Relocating to Dallas...Christ the King or HPISD? (Stafford, Gordon: catholic schools, college)

[JTC Mom]

Thanks, everyone for your input. We're scheduling a visit soon for house hunting and will try to get a feel for Christ the King, but don't know yet which elementary zone we will be in if we go public so can't really visit the public school yet. I'm not really concerned about whether or not we get in to Christ the King because if we don't then HPISD seems like a great option to have. Also, I've spoken with the school and they have given me the strong impression that they can squeeze us in. But even if they can't with HPISD as an option we are ok.

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.

Being in a neighborhood school is important to us to help connect with the community and TC80 mentioned that at private schools you end up with kids from all over the place. This is definitely true for the "elite" privates where we live, but in the catholic school in our parish that's not the case because in order to get into the school you have to be part of the parish and in order to join the parish you have to live in the boundaries of the parish. So, the kids at the school are pretty much all from the neighborhood. Based on TC80's comments, it sounds like this may not be the case at Christ the King and kids come from other areas of the city as well? Also does anyone have information regarding academics at Christ the King? I've heard that it is a good school and would love to have something objective to base that on. I'm sure I can get some of these questions anwswered when we visit but I do also appreciate everyone's personal perspective as well.

Thanks!

[DitsyD]

Originally Posted by HockDad

I am not sure if some of the Plano schools have large amounts of 5th graders in one school, but the number seems shocking and I would fear that my kid would get lost in the crowd.

The largest elementary school in the Plano ISD, Boggess Elementary, has fewer than 150 5th graders.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by JTC Mom

Based on TC80's comments, it sounds like this may not be the case at Christ the King and kids come from other areas of the city as well? Also does anyone have information regarding academics at Christ the King? I've heard that it is a good school and would love to have something objective to base that on. I'm sure I can get some of these questions anwswered when we visit but I do also appreciate everyone's personal perspective as well.

From the church's website, the parish boundaries are roughly US 75/ Central Expressway to the east, Royal Lane to the north, Midway to the west (it's west of the Tollroad), and Mockingbird to the south. This area is pretty broad and includes many neighborhoods including all of University Park, a tiny bit of Highland Park, and all of Preston Hollow / Bluffview/ Devonshire/ HP West / Greenway Parks (various affluent neighborhoods north & west of the Park Cities, most kids go to a wide variety of private schools in North Dallas). So while the kids probably aren't coming from all over Dallas, they are coming from many different neighborhoods in North Dallas, not just the Park Cities.

Academically, it's well regarded and kids tend to get high school acceptances to the better North Dallas private schools (Ursuline/ Cistercian/ Jesuit for those continuing with Catholic education and some getting into the most elite schools Hockaday and St Mark's as well). Unlike some other local private schools ending in 8th grade (Providence on Lovers Lane comes to mind), I think the great majority of CKS kids go onto to private high schools vs coming into HPISD or another public for high school. So you also may want to weigh your long-term plans and how important a Catholic K-12 education is in your family. We do have some very good Catholic schools in Dallas, academically.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by DitsyD

The largest elementary school in the Plano ISD, Boggess Elementary, has fewer than 150 5th graders.

That's not an "apples to apples" comparisson --> 5th grade is MIDDLE SCHOOL in HPISD so it's all 5th graders from the four elementary schools combining into 1 school a year earlier than most districts do. I'm sure if you looked at the 6th-8th grade class sizes at the PISD middle schools, you'd see similar or bigger grades.

[HockDad]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

That's not an "apples to apples" comparisson --> 5th grade is MIDDLE SCHOOL in HPISD so it's all 5th graders from the four elementary schools combining into 1 school a year earlier than most districts do. I'm sure if you looked at the 6th-8th grade class sizes at the PISD middle schools, you'd see similar or bigger grades.

Totally agree that it is not apples to apples- but the point was the age of the kids. From my own experience, middle school (or junior high) is where the kids are "welcomed into the jungle." They have left their comfort zone of friends. They start taking honors classes and sports kick into high gear.

