Stay in East Dallas and send kids to private school or move to an area with better public schools? (Plano: fit in, spring break)

[Kmodo]

My husband and I live in Casa Linda with our 1 year old son. Some of you might think I'm jumping the gun trying to decide about schools but where we eventually send our son to school in five years is influential in a decision we are trying to make right now - whether to add on to our house. Here are the options we are considering:

1. Staying put and adding on to our 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom 2300 sq ft house so that when we have another child the kids won't have to share a room and we will still have a guest room. If we did this, we would add on in a year or so and then send our kids to a private school (likely St. John's if they get in).

2. Move to Lake Highlands and buy a bigger house and send our kids to public schools (White Rock Elementary zone).

3. Move to University Park, buy a house about the size of ours now on a smaller lot, and send our kids to very highly regarded public schools.

I know this is a personal choice but I'd love to hear people's opinions. How are the Lake Higlands junior high and high school viewed? If we send our kids to St. John's, where could they likely go for high school? Has anybody moved to UP from East Dallas and if so was it a culture shock? I really love where we live. Restaurants are opening all the time and we love being so close to the lake. I love that our neighbors are from all different backgrounds. But now that we have a child, I know we need to consider what's best for his future.

Thanks in advance!

[EDS_]

No particular advice. I'd just say that given your thought, care and planning your kids will thrive wherever they attend school.

If UP would be a stretch I'd pass. If it's not a stretch UP looks like a great buy right now and the schools really are excellent.

Best of luck.

[jennifw]

Wow. Tough question.

We live in Lakewood and my daughter attends private school. We moved here when she was 3 and we were pretty certain that private was the way to go. (for us, it is still the right decision). That said, if I had to do it again, I would probably have bought a house in HP/UP and gone public. We thought the Park Cities were out of reach, but now that we pay a big tuition, it would probably be a wash financially.

BUT... I love East Dallas and Lakewood. For my family and our lifestyle, I can't imagine living anywhere else.I feel the same way about her school. It would be easier if it were closer, but I can't imagine being anywhere else. I have no idea if we would fit in in the Park Cities, but I have met all kinds of people who live all over and I think we would likely fit wherever we ended up. I do love the East Dallas vibe and can't imagine moving now. I know my life would probably be very different if we didn't live here.

I know that doesn't really help. For St. Johns, I think a lot of the girls go to Ursuline. Not sure where else or where the boys go. I think you could search Lake Highlands on this forum to get input on the schools.

Good luck with your decision. I don't envy you!

[Macbeth2003]

So much of this decision is personal. Other than school, what factors matter for you? What factors matter in the upbringin of your children. Will yo be ok with the much more unicultural, monoracial, and politically conservative culture of the Par Cities being the major influence on them? if so then it is obviously a beautiful area, with excellent schools. Is cultural and political diversity, and exposing your ids to it a major factor? Then it might not be a good fit for you.

As far as private school, how much of a financial hardship is it likely to be for you? Do you plan to have additional kids beyond the upcoming one you mention? If so will it be a hardship then?

As for public schools, don't forget the option of getting a transfer into a better DISD school. Never judge a district in total, DISD over all has big problems, but it also has some wonderful schools. There are several parents who have gone the transfer route that I know, including a couple on here who transferred into the school that my son went to for k-3. It is a PreK to 5 school, but we went the Vanguard route this year. Not, I hasten to say, because of ANY dissatisfaction with the school which was outstanding, and a great experience with wonderful faculty, students, and parents, but because the arts vanguard offered things other schools did not, that my son was interested in.

I hesitate to "advise" anyone on what decision to make as this as each family has different needs and desires, but these are the major factors and options I would consider.

[Considering Coming Back]

I'd say EDS is on the money. But let me tease you out a bit.

You say "Casa Linda" but that means different things to different people. Do you know which elementary you are zoned for? If you are on the north side of Casa Linda you are zoned Hexter. If that is the case I would not move. Hexter is a great k-5 school and is considering how to become k-8. It'll happen in your time frame. If you are south of Garland Rd your options are riskier. White Rock is inarguably better than the choices on that side of the neighborhood.

All that said, I grew up in the Hexter neighborhood not that long ago and I know many families that made different choices. I know people that chose Greenhill, Cistercian, Hockaday, BL, HP, LH, Allen, Booker T, TAG, SEM, Woodrow, and more than a few that stayed BA. I will say that I did not like losing so many friends along the way, but the area around Northlake is such a starter home area I understand now as a person writing a mortgage check why there was such movement.

None of these kids were helped or harmed by their parents choices. If you are from a stable family that values education you're buying lifestyle, not performance.

[Kmodo]

Thanks for the thoughtful comments. More details:

We live in the Reinhardt zone so if we stay here we would go the private route unless we transferred into Hexter.

We plan to only have two kids.

We are Democrats. I don't want my kids to think they will get a brand new BMW when they turn 16, go to Europe for spring break, etc. My husband and I are both attorneys but I currently stay home. Right now, we would be buying at the low end of UP houses but in a few years when student loan debt is a distant memory and my husband is higher up in the ranks at his firm, it wouldn't be as big of a stretch. By the time our son is in school, I don't think private tuition is going to be an issue.

