Wooten Schools (Austin, Highland Park, Bowie: middle-class, 2014, home)

[austinguy001]

Hello,

My wife and I live in the Wooten Area in North Central Austin: (https://goo.gl/maps/SG9bQtdcpXM2)

We love it here. Nice park, nice neighbors, good restaurants, good commuting. There's just one problem.

The schools are AWFUL. Like, beyond awful.

Ratings for Wooten Schools are here:

Elementary: Wooten Elementary School - Austin, Texas - TX - School overview
Middle: Burnet Middle School - Austin, Texas - TX - School overview
High: Lanier High School - Austin, Texas - TX - School overview

The schools are walkable, which is nice, but they are title 1 and 92-95% hispanic. As a result, most classes are bilingual (read: slow the curriculum down). Also, they are canceling the bilingual education program next year, so that's out.

Alternatively, there is Redeemer: Redeemer Lutheran School - Austin, Texas - TX - School overview

But since it's private, it's not rated. I'm sure it's nice, but I'm wary of private school being too insular and not giving my children the proper social exposure to function normally in the real world.

I don't want to move (I love our home), but I don't seem to see any alternative if I want to give my kids a good education. Wooten is mostly middle-class white folks, but is surrounded by low-income housing and a large hispanic population.

So, be the change you want to see in the world, right? Stop Complaining and fix it, right? Local local local, right? Let's make these schools what we want them to be, right?

That's been tried. Parents repeatedly band together and try to get more involved with the schools. Helping with extracurriculars, room monitoring, mentoring, you name it. Efforts locally to change the schools from within via volunteerism and city involvement are met with volunteers becoming babysitters for large groups of kids, the volunteers becoming frustrated at the lack of parental involvement, and leaving the area. There is almost zero parental involvement from the hispanic community in these schools.

Most of our friends and neighbors end up home schooling, doing private school, or moving to a better district.

They will be attending school in the next few years- what should I do?

Thanks,

Austin Guy

ps. Please bring something other than "racist *******" to the table. Thanks.

[Nacho_Friend]

Commute is key. If that's priority 1 then you best save for private school. If it's not then sell to someone from California who's not paying attention to the schools.

[centralaustinite]

You could transfer to either Pillow, very close, well rated or Gullet, just down the road in Allandale, highly rated. Easiest time to do a transfer is when entering kindergarten, both schools have active parents, Gullet especially!

Redeemer is Missouri synod Lutheran and that is a very specific thing! You need to be a certain type of Christian for Redeemer to fit.

St. Francis School is not far away, it sounds religious but it isn't. No clergy, no denominations, no bible verses on the wall, it is an independent private school, diverse economically and ethnically and has Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and atheist families. Pre-K to 8th. Paragon Prep would be another option but it doesn't start til 3rd grade. NYOS charter would be another option as well.

For high school do McCallum Fine Arts, IB at Anderson, LASA or NYOS.

[Nacho_Friend]

SCHOOLS FROZEN TO TRANSFERS IN 2016–17*:

High schools: Akins, Anderson, Bowie
Middle schools: Gorzycki, Lamar, Murchison
Elementary schools: Baldwin, Baranoff, Barrington, Becker, Blazier, Brentwood, Casis, Clayton, Cowan, Davis, Doss, Gullett, Hill, Kiker, Menchaca, Oak Hill, Webb Primary

[Nacho_Friend]

Here's Schooldigger on Pillow:
https://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/s...46/school.aspx

[austinguy001]

yeah, it sucks because we're close to doss/murchison/anderson (could commute).

[centralaustinite]

Originally Posted by Nacho_Friend

SCHOOLS FROZEN TO TRANSFERS IN 2016–17*:

High schools: Akins, Anderson, Bowie
Middle schools: Gorzycki, Lamar, Murchison
Elementary schools: Baldwin, Baranoff, Barrington, Becker, Blazier, Brentwood, Casis, Clayton, Cowan, Davis, Doss, Gullett, Hill, Kiker, Menchaca, Oak Hill, Webb Primary

But that will change every year, Gullet will be open to transfers again, without a doubt, they are nearly 40% transfers. Doss and Hill are overbooked from kids within the attendance zone, they will not be open to transfer for the rest of the decade. Plus, assuming that list is accurate, that means Highland Park is currently open to transfers! That is a fantastic school with demanding academics and a VERY involved parent community, I'd jump on that.

I have several friends with kids at Pillow RIGHT NOW and they are very happy with the school. I'd talk to current parents before ruling it out. Also, so interesting to see Becker and Brentwood on the "closed to transfers" list because a decade ago, they had a reputation not far off from Wooten, active parents and strong principals and curricular developments (dual language at Becker and Fine Arts focus at Brentwood) really turned them both around.

Anderson still accepts transfers via the IB program, even when otherwise closed to transfers.

[austinguy001]

my commute is currently 3 minutes, it's a reverse commute (nortbound-AM,southbound-PM). Job has relaxed hours and I can come home for lunch if I desire. It's a great setup.

[austinguy001]

good to know about IB. Have a cousin that did it in FL, she's an architect now.

[Nacho_Friend]

I pulled that from the Austin ISD site. You can also google to find out what's been closed and what hasn't. It appears Gullet wasn't in 2014 but has been in the last 2 years.

It sounds like your commute is awesome. If you are not risk averse, stick it out and see if you can get your kids in the right school.