Dallas area preschools (Temple, West, Meadow: house, preschool, living in)

[ifiknew]

Hi there - new to researching dallas area preschools. I've read all the old posts on this topic, but it would be great if someone can help me understand the benefits of going with Meadowbrook, Lamplighter, St. Alcuin, Da Vinci (Seems to be considered the top four preschools, though i'm sure all are different) vs. non religious schools like Community School of Park Cities, Park Cities day school etc. What really makes a preschool tier 1? Thanks in advance for any input!

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by ifiknew

Hi there - new to researching dallas area preschools. I've read all the old posts on this topic, but it would be great if someone can help me understand the benefits of going with Meadowbrook, Lamplighter, St. Alcuin, Da Vinci (Seems to be considered the top four preschools, though i'm sure all are different) vs. non religious schools like Community School of Park Cities, Park Cities day school etc. What really makes a preschool tier 1? Thanks in advance for any input!

What is your end goal?

If you're aiming for top tier privates, then schools like Meadowbrook, Lamplighter, Alcuin, DaVinci, etc are well-known "feeders" for those schools. Not to say that kids from other preschools never get admitted because they do, but those are the big feeders.

If you're going to enroll your kids in public kindergarten (guessing it would be HPISD from your post), then almost no kids come from those private school feeders. It's kind of a waste of money, IMO. Most HPISD kindergarteners go to preschool at the day schools at UPUMC, HPPC, HPUMC, or Westminster Presbyterian in Devonshire. Again, I'm sure students come from other preschools as well but those are the big 4 and where you would begin to form friendships for your kids as well as with parents that will last all the way through senior year at HPHS.

[ifiknew]

Thanks so much for your response. That's helpful to know that these preschools generally feed into the top privates and might not be worth it for HPISD. All the day schools you listed seem to be religious, neither my husband nor I are practicing Christians, will that be an issue if we don't belong to the church to get into these programs?

We're debating between living in M streets (Stonewall Jackson) area vs. Park cities. We're torn because money goes a lot further in terms of the kind of house we could get just across the highway and we could consider moving after 5th grade, but it's hard to tell just reading online whether the HPISD elementary are that much better than Stonewall Jackson etc.

[BabyDoctor77]

HPISD schools are night and day better than Lakewood/East Dallas schools. No comparison.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by ifiknew

Thanks so much for your response. That's helpful to know that these preschools generally feed into the top privates and might not be worth it for HPISD. All the day schools you listed seem to be religious, neither my husband nor I are practicing Christians, will that be an issue if we don't belong to the church to get into these programs?

We're debating between living in M streets (Stonewall Jackson) area vs. Park cities. We're torn because money goes a lot further in terms of the kind of house we could get just across the highway and we could consider moving after 5th grade, but it's hard to tell just reading online whether the HPISD elementary are that much better than Stonewall Jackson etc.

On paper, Lakewood produces the same standardized test results as some of the HPISD elementaries, but in reality DISD schools spend much of the year "teaching to the test" whereas HP spends maybe a week doing practice tests before the real ones in May. HP teachers have a lot more freedom with curriculum which is a good thing IMO.

I also would not recommend moving into HPISD in 6th grade if you can avoid it. Because it's such a small community, those friendships form early and the later you move in, sometimes the harder it can be for your kids to find their "tribe". You would at least want to enter at 5th grade because 4th is the last year of elementary school in HPISD.

If you're not religious, you can still apply to the church schools and be welcome there (assuming there are spots because members get preference). Temple Emanu-El has a wonderful preschool program that has less religious teaching from what I've heard. The Park Cities church preschools really do a great job with the kids though - it's preschool with some Jesus on the side, not the other way around. I think there are some Montessori schools in/near Lakewood that might be a good option. And some people do Spanish House for bilingual preschool.

I would absolutely not bother applying to the private top tier preschools if you don't intend to go on to private Elemetary. Huge waste of money @ $20-25k/year/kid and also takes a spot from a family who does intend to go private.

