Single Mom to move to Park Cities? (Dallas, Howe: houses, market)

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by Southern1979

What about Preston Hollow and North Dallas? Are those areas I should be exploring?

They are if you're dead-set on private schools. They're actually the best neighborhoods to live in for private schools as most all are located in PH/ND, including St Rita & St Monica (Catholic PK-8) and Jesuit (boys HS) and Ursuline (girls HS).

There is less community spirit than the Park Cities as there's no common "root" running through the neighborhood- ie, everyone goes to different schools (whereas in HPISD, 80% of kids attend HPISD schools and many of your neighbors will be at the Scot's games on Friday night to support the team even if they don't have school-aged kids), different country clubs (whereas in HPISD, hundreds of kiddos are at the HP & UP pools every day all summer long), etc.

You can certainly make a community for yourself in PH/ND, but it will be more church/school/country club based than neighborhood based. Not sure how that compares to where you are now & what you want. Many are perfectly happy with the additional privacy in PH/ND (bigger lots, more spread out feeling, etc).

[synchronicity]

Originally Posted by racehorse

"What church do you go to?" is a common subject of small talk here. It's very weird if you're not from the Bible Belt. The first time someone asked me I was all *blink blink*. It would never happen in a workplace setting where I'm from (Chicago).

What, did everyone on this forum move to Dallas from Chicago?

-synchronicity, still has the house there, at least for now...

[TX75007]

Originally Posted by Southern1979

What about Preston Hollow and North Dallas? Are those areas I should be exploring?

Sure. Most people in your bracket with kids in PH or ND send them to privates.

At this point I'd find a realtor to work with who can show you the lay of the land.

[Vicman]

Southern, for further info, here is an SAT and ACT comparison of Highland Park vs. Woodrow vs. Hillcrest (for if your kids want to do college prep):
For the classes of 2009
*Highland Park: 1203 (out of 1600!) / 26.2
*Hillcrest: 995 / 21.3
*Woodrow: 984 / 20.8

At two of those schools White students tend to do disproportionately better than their classmates of other racial groups:
For the classes of 2009
* HP: 1202 / 26.1
* Hillcrest: 1169 / 25.6
* Woodrow: 1098 / 24.5
While HAR doesn't have info on non-free lunch vs. free lunch (in terms of SAT/ACT scores), the White student body probably best approximates how non-free lunch students tend to do at these schools

Even though HAR.com is a Houston-based site, its school database has info on every Texas school

As others have said, Woodrow and Hillcrest are majority/minority. Especially in the case of Hillcrest, few people in the wealthy communities send their children to that school. For Woodrow, according to Lakewooder there is a debate between Woodrow and private school and some people prefer one, while others prefer the other.

[Lakewooder]

Probably should add W.T. White to that list. All are ranked in the Washington Post list of the top high schools in America: HP 36, WT White 273, Woodrow 602 and Hillcrest 613 of the 22,000 plus public high schools in the nation -- yes I know it's based on AP/IB participation vs. the size of the senior class and does not count the number passing. Woodrow and Hillcrest have much smaller senior classes than White and HP.

You can look up each school's profile -- on that it shows Woodrow's SAT average as 1,009 and ACT 23.5 (all races and everyone is encouraged to take the tests). Since that data was collected the number of AP tests given at WW has risen from the 600 range to over 800 tests (senior class between 250-300) and the college-accepted rate has gone from 64% in 2009 to 88% to 90%. Woodrow will also have students taking IB tests next year.

[Vicman]

For W.T. White:
2009 SAT/ACT scores:
*889 - 18
For White students:
*1062 - 22.9

[SMS_Parent]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

There is less community spirit than the Park Cities as there's no common "root" running through the neighborhood
You can certainly make a community for yourself in PH/ND, but it will be more church/school/country club based than neighborhood based.

There is definitely a sense of community among the families that live in the neighborhoods near St. Monica/St. Rita and whose children attend Catholic schools -- but as you point out it is a faith/school based community. There is a lot of academic and social interaction, even among rival elementary schools. I could name almost as many St. Rita parents whom I could call on for help on a project as I could St. Monica parents. Jesuit and Cistercian football games provide the same sort of hub of Friday night social activity that you describe for HP. The alumni of Jesuit/Ursuline/Cistercian have strong, lifelong ties both to their classmates and to their alma maters and often go to great lengths to provide the same educational experience to their own children.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by SMS_Parent

There is definitely a sense of community among the families that live in the neighborhoods near St. Monica/St. Rita and whose children attend Catholic schools -- but as you point out it is a faith/school based community. There is a lot of academic and social interaction, even among rival elementary schools. I could name almost as many St. Rita parents whom I could call on for help on a project as I could St. Monica parents. Jesuit and Cistercian football games provide the same sort of hub of Friday night social activity that you describe for HP. The alumni of Jesuit/Ursuline/Cistercian have strong, lifelong ties both to their classmates and to their alma maters and often go to great lengths to provide the same educational experience to their own children.

Totally agree & hope my post was clear about that. But as you said, it's more of a church/ school (even Catholic schools as a whole) type community bubble and not all the kids (especially once school aged) on the block running around together, even if some are at St Mark's, some at Parish, some at St Rita,etc. The community "bubbles" tend to be the Catholic school crowd, the St Mark's/ Lamplighter/ Hockaday crowd, the public school crowd, etc.

[tbone9900tx]

after reading all the troll posts/reposts/response post/response to response post/im right youre wrong posts/NO im right posts/nanya nanya posts...... im sure the OP has chosen to stay out of Dallas probably Texas!

[thewoodismyhood]

Southern1979,

A lot has been said already in the thread based on my scan of the posts, but I'll put in another plug for Lakewood from my perspective. It's a great community (not saying others aren't, it's just what I know). Been here for 5+ years, kids about the same age as yours. Looked at HP/UP as well but ultimately landed here due to love of outdoors, a more laid-back community, and more house for the dollar.

I believe someone once said the stretch from Abrams to the lake, between Gaston and Mockingbird is the largest area without a stoplight in Dallas. That was a big appeal. And being close to the lake is also great for kid-friendly activities (parks, bike rides, stroller runs, etc ... not to mention the Arboretum which is great).

Also Catholic, and though I don't go every week, St. Thomas Aquinas on Abrams is a nice church and community.

Have not joined Lakewood CC but have a few friends there. Seems quite nice, and will likely join at some point myself. Much more accessible than the DCC and Brookhollow.

School-wise others have commented and will know more. A year or two away for my oldest, but considering either Lakewood Elementary, St. Thomas, or one of the privates (commute be damned). We will see.

Hope that you are able to make a smooth transition to Dallas or wherever you land. Sounds like a tough situation you are getting out of but fortunately you seem to have the means and right priorities to move foraward. Going through a divorce myself at the moment so can at least empathize with you to an extent, especially with young kids involved.