How does the team sports work at MIS? Do the kids play as a school? For example, are there 10 5th grade basketball teams playing in the YMCA league? Or, is there one "A" team and a bunch of other teams?

[DitsyD]

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if the students at Christ the King came from all over the area.

A few years ago, I knew a couple that lived in Pleasant Grove, but were registered members at CtK and enrolled their daughter in the school.

I've known of families that lived in Wylie and Murphy and they were registered members at St. Patrick in Lake Highlands and their children attended the school there.

Education is more important than where one lives to some families.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by HockDad

Totally agree that it is not apples to apples- but the point was the age of the kids. From my own experience, middle school (or junior high) is where the kids are "welcomed into the jungle." They have left their comfort zone of friends. They start taking honors classes and sports kick into high gear.

How does the team sports work at MIS? Do the kids play as a school? For example, are there 10 5th grade basketball teams playing in the YMCA league? Or, is there one "A" team and a bunch of other teams?

5th and 6th grade (MIS side of the building) are kind of an "easing into middle school" - they do rotate classrooms by subject but the extracurriculars more resemble elementary school than the 7-8th grade middle school. Students are grouped in "teams" so that the big grade of 500 is cut down into 5 smaller ones of 100; they rotate through the exact same classes/teachers with their "team" vs having a different random group of 25 kids in each of their 7 or 8 daily classes. There are no honors/advanced classes (other than a TAG period for those who test in) and sports teams still run through the YMCA by elementary school zone. Of course, by 5th grade all the good athletes are playing club and select teams but for those who are still playing Y teams, they're available through age 12.

The 7th & 8th grade side (HPMS) is where the true middle school experience starts -> advanced math starts in 7th grade, sports teams & cheerleading are by audition (although there are so many kids on the "B" team that most kids make it).

I went thorugh when the old middle school was still around (6-8), but from what I hear from friends who have kids at the middle school complex is that the 5-6th graders really never see the 7-8th graders at all. Even those with siblings at the school say they don't even have the chance to run into each other during the day. I really don't like having 5th grade not on the elementary school campuses (they're so young!!) but I'm glad the schools are really run separately so you don't have 5th graders and 8th graders walking the same halls.

[zuzuspetalsTX]

I felt the same way TC80 feels about not having the 5th graders on the elementary campus. However, our experience has been that they do a very good job of easing the transition from elementary to middle school. In 5th grade, they still have all their classes with the same group of 25 or so kids. The class moves around to three different teachers, but they move together. In 6th grade, there starts to be a little more mixing up of the classes, although they are still on the larger "team". One unexpected result of the 5th graders moving up to the middle school is they don't get that "big man on campus, I'm so cool" attitude. They are the little guys again! So that kind of keeps them young.

I think I tend to agree with HockDad; star athletes and big personalities will do well in HPISD. Your quiet types might be overwhelmed.

[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....

[TurtleCreek80]

I was neither a star athlete nor a "big personality" and did just fine throughout my K-12 "career" in HPISD. I was in mostly Honors/ TAG/ AP classes, had two extracurriculars I was involved in & was passionate about, was really involved in my church youth group, and managed to find a group of about 15 guys and girls in my grade with whom I am still close some nearly 15 years later. And only 4 of us still live in Dallas!

Many types of kids do well in HPISD- and I don't just mean athletically or academically, but also the ones who are middle of the road but have a tight group of friends. Yes, I can imagine if is QUITE difficult to come into the district in middle or high school and in those cases, yes the ones who are super outgoing or athletically gifted have an easier time making friends, but it is certainly done by many! One of my group of 15 is a guy who was painfully shy in high school (moved in to the district in 9th grade after his parents went through a really nasty divorce). Some of my guy friends befriended in through a few classes together and he is still in our group - and the absolute life of the party- today.

All this to say there are many paths through the HP schools- athletics and student council are only 2 of them!