - I went to school at UT and lived there for a few years after college, and recently had a 2nd home in Austin till 2013. We are an interracial couple - Persian & Asian.

We are looking at homes in the Tarrytown or Zilker area as we want to be close to Town Lake, we are both outdoor enthusiasts.

We have a 2nd grader who is going to a great private school in SF and would like to continue to send her to a private school in Austin regardless of how good the public school is. We have visited many privates schools in Austin - St Andrews, Trinity, St Theresa, St Gabriels, Khabele, The Girls School of Austin, etc.

We have since narrowed it down to St Andrews and Trinity.

Ideally we are looking for a school where there is a great sense of community, parents are open minded, progressive but at the end of the day it's about getting the best education for our daughter - academically, socially and emotionally.

We would also like to stay away from "keeping up with the Jones" mentality.

What are your thoughts/experiences on St Andrews and Trinity's culture? What are the parents like? Which school is more conservative? Openminded? What's the culture like at each school?

Thank you in advance for your responses!
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Old 03-08-2016, 12:27 PM
 
Location: central Austin
7,228 posts, read 16,014,420 times
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The Jones definitely attend Trinity and St. Andrews! (did you look at St. Francis? most diverse private school in Austin in terms of ethnicity and economic status).

Have you been accepted at both schools and are debating which offer to accept? Or are you looking ahead to apply next year?

What about your current school makes it a great fit?

Are you Episcopal? Trinity is generally seen as a bit more focused on its Episcopal identity over SAS. Uniforms at Trinity, no uniforms at SAS. Are you a same sex couple? St Andrews is going to be a bit more friendly to that (but we are talking degrees not a huge difference). Daily chapel at both. These two schools are more similar than almost any other pair in Austin. Personally, I would take St. Andrews over Trinity but the differences are slight. If you have visited both you must have picked up on the different vibe at each school. You are going to be the real expert here. Only you know your daughter and what works for her.
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Old 03-08-2016, 12:43 PM
 
24 posts, read 33,204 times
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Thank you for your thoughts.

We are not a same sex couple, just not married though we act and live like a married couple. We are not Episcopal.

Things we love about the current school - racially diverse (we understand we will not have this in Austin to the degree it exists in SF), very accepting of people's differences (gay, white, black, yellow, purple, rich, poor), people don't flaunt their wealth, teach children about valuing the environment and helping the less fortunate, teaches to the whole child (academics, socially, emotionally, physically - doesn't just focus on academics), close knit community.

We understand that there's money at both schools, don't mind that, we'd rather not be around people who flaunt their wealth or have their self worth determined by the size of their checkbook.

Which school has a better community? Which school has parents who are more open minded and progressive thinking?
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Old 03-08-2016, 12:50 PM
 
1,549 posts, read 1,941,300 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by centralaustinite View Post
The Jones definitely attend Trinity and St. Andrews! (did you look at St. Francis? most diverse private school in Austin in terms of ethnicity and economic status).

Have you been accepted at both schools and are debating which offer to accept? Or are you looking ahead to apply next year?

What about your current school makes it a great fit?

Are you Episcopal? Trinity is generally seen as a bit more focused on its Episcopal identity over SAS. Uniforms at Trinity, no uniforms at SAS. Are you a same sex couple? St Andrews is going to be a bit more friendly to that (but we are talking degrees not a huge difference). Daily chapel at both. These two schools are more similar than almost any other pair in Austin. Personally, I would take St. Andrews over Trinity but the differences are slight. If you have visited both you must have picked up on the different vibe at each school. You are going to be the real expert here. Only you know your daughter and what works for her.
100% agree on all of this.

Quote:
Originally Posted by entrepreneursf View Post
Thank you for your thoughts.

We are not a same sex couple, just not married though we act and live like a married couple. We are not Episcopal.

Things we love about the current school - racially diverse (we understand we will not have this in Austin to the degree it exists in SF), very accepting of people's differences (gay, white, black, yellow, purple, rich, poor), people don't flaunt their wealth, teach children about valuing the environment and helping the less fortunate, teaches to the whole child (academics, socially, emotionally, physically - doesn't just focus on academics), close knit community.

