Moving to Austin...charter school vs public question (Round Rock, Cedar Park: rental, mortgage)

[caseynjason]

Hi, my family and I live in Kansas City, MO and my husband just got a job in Austin (as of yesterday) and I am frantically searching the area about schools, neighborhoods, etc. So far I like Round Rock and Cedar Creek areas. I have 5 children, my oldest girls (15 and 13) go to traditional public school and enjoy it, but my younger 3 (11, 9, and 6) go to a little christian private school and receive a more classical instruction.
We pulled them out of public school last year because the schools here were just not giving any individual instruction and the common core was just awful for my children, and they were not thriving at all. My teens are happily integrated into HS and are not wanting to change to private/charter.

We cannot afford private school when we move (this one was very small and affordable) and I tried homeschooling and hated every minute. Charter schools are not around here, and love that option, but they are all so different in their approaches and the whole lottery thing scares me.

I would love some direction. Charter sounds nice for the individualized instruction (my children are slightly behind from the switching of schools and a more relaxed approach), but if the public schools in the area are not a tightly governed by the state and politics like they are here, that would be great as well.

Help please! Thank you soon to be neighbors!!

[centralaustinite]

You might want to look into St. Francis School, independent private school (no religious affiliation), they provide small classes, great teachers and individualized instruction, they offer financial aid and strive to keep tuition low as a way of meeting their mission of "excellence without exclusivity."

St. Francis School

They are in north central Austin and would work with a north Austin/Round Rock location for your home.

good luck!

[eirenecat]

Originally Posted by centralaustinite

You might want to look into St. Francis School, independent private school (no religious affiliation), they provide small classes, great teachers and individualized instruction, they offer financial aid and strive to keep tuition low as a way of meeting their mission of "excellence without exclusivity."

St. Francis School

They are in north central Austin and would work with a north Austin/Round Rock location for your home.

good luck!

This is a great suggestion--we looked into St Francis and our daughter was accepted there--but they are not in what I'd consider a realistic school-time commute from North Austin and especially not Round Rock. St Johns and Lamar area is a long morning drive from the areas the OP suggests.

OP, we do have charter schools here and one of the biggest local chains of them is the Harmony system. Lots of people seem to like them; I have no experience with them.

[hound 109]

Where will your husband be working? (give nearby cross streets)

Other Comments in your quote below:

Originally Posted by caseynjason

Hi, my family and I live in Kansas City, MO and my husband just got a job in Austin (as of yesterday) and I am frantically searching the area about schools, neighborhoods, etc. So far I like Round Rock and Cedar Creek areas.
Why do you like these areas?
Do you mean Cedar Creek or Cedar Park?

I have 5 children, my oldest girls (15 and 13) go to traditional public school and enjoy it, but my younger 3 (11, 9, and 6) go to a little christian private school and receive a more classical instruction.
We pulled them out of public school last year because the schools here were just not giving any individual instruction and the common core was just awful for my children, and they were not thriving at all. My teens are happily integrated into HS and are not wanting to change to private/charter.
My kid went has gone to public ES, MS & is in HS. He enjoyed the instruction. Not sure what common core is, but he's doing well at a very good HS. Sending him to private or charter schools would have been a waste of money.

We cannot afford private school when we move (this one was very small and affordable) and I tried homeschooling and hated every minute. Charter schools are not around here, and love that option, but they are all so different in their approaches and the whole lottery thing scares me.
The public schools that my kid attended were/are better than any charter school in the area. (unless LASA is a "charter school") There are 8-10 VERY good to excellent school feeder patterns in greater Austin.

I would love some direction. Charter sounds nice for the individualized instruction (my children are slightly behind from the switching of schools and a more relaxed approach), but if the public schools in the area are not a tightly governed by the state and politics like they are here, that would be great as well.
Tightly governed? What does this mean? Kids in public school (here) ARE required to know the bare minimum prior moving on to the next grade.

Help please! Thank you soon to be neighbors!!

Location of your husband's job & your rental or housing budget are needed to provide meaningful advice.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by caseynjason

Hi, my family and I live in Kansas City, MO and my husband just got a job in Austin (as of yesterday) and I am frantically searching the area about schools, neighborhoods, etc. So far I like Round Rock and Cedar Creek areas. I have 5 children, my oldest girls (15 and 13) go to traditional public school and enjoy it, but my younger 3 (11, 9, and 6) go to a little christian private school and receive a more classical instruction.
We pulled them out of public school last year because the schools here were just not giving any individual instruction and the common core was just awful for my children, and they were not thriving at all. My teens are happily integrated into HS and are not wanting to change to private/charter.

We cannot afford private school when we move (this one was very small and affordable) and I tried homeschooling and hated every minute. Charter schools are not around here, and love that option, but they are all so different in their approaches and the whole lottery thing scares me.

I would love some direction. Charter sounds nice for the individualized instruction (my children are slightly behind from the switching of schools and a more relaxed approach), but if the public schools in the area are not a tightly governed by the state and politics like they are here, that would be great as well.

Help please! Thank you soon to be neighbors!!

we dont have common core here. Many of the public schools in the austin area are very good. You might consider going public school. Ive been generally happy with the RRISD curriculum.

There is a little too much focus on word problems in 1st/2nd grade and maybe not enough rote memorization of addition/subtraction. We have our daughter doing kumon so she can be lightning fast with in her head addition/subtraction/multiplication. It makes it so much easier to solve word problems when you are not stumbling on the basic math. On the other hand they are doing a little algebra, multiplication and division in 2nd grade, which i think is great.

I dont know if all RRISD schools do this, but our 2nd grader is getting tracked for math. They have maybe 5 different groups and each of the 2nd grade teachers gets a group of kids selected for their math ability but only for the math track. The groupings change for each math area. So my daughter was in the highest group for one of the areas, but is not for the others. This lets students be with students that are closest to them in ability. The groups are updated every two weeks. They do a pre test to determine the groups and then a post test shows any improvement.

The Texas House of Representatives voted 140-2 to pass language prohibiting Texas from participating in the Common Core State Standards. Only two votes against it. Incredible. The bill, HB 462, was sponsored by State Representative Dan Huberty (R-Kingwood).

[caseynjason]

Thanks for the suggestions...hubby will be working on Burnet Rd, zip 78756. Housing budget $300k to $400. I love that Texas does not have common core, and is so adamantly against it. Makes me think public school might be an option.

[clarksvillemom]

If you do end up in that area (but it will be hard with that budget and needing a house for 5 kids) look at Paragon Prep

[caseynjason]

We could do $450 if we needed to. We are getting paid very well, but so used to pinching pennies that is it difficult to imagine a mortgage that high. I think I can get used to it.

[mesmer]

How many bedrooms are you looking for? (Some areas tend to have mostly 3 bedroom, maybe some 4. But if you want 5+ you're going to be limited).

How many students in each classroom/grade for your current schools?

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by caseynjason

We could do $450 if we needed to. We are getting paid very well, but so used to pinching pennies that is it difficult to imagine a mortgage that high. I think I can get used to it.

Since this is a quick move, make sure you are aware of property taxes - about $10k per year on a $400k house, give or take.