Advice/comments on living on Eastern Dallas near White Rock (Garland: leasing, homes)

[happy5]

Hello,

Currently working on a realtor about leasing a home in the Northern Dallas area with my young family. I'll be working at UT Southwestern in a medical area.

However, this market is tough and homes apparently lease at the speed of light! There is a property on Eastern Dallas, which is in a gated community very near White Rock Lake and the Dallas Arboretum.

Though I have heard good things about living in the North Dallas area... any thoughts on living in this area regarding:

- safety
- quality of (public) schools (believe our school would be Alex Sanger elementary)
- quality of life for a culturally diverse family

Thanks everyone!

[pepper131]

Does your family speak Spanish and English? Sanger, I believe, still has a mandatory dual language program.
Otherwise, the area is good. I have two friends who live in the Enclave at Ash Creek (if that is where you are looking). They both love it. Kids are always out playing since there is basically zero traffic.

I live near there in a nongated neighborhood.

[ChristieP]

If you are planning to stay there for the long term, you may be concerned about the high school. Bryan Adams HS is rough...

[happy5]

We speak English and Spanish, and noticed the dual program as well. That is just perfect for the 5 year old who is going to kinder. Anyway, most teachers (and I am a pediatrician) agree little kids adapt fairly quickly and learn the language very well.

The area is in Forest Hollow Park and it is a gated community. At the most, we will stay in Texas for 5 years, so the comment about the high school is very appreciated.

[BigT3x]

The area you're talking about is safe. It's not Frisco - no tollways and cheap McMansion style construction everywhere - but don't mistake that for danger.

[Lakewooder]

A lot of kids zoned to Sanger seem to be able to transfer from Gaston and Bryan Adams to J. L. Long and Woodrow Wilson for middle and high school. Some of this is because International Baccalaureate is available at those schools. It's easier to transfer at the high school level as of now, because the schools have also gone to college prep academies - besides IB, Woodrow has STEM, Business/Finance/Entrepreneurship and Performing Arts. These are not offered at BA so transfers for those are also possible. I certainly think some kids can do well at BA but it really doesn't offer as much of the college prep focus. I belive you can also transfer if your home school does not have the AP classes you want - Woodrow has 22 AP courses in addition to IB.

Even though Woodrow is getting a 40,000 square foot addition (under construction now) I can see that it's going to be more difficult to transfer as they have already gained around 250 new students since the advent of IB. These are mainly freshmen and sophomores as the programs are being phased in over a four-year period. I know they are expecting around 150 out-of-zone for IB in the freshman class this fall (about 1/3 presently in private schools - some from within the zone, some not).

Maybe you should also look in that attendance zone: http://www.dallasisd.org/cms/lib/TX0...Wilson2011.pdf

There is also the possiblity of transfer to other DISD magnets - I can't really speak to that but I know it's getting more competitive to get in...

Something positively affecting that area is the huge purchase by Lincoln Property of virtually all the commercial land just south of the Spillway near Gaston/Garland Road/East Grand.

[happy5]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

A lot of kids zoned to Sanger seem to be able to transfer from Gaston and Bryan Adams to J. L. Long and Woodrow Wilson for middle and high school. Some of this is because International Baccalaureate is available at those schools. It's easier to transfer at the high school level as of now, because the schools have also gone to college prep academies - besides IB, Woodrow has STEM, Business/Finance/Entrepreneurship and Performing Arts.

Thanks for your comments. Our main concern are elementary schools, as we have a child going to kinder. Middle school is not yet a concern as we may not stay in Texas for more than 5 years.

[DtX4415]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

Bryan Adams HS is rough...

lol, B.A. is nowhere near as rough as it was before 2008. Removing Two points and Five points from the attendance zone made a huge difference.

[Lakewooder]

I don't know that much about BA these days except that it is smaller since they opened Conrad (so is Hillcrest). I did attend a baseball tournament there a month or so ago and I didn't see anything that would concern me as far as safety. It was quite a pleasant afternoon. We went to Dairy-Ette afterwards. Funny how the neighborhood is 'dangerous' when talking about BA but that isn't usually mentioned about when talking about BL.

[CasaLindaMom]

That area is a great area. I live over in Casa Linda and my youngest goes to Kinder at Sanger this year. It's a great little school and the kinder teachers are awesome. Actually, all the teachers are awesome and very committed to the school.
The parents are great too and are very involved at the school.
The current principal retired this year so they are on the hunt for a new principal. But the search/interview process is going to include current staff, PTA reps, Board of Trustee members, etc. so I'm confident they'll get all the input they need to get the best person for the job.

I think you'd be very happy in that neighborhood!

Good luck!