We understand that there's money at both schools, don't mind that, we'd rather not be around people who flaunt their wealth or have their self worth determined by the size of their checkbook.

Which school has a better community? Which school has parents who are more open minded and progressive thinking?
Have you spent any time at all in Austin recently? It is nothing like the place you remember and is packed to the gills with Joneses.

I think the only schools where you will find the kind of culture you're looking for would be places like St. Francis or Waldorf.
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Old 03-08-2016, 12:51 PM
 
1,157 posts, read 2,639,069 times
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Check out Magellan
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Old 03-08-2016, 01:01 PM
 
Location: Warrior Country
4,573 posts, read 6,739,872 times
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Sounds like SF and SA might be a fit.

Quote:
Originally Posted by entrepreneursf View Post
.....Things we love about the current school - racially diverse (we understand we will not have this in Austin to the degree it exists in SF), very accepting of people's differences (gay, white, black, yellow, purple, rich, poor), people don't flaunt their wealth, teach children about valuing the environment and helping the less fortunate, teaches to the whole child (academics, socially, emotionally, physically - doesn't just focus on academics), close knit community.

This describes SF, SA and also 74 public elementary schools in Greater Austin.


Which school has a better community? Which school has parents who are more open minded and progressive thinking?
Two traits that probably don't belong in the same sentence, defined as an oxymoron in public school.
.

Last edited by hound 109; 03-08-2016 at 01:20 PM..
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Old 03-08-2016, 01:02 PM
 
361 posts, read 1,158,489 times
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I'm a St. Andrews parent. As centralaustinite noted, both schools will have their fair share of the Jones'. There will be some parents who while not exactly flaunting it, will not hide it either. That said, I love our school community. The parents are open-minded and have the educational interests of the kids as a top priority. The school has had a leadership change in the last several years, and the new administration seems determined to elevate all of the school's programming. When we started here, the big controversies were math and too much homework. Now, it's the lunch program - I consider that progress!

The general vibe of most of the parents not surprisingly matches the vibe of Austin. Certainly not conservative in the social sense but not exactly progressive. It's more of a live and let live lifestyle. I may not have any interest in attending a rally at the Capitol with you, but I'll take you on the lake in my boat and have your family over for dinner afterwards. It's a friendly and accepting community and we have grown to love it!
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Old 03-08-2016, 04:27 PM
 
743 posts, read 1,359,187 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by centralaustinite View Post
The Jones definitely attend Trinity and St. Andrews!
Yup.

They are both good schools, but if you don't want to go to school with the Jones, I'd look elsewhere.
Yet I would add that some of the Jones are very nice people!

If you could prioritize your desires, we could help more, since it's hard to find everything you are asking for in one school, and knowing what is most important would be helpful. I'm not sure that I'd characterize either of those schools as terribly progressive, but strong communities- yes.

When your daughter gets a little older, I think St. Stephen's matches your desires pretty well. There is wealth but people don't flaunt it, diversity is embraced and the school is fairly progressive thinking (but not terribly progressive in curriculum innovation).
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Old 03-08-2016, 04:50 PM
 
2,007 posts, read 2,884,917 times
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St. A is not really full of the Joneses. There are some for sure, but there are also teachers' kids, upper middle class but not wealthy kids. We've found a lot of families like us who are progressive, well off but not wealthy, cool people. And the wealthy parents are pretty nice too! I haven't seen outright flaunting of wealth or gross consumerism, but my kids there are young
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Old 03-08-2016, 05:39 PM
 
7,984 posts, read 10,320,755 times
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Academically, I think the schools are very comparable. However, I will say that in my experience, the keeping up with the Joneses mentality is very much alive and well at both of them. As a previous poster said, there are teachers' kids, upper middle class kids, etc., but I have noticed that they tend to not really be accepted as part of the group, so to speak. Sadly, I've noticed this more from the parents than from the kids.
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