[cordata]

At the elementary level many think that Lakewood and Stonewall are not much different than HPISD. (Similar test scores, for example) Obviously at middle and high school things are quite different.

The most basic state level "quality" metric is "Student Achivement" which is around 99% for HPISD elementaries. This is for a student body with 0% disadvantaged. Stonewall Jackson has 95% student achievement with 23% or so disadvantaged.

[jbsb]

Another item that you may need to look at is the hours/days open of the different schools. We had one kid go through HPUMC (full day/year round) and another go through da Vinci (1/2 days/summers off).

It is difficult to have a kid in many of the "feeders" without a nanny or a parent with a flexible schedule.

We loved both programs for very different reasons.

[ifiknew]

Got it, thanks so much to all.

For the church based preschools or for Temple Emanu-El - when do parents typically get on the waitlist if you're a non member? Pregnancy, when baby is an infant etc.?

JBSB - if you could explain what you liked about HPUMC vs. Da Vinci, that would be great. Were you a member at HPUMC?

[lakeside15]

I've also been researching the same. The "tier 1" pre-schools are those that feed into the elite private schools, i.e. St. Marks, Hockaday, Greenhill. You referenced the top 4 from what I've seen.

The Park Cities pre-school programs are mostly church-based. I've visited a number of them and from my perspective, they are very faith-based and teaching religion is a central part of their program. If you want a secular pre-school in the Park Cities area, there are fewer options. I'm not aware of any great pre-school programs in the Park Cities/Preston Hollow areas that are not religious-based, other than the 4 you've mentioned.


If you can afford it, I would not say it's a not necessarily a waste of money to send your kid to a top pre-school. Besides the learning environment and a secular program, it would give your child the option to possibly attend a top private school should you decide to go that route. That said, $20-$25k is a lot of money, though Meadowbrook and Davinci tuition are much less than that (but not cheap).


Regarding elementary school, HPSID is hands down the best in DFW, and among the best in the entire State. Stonewall Elementary is very good (2nd best DISD elementary school after Lakewood), but there is simply no comparison to HPSID.

[numbersguy100]

Originally Posted by lakeside15

I've also been researching the same. The "tier 1" pre-schools are those that feed into the elite private schools, i.e. St. Marks, Hockaday, Greenhill. You referenced the top 4 from what I've seen.

The Park Cities pre-school programs are mostly church-based. I've visited a number of them and from my perspective, they are very faith-based and teaching religion is a central part of their program. If you want a secular pre-school in the Park Cities area, there are fewer options. I'm not aware of any great pre-school programs in the Park Cities/Preston Hollow areas that are not religious-based, other than the 4 you've mentioned.


If you can afford it, I would not say it's a not necessarily a waste of money to send your kid to a top pre-school. Besides the learning environment and a secular program, it would give your child the option to possibly attend a top private school should you decide to go that route. That said, $20-$25k is a lot of money, though Meadowbrook and Davinci tuition are much less than that (but not cheap).


Regarding elementary school, HPSID is hands down the best in DFW, and among the best in the entire State. Stonewall Elementary is very good (2nd best DISD elementary school after Lakewood), but there is simply no comparison to HPSID.

I would suggest OP looks into Lakewood Montessori. It's at Mockingbird and Abrams so it's fairly convenient whether you choose HPISD or Lakewood/Stonewall. I agree that the day schools in HP area are overly religious for a family that has absolutely no interest in that side of things. If you don't care one way or the other then go for it. I don't think $20-25k is a sound investment for preK unless it is being used to achieve the goal of admission to a top tier private.

As far as where to live, I'd personally just say between Stonewall/Lakewood/HP just live where you like it best. If HP is a stretch you are going to resent living there because there are tons of fundraisers you will be expected to participate in, and your kids are going to be the poor kids if they aren't running around in expensive brand name clothing. The number of kids who end up at OU, Arkansas, TCU, SMU, etc out of HP kills me. If you like the community and can afford it, it's a great place to live but it kills me that people think it will somehow propel their average child to great heights.