I guess I wonder if even if we stay in East Dallas, will going to one of the privates result in a similar bubble like environment that you hear about the Park Cities having?

[TX75007]

Originally Posted by Macbeth2003

Will yo be ok with the much more unicultural, monoracial, and politically conservative culture of the Par Cities being the major influence on them? if so then it is obviously a beautiful area, with excellent schools. Is cultural and political diversity, and exposing your ids to it a major factor? Then it might not be a good fit for you.

LOL

Are stable, mostly two-parent, and law-abiding neighborhoods the best influence for your kids? Is effective, well-planned, and predictable local government to your liking? Are livable, clean, and well-kept streets attractive to you? The fundamentals come before all other considerations. Of course, you can always live in a hovel off Harry Hines.

Unless you have the cash to buy a HP home with a substantial down payment, I do not see how the tax bill on such a high priced home will work for you over the long term even with a 4% yearly appreciation. One option you did not list was to move to a suburb like Coppell, Richardson, FM or Plano.

My advice would be to run the numbers financially looking at cash flow, savings, and asset values over 5 and 10 years, and then plan to live well within your means. Sometimes seeing what you will or will not have in 5 years and 10 makes the decision easy for you. Having a lot of cash in the bank is the most secure thing you can do for your family. You have several years to make a decision if you want to move later.

Education really depends on the teachers. I'd find out about the schools and then the teachers in each grade. The bad ones should be found out and avoided. If your child is exceptional, then you may have to trade up on the school system to ensure they get what they need.

The next 4 years are critical for your child. Spending 1-2 hours a night with them reading, doing puzzles, learning math concepts, etc will set the stage for later success far more than any school they go into. Even if they get into some super duper Prek, they will NOT get that much focused attention from anyone at the school as you can give them at home. A lot of parents worry about schools way too much, but the most important thing is to work with your child every day. Its the one thing you can control!

[Considering Coming Back]

Originally Posted by Kmodo

Thanks for the thoughtful comments. More details:

We live in the Reinhardt zone so if we stay here we would go the private route unless we transferred into Hexter.

We plan to only have two kids.

We are Democrats. I don't want my kids to think they will get a brand new BMW when they turn 16, go to Europe for spring break, etc. My husband and I are both attorneys but I currently stay home. Right now, we would be buying at the low end of UP houses but in a few years when student loan debt is a distant memory and my husband is higher up in the ranks at his firm, it wouldn't be as big of a stretch. By the time our son is in school, I don't think private tuition is going to be an issue.

I guess I wonder if even if we stay in East Dallas, will going to one of the privates result in a similar bubble like environment that you hear about the Park Cities having?

I think you're more likely to run into Democrats at an HP PTA meeting than a St Johns one. The east Dallas private schools don't have a very positive raison d'etre. If you are going to go private I would recommend one of the legitemate ones on the other side of the Tollroad.

P.S. transferring into Hexter isn't hard if you know the process.

[fndallas]

White Rock elementary is still a very good school. A good number of homeowners in White Rock Valley and the neighborhood on Goforth send their kids there. Some bypass elementary and Junior high and send their kids to the privates like St. James, St. Patrick, White Rock Montessori, Highlander School. LH Junior High and the High School aren't bad as long as your kid is on the honors program in Junior High, and Pre AP/AP in High School. Very diverse. I think the junior high is a third white, third black, third hispanic. The high school is about the same but it's a "school within a school," as the honor/AP track is predominately white, while the regular track is black/hispanic.

[TX75007]

Originally Posted by Kmodo

My husband and I are both attorneys but I currently stay home. Right now, we would be buying at the low end of UP houses but in a few years when student loan debt is a distant memory and my husband is higher up in the ranks at his firm, it wouldn't be as big of a stretch. By the time our son is in school, I don't think private tuition is going to be an issue.

I guess I wonder if even if we stay in East Dallas, will going to one of the privates result in a similar bubble like environment that you hear about the Park Cities having?

There are a lot of foreclosures in HP and elsewhere where the thoughts were the same going in. And Law is coming down off its bubble so growth will never be like it was. Something to consider..

You have kids. You now live in the we-have-kids bubble and no matter where you go to school, that school and the parents there will be your bubble. It then comes down to the parents - will you find friends and will your children find friends, or will you be ignored, or worse, shunned? As a parent this is important - how happy will you be if you feel isolated and unable to contribute?

Fitting in and being accepted. I will mention this. My wife ran a business unit of a fortune 500 firm by the time she was 30. She comes from a ranching family that has several county and state elected officials who are Democrats. She has worked with several charitable groups across the area and also is very active in sports. Due to her appearance, her drive, her experiences, and her expectations of others, its very hard for her to be accepted by some women in some of the communities in the area. Oddly, she has feels most at home with HP women. She thinks they are the least intimidated by her and share her high expectations. She expected them to be the snootiest and the opposite occurred.