Please help: Dallas Private Schools (Paris, Shepherd: 2013, neighborhood, preschool)

[Emeka21]

Our family has applied to the 2013-14 school year to ESD, Hockaday, St Marks, Lamplighter, Parish and Greenhill schools. The ultimate goal will be to have all children attend the same school which from reading on this forum this may be almost impossible. We will also be moving to Dallas this summer and make the decision on the neighborhood we will live in once we receive admission notifications of which schools will be the best fit for our family. Anyone have dealt with these decisions, ie. if the tier 3 school accepts all your children and Tier 1 accepts only one child but the commute is 15-20 minutes. What do people do in these instances?

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by Emeka21

Our family has applied to the 2013-14 school year to ESD, Hockaday, St Marks, Lamplighter, Parish and Greenhill schools. The ultimate goal will be to have all children attend the same school which from reading on this forum this may be almost impossible. We will also be moving to Dallas this summer and make the decision on the neighborhood we will live in once we receive admission notifications of which schools will be the best fit for our family. Anyone have dealt with these decisions, ie. if the tier 3 school accepts all your children and Tier 1 accepts only one child but the commute is 15-20 minutes. What do people do in these instances?

Point of logical clarification. St. Marks is an all boys school and Hockaday is an all girls school.

I'm guessing your kids are young - from a game theory perspective I'd add St. Rita, St. Monica, Christ The King and Good Shepherd to your list at a minimum. Doing so significantly more than doubles your numerical chances and all four schools are fantastic.

What sex are your kids and how old are they? I know it's technically too late to apply but all of these schools hold a number of spots open and some kids move away every year.

[jennifw]

Originally Posted by Emeka21

Our family has applied to the 2013-14 school year to ESD, Hockaday, St Marks, Lamplighter, Parish and Greenhill schools. The ultimate goal will be to have all children attend the same school which from reading on this forum this may be almost impossible. We will also be moving to Dallas this summer and make the decision on the neighborhood we will live in once we receive admission notifications of which schools will be the best fit for our family. Anyone have dealt with these decisions, ie. if the tier 3 school accepts all your children and Tier 1 accepts only one child but the commute is 15-20 minutes. What do people do in these instances?

The schools that you have listed are all fairly close to each other. It would be a pain, but you could probably do carpool for two schools fairly easily, depending on before/after care and how early/late your child could be there. A 15-20 minute commute in Dallas is pretty normal, even for private school.

I would wait and see. It won't be much longer before the notifications are sent out.

Good luck.

[SMS_Parent]

The only schools on your list that could take all of your kids of all genders PK-12 are ESD, Parish and Greenhill and every school on your list is within a very easy drive of every other. Lots of families have kids in different schools. Our family -- four kids spread over six years, both genders -- has had exactly three years since the oldest went to preschool in 1996 when the kids were all in the same school. Nevertheless we have managed to stay sane with kids in three different schools since 2007 -- four schools since 2011 if you count college -- but there are times when you need to juggle, carpool with friends, or have both parents drive/attend events at different schools. (The real trick for us may be this year, however, when we could have move in at two out of state colleges in different states and two high school orientations at different schools on overlapping days -- point being that the juggling doesn't end and the earlier you learn to deal with it the more flexible you and your kids become.)

[wagsone]

Bad news. If you have a child eligible for St. Marks and a child eligible for Hockaday, having them all at the same school is not a challenge, it's an impossibility. We had three kids at three schools for many years. You deal!

[Emeka21]

Originally Posted by EDS_

Point of logical clarification. St. Marks is an all boys school and Hockaday is an all girls school.

I'm guessing your kids are young - from a game theory perspective I'd add St. Rita, St. Monica, Christ The King and Good Shepherd to your list at a minimum. Doing so significantly more than doubles your numerical chances and all four schools are fantastic.

What sex are your kids and how old are they? I know it's technically too late to apply but all of these schools hold a number of spots open and some kids move away every year.

We have both girls and boys. 8th, 7th, 5th, 2nd and 3rd grades. At this point in the admission process, we do not see ourselves possibly filling out another admission application as this process has been a bit tedious.

[Emeka21]

Originally Posted by EDS_

Point of logical clarification. St. Marks is an all boys school and Hockaday is an all girls school.

I'm guessing your kids are young - from a game theory perspective I'd add St. Rita, St. Monica, Christ The King and Good Shepherd to your list at a minimum. Doing so significantly more than doubles your numerical chances and all four schools are fantastic.

What sex are your kids and how old are they? I know it's technically too late to apply but all of these schools hold a number of spots open and some kids move away every year.

Originally Posted by wagsone

Bad news. If you have a child eligible for St. Marks and a child eligible for Hockaday, having them all at the same school is not a challenge, it's an impossibility. We had three kids at three schools for many years. You deal!

Are you implying there are no or few families in Dallas who have multiple children at Hockaday or St. Marks ? Ofcourse meaning the siblings are all single sex.

[Emeka21]

Originally Posted by SMS_Parent

The only schools on your list that could take all of your kids of all genders PK-12 are ESD, Parish and Greenhill and every school on your list is within a very easy drive of every other. Lots of families have kids in different schools. Our family -- four kids spread over six years, both genders -- has had exactly three years since the oldest went to preschool in 1996 when the kids were all in the same school. Nevertheless we have managed to stay sane with kids in three different schools since 2007 -- four schools since 2011 if you count college -- but there are times when you need to juggle, carpool with friends, or have both parents drive/attend events at different schools. (The real trick for us may be this year, however, when we could have move in at two out of state colleges in different states and two high school orientations at different schools on overlapping days -- point being that the juggling doesn't end and the earlier you learn to deal with it the more flexible you and your kids become.)

Out of the three schools mentioned, which do you consider the best curriculum in town?

[wagsone]

Many families have multiples at a single school..I read from your original post that you were hoping to have all children at one school..it would be impossible because of the gender preference of St. Mark and Hockaday, that's all..If you search previous posts you will find much discussion of the merits of each..not a lack of opinions around here when it comes to schools!

[biafra4life]

Originally Posted by Emeka21

We have both girls and boys. 8th, 7th, 5th, 2nd and 3rd grades. At this point in the admission process, we do not see ourselves possibly filling out another admission application as this process has been a bit tedious.

You can afford to enroll 5 kids at these $20K per year minimum private schools?!? Wow, congratulations! Where did I go wrong in life