Affordable private schools (Houston, Dallas, Plano: credit, home, buy)

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by RJ312

It's a shame what has happened to Catholic schools. The problems with Catholic school are numerous and complex in nature, and probably not easily resolved. Quite simply, Catholic schools were some the best values in K-12 education. Catholic schools have typically produced some of the best educational outcomes given their relatively inexpensive price tags. It had historically been the best alternative to lousy, underfunded, subpar public education and quality but highly priced private, secular schools.

I don't think one can say that $7-10k per year is a good value anymore for K-8, and the 15K for Grades 9-12. Those prices are nearly on par with the secular privates. I'm sure someone will argue that a 15k Catholic high school is a good value compared to a 25k per year secular private, but at both points, that's a really hard price tag to swallow.

The decline of Catholic schools is a symptom of the changing United States. There's a United States that is affluent, and a United States that is poor. There's not as much of a middle United States. The middle class has been squeezed.

Depending upon specific definitions right at half of US households are, "middle class" (67% - 200% median income).

[eastdallasmom]

Where did the statistic come from that Parish is $31k for all grades? That conflicts with what's on the website (and what I'm being charged): https://www.parishepiscopal.org/page.cfm?p=1519

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

As for K-8, <$10k is a tremendous value! Let's face it, most cheap K-8s are evangelical schools, not academic powerhouses (with FEW exceptions). Most Catholic K-8's are a solid academic experience. So in my mind, you're not comparing St Monica with Wylie Christian, you're comparing it with Good Shepherd or Parish or Wesley Prep, ALL of which are 2-2.5X more expensive if you're a parishioner and still a good 30-50% more if you're not. Except Parish which is now $31k for all grades....so that's over 4X more for parishioners and 3X more for non-parishioners....for a basically equal school qualify.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by eastdallasmom

Where did the statistic come from that Parish is $31k for all grades? That conflicts with what's on the website (and what I'm being charged): https://www.parishepiscopal.org/page.cfm?p=1519

Oh, you know, from the Parish school in Houston whose website I shouldn't have been pursuing with a glass of wine

I thought that seemed steep!

[eastdallasmom]

Thanks, I was worried there was something I didn't know looming in the future. I don't want to derail this thread, but it also makes me curious whether private schools are typically more expensive in Houston? That seems steep even compared to St. Mark's/Hockaday/GH (at least for the lower grades).

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Oh, you know, from the Parish school in Houston whose website I shouldn't have been pursuing with a glass of wine

I thought that seemed steep!

[numbersguy100]

Originally Posted by Mollyhankam

Are there any private schools in Dallas for around 15k or less? They all seem extremely expensive. My husband will work from home so location is not a huge issue but liked to be in a neighborhood with lots of families.

If you are at all interested in Montessori through elementary school, there are several good ones in that price point. In fact, Redeemer in Irving is still only like $8k and we were pretty impressed with what they've got going on there (we passed on it for reasons of "fit" for our family). They mostly end at 6th grade though.

[Taub201]

I heard that Good Shepherd is less expensive than Parish/ESD because it doesn't have its own athletic facilities.

[cordata]

Would be nice if the OP would return to clarify a bit.... some good posts here.

[hbdwihdh378y9]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Catholic schools typically don't hit $15k+ until high school. K-8 is in the $7-10k range at most of them depending on if you're a parishioner.


You don't mention your kids' ages but there are quite a few well-regarded private K-8 schools that are affordable. They're not the most prestigious schools but they're solid academically and typically better quality than the public schools that homes around them are zoned to:

Zion Lutheran - goes to 8th grade, tuition is $8500/yr for non-members and discounts for multiple siblings. Located in East Dallas, west side of White Rock Lake.
Grace Academy- goes to 6th grade, tuition ranges $6-11k. Located in North Dallas.
Highlander - goes to 6th grade, tuition in the $9-10k range. Located in Lake Highlands / NE Dallas
Kessler School- goes to 6th grade, tuition in the $12-14k range. Located in Kessler Park/ North Oak Cliff
Wesley Prep - goes to 6th grade, tuition in the $12-14k range. Located in North Dallas/ Preston Hollow.

I would add Our Redeemer Lutheran School, which is right across the street from Northpark Mall. Goes from pre-K 2 to 6th grade. Cost of tuition is about $10,000 starting in first grade, less for younger kids, with discounts for multiple siblings.

[Mollyhankam]

I was looking for 6th-12th grade

[numbersguy100]

Originally Posted by Mollyhankam

I was looking for 6th-12th grade

I don't think that there are any good or even mediocre private schools for the upper years at that price point. One I can personally think of is a Christian school a few blocks from my house. Tuition is under 10k through high school but we have a friend who applied as a teacher there, thinking it was close to where she lived and could be worth exploring. Turns out they pay teachers $16k per year to work full time. The education your kid is getting from a teacher willing to accept that salary is not worth ANY amount of money unless you are doing it for religious reasons and you don't care whether your kid is learning anything of substance. Asked around some neighbors and turns out that the only people who accept the positions are moms (yes, it's always moms, not dads) who would otherwise be staying at home, wanted to send their kids to that school for religious reasons, and instead of continuing to stay at home they teach/work there to get reduced tuition for the kids so they more or less break even. I suspect most situations with very low tuition at the upper school level are similar. Happy to be proven wrong with a counter example but I would be surprised to hear of it. Bishop Dunne and Bishop Lynch are some of the most affordable schools in Dallas and even they are more than 15k at this point.