Relocating to Dallas...Christ the King or HPISD?

[zuzuspetalsTX]

Big personalities will do well most anywhere! But, I do believe that in HPISD you have a huge achievement mentality - obviously, because in order to live here, most parents are either:

A. Very successful in their career

or

B. Have/had very successful parents/grandparents

TC80, you were so successful in HPISD b/c although you might not label yourself as a big personality, you were certainly no wall flower, and obviously pretty smart. It's those kids who are quiet, shy, etc... that might have a hard time in HPISD. (and granted they might have a hard time anywhere -- but it might be harder in a high achieving; go, go, go; "let's get our kids private sports lessons at age 7" kind of place.)

To the OP, as the elementary years go by, you'll start to see your child's personality developing. I think a good plan, if you want to do HPISD, is to send them to one of the elementary schools, then re-evaluate when they get to 5th grade.

[JTC Mom]

Originally Posted by zuzuspetalsTX

To the OP, as the elementary years go by, you'll start to see your child's personality developing. I think a good plan, if you want to do HPISD, is to send them to one of the elementary schools, then re-evaluate when they get to 5th grade.

Thanks for the specific recommendation ZuZu! Just to be clear - of course I have/am already seeing my children's personalities develop - no need to wait for years to go by for that!

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by zuzuspetalsTX

TC80, you were so successful in HPISD b/c although you might not label yourself as a big personality, you were certainly no wall flower, and obviously pretty smart. It's those kids who are quiet, shy, etc... that might have a hard time in HPISD. (and granted they might have a hard time anywhere -- but it might be harder in a high achieving; go, go, go; "let's get our kids private sports lessons at age 7" kind of place.)

Originally Posted by HockDad

If I had a son or daughter with lots of personality or star athlete, I would send them to HPISD. If my kid was quiet and a wallflower, private school might be a better fit.

The really quiet and shy kids are going to have a hard time at almost any school. My thread wasn't to tout my own self- at all - but rather to point to the 60% of kids in the middle- the ones who are neither painfully shy nor the next Matt Stafford/ Clayton Kershaw. I don't know how this thread diverged into discussing only the "extreme" kids - the extremely outgoing/athletically gifted and the extremely shy/wallflower - when MOST kids (even in HPISD) fall somewhere in the middle of the personality/gifted spectrum.

I would guess that about 75-80% of HPISD graduates have an overall positive school experience (using "school" to include classes, athetics, extra-curriculars, their friend groups, teachers, etc). Of the other 20-25%, I'd go "halfsies" - about half would have had a hard time at any school (whether they were painfully shy, quirky, obese, really advanced academically, socially awkward, etc) and the other half probably would have done better at a less competitive school.

[mami2emily]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Glad to hear your older one is having a good experience at HPHS! Are you going to look into private for your middle schooler?

TC...we are giving it one more school year. This year my son has a classmate who is so far ahead in math they are letting him take 9th grade math with the TAG 8th graders...so there are options out there, I just need to figure out who to speak to and what the process would be. Last year I was new to the district, unsure how everything worked, and as a result I didn't speak out as much. This year I have already talked to all his teachers about his experience last year, so hopefully it will be a better year.

Originally Posted by JTC Mom

My biggest concern about choosing the catholic school route is the one that TC mentioned about having a harder time connecting to neighbors/community because most people in the area go public and most activities are school based. That has sort of been my experience here too, but with all the extracurriculars - ballet, soccer, swimming, it does mitigate it a little bit.


Thanks!

I wouldn't worry too much about that. If you drive around you'll see a good representation of private and public school kids. My block has kids from ESD, Hockaday, and HPISD. Just about every block I drive regularly through has all kinds of yard signs. Not sure what the percentage is, but there are plenty of families in the Park Cities that go the private route, whether for all or a portion of the grades.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by mami2emily;

Not sure what the percentage is, but there are plenty of families in the Park Cities that go the private route, whether for all or a portion of the grades.

About 20%.

[zuzuspetalsTX]

Oh, Turtle Creek, I know you didn't mean to tout yourself at all -- and you certainly didn't come across as doing so! Sorry if I didn't communicate that thought well. I just meant to comment further on the OPs wonderings about big personality kids, etc... Yes, absolutely, most kids will do well in HPISD.

OP, I think you will do just fine here! And yes, walking to school is wonderful! We originally planned to put our kids in private, but went the public route as we were here in HPISD and I am glad we did. There is a lot to say for being involved in the community via the local schools. I always did wonder a bit about feeling/being disconnected from the greater community if we went private. But then, that private school becomes your community, it is just spread out a bit. HP/UP has *very much* a community feel here with their schools. I can't comment on Christ the King school, as I don't know anyone who sends their kids there. Maybe it's small? Maybe I'm out of the loop? It does seem to have an active youth group. We did see a number of kids, once they finished elementary school, go on to Cistercian and other private schools. But the majority stay in HPISD.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by JTC Mom

Interesting comments from multiple posters about "star athletes" and "big personalities" being best-suited to HPISD. Our children are young so their true athletic ability may not have fully materialized but based on their mom's poor showing in all manner of sports growing up they are not likely to be star athletes, at least not the girls. Maybe some hope for our son but too early to tell for sure. As for big personalities - not sure exactly what that means at their tender young ages. I can imagine what that would mean in middle school or later but at, say, age 5...what does that mean in this context of trying to evaluate whether they will fit in to the HPISD schools.

It seems like lots of families move to exemplary-rated HPISD specifically for the schools but surely not every child can be a star athlete or have a big personality. My children are bright and friendly, we are engaged parents who want to be part of a school community of bright, friendly children with engaged parents, but now I'm wondering if the kids will have "big enough" personalities to fit in...or not.

Sorry if that sounds snarky...I don't mean to at all. Just interesting/concerning that several folks have made this comment and, well, it's got me thinking....

I wouldn't over-think any of the broad points folks are making.

As a reference point, my kids have attended local Catholic schools exclusively for but never CTK.

I'd not worry about whether your kids are outgoing or not vis a vis your HP v. CTK decision. The Catholic private schools are not overly insulated bubbles as many believe. Instead they are populated by students varied personalities. Same with HP - your children need not be little Gordon Geckos to pass muster at HP. My daughter, an Ursuline student, is very good friends with a girl from HP who attends HP and loves it.

Don't for a second think that Jesuit and Ursuline and most Catholic middle schools fail to offer kids opportunities to extend themselves athletically. My son played hockey at Jesuit with a kid who might get a call up from The Dallas Stars next year. Every year each school sends a number of kids on to college sports. Maybe more importantly Jesuit and UA compete against public schools and generally perform well and often win.

The beauty of your "problem" is that your kids will be fine and do well at HP or at CTK.

[JTC Mom]

Thanks, EDS. Of course it's not a "problem"...just a choice to make, and one we are fortunate to have. Thanks to everyone who offered their thoughts and advice. We'll visit Christ the King for sure when we are in town soon, and if we are lucky enough to find a house during the short time we are in town we will visit the public elementary as well and see what feels right for us.

Thanks again to all who offered their advice and thoughts!

[DitsyD]

Good Luck. Hope that you are successful in your move and happy with whatever schooling choice that y'all make.