British Family Moving to Dallas from UK (Plano, Richardson: rent, homes)

[Threestep2]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

You're kidding, right? Have you ever lived in Europe...in the UK specifically? I have. The culture shock I experienced returning to the US was distressing and long-lasting. I would imagine it won't be much different for the OP. Life in the UK, specifically in quiet villages outside of major towns/cities, is so different from life here that you can't rule out culture shock. EVERYTHING is different.

Expat here if you have overlooked that all these years:>) Three continents, 8 US states. It is what you make of it. OP sounds like she is on the right track. Not knowing what her husband's expat contract entails these are items I generally ask for:

90 days hotel/extended stay and per dieum for everybody including pets
30 day rental vehicle
1st year tax service
container both ways
family vacation air fare and return upon termination by either party
retirement/social security whatever the UK calls it frozen or minimum payments
reinstatement of position with same pay and similar responsibility if and when returning to the UK
relo items grossed up for taxes

rental/utility deposits realtor fees

[tcualum]

If you are expats, I would recommend private school if you can swing it for one reason: the public schools are very strict here about school attendance. Unexcused absences (absences without a doctor's note) can cause lots of problems once you go past 2-3 a school year. I highly doubt the following story will happen to you but I want you to be aware of it.

One of my best friends is a former expat from England. I say former expat because she and her family decided to stay in the US. She and her husband just got their green cards so going back and forth from England is much easier. A few years ago, they went back to England for the summer to visit family and to renew their visas. Because of a backlog at the US Embassy, their interviews were delayed to the point where their kids missed the first two weeks of school in the US. Luckily, the private school her kids and my kids attended at the time was very understanding and helped the kids keep up with their studies through email, Skype and Google Drive. When they returned, the kids insisted on attending school the day after they landed even though both had spelling quizzes. They ended up doing very well on the quizzes because their teachers did such a great job of corresponding with them while they were gone. I'm not sure how this would have been handled if they had attended public school.

Hopefully, this will never happen to you.

[texstout]

I think people are making more of an expat move than it is. Yes, its different...but I grew up in the Middle East. That's a culture shocks for an American kid! I know plenty of Europeans here in Dallas who send their kids to both public and private schools. Conversely, I've known plenty of Americans who have moved to London, India, etc. Its an amazing opportunity - I hope I get to do it again one day.


If your kids are into Soccer/Futbol, Dallas is a great areas with hundreds of recreational, club, and school teams. There are English and Irish pubs too that I have friends watch the UK games at as well.


One thing to note is that Dallas has poor public transportation (compared to cities on the US East Coast). We do have the Dallas Area Rapid Transport (DART) system that does go to the Uptown area though - it may be useful for your husband. That said, most people in Dallas do drive everywhere.

[Threestep2]

Originally Posted by WorldKlas

Geez — the OP has simply asked for school/location info. Why does everyone feel so compelled to crawl into lifestyle comments?

Can’t we just be respectful and mind our own business about everything else and simply respond to the question OP posed?????

When was the last time you packed up kid and caboodle and hauled it across the big pond:>) There is so much you do not think about and a stub can be a lot of help. Has anyone gone into contraception, medical records and maintenance meds which can be a big problem for expats?

[GigiTer]

Originally Posted by tcualum

If you are expats, I would recommend private school if you can swing it for one reason: the public schools are very strict here about school attendance. Unexcused absences (absences without a doctor's note) can cause lots of problems once you go past 2-3 a school year. I highly doubt the following story will happen to you but I want you to be aware of it.

One of my best friends is a former expat from England. I say former expat because she and her family decided to stay in the US. She and her husband just got their green cards so going back and forth from England is much easier. A few years ago, they went back to England for the summer to visit family and to renew their visas. Because of a backlog at the US Embassy, their interviews were delayed to the point where their kids missed the first two weeks of school in the US. Luckily, the private school her kids and my kids attended at the time was very understanding and helped the kids keep up with their studies through email, Skype and Google Drive. When they returned, the kids insisted on attending school the day after they landed even though both had spelling quizzes. They ended up doing very well on the quizzes because their teachers did such a great job of corresponding with them while they were gone. I'm not sure how this would have been handled if they had attended public school.

Hopefully, this will never happen to you.

You are allowed 10 absences without a doctor’s note per year. Over that and the student serves a “detention” or “Thursday school” as they call it in our district. Kids stay after and can work on homework etc..

[TexanByMarriage]

WorldKlas has a point - better to respond to what they actually ask about, and not assume they want to know all these other things.

I just want to re-state what is already said; Dallas is massive. You can see that on the map, but first after living here for a few months you realize just how far it can be between places in the metroplex. We settled with a rental in Allen, and we have not been to downtown Dallas yet, after 9 months here. Our life is lived up here where we live. Good thing about DFW though is that it is filled with wonderful places to live. Allen, McKinney, Fairview, Frisco, Lucas, Parker, Plano, Colleyville+++. All areas where you find wonderful schools, great housing, shopping/dining close by. So as others say, look at what is a 30 min commute (that'd be about 45-50 min during rush hour) and dig into what's available.

[BritishFam]

Originally Posted by Threestep2

When was the last time you packed up kid and caboodle and hauled it across the big pond:>) There is so much you do not think about and a stub can be a lot of help. Has anyone gone into contraception, medical records and maintenance meds which can be a big problem for expats?

At the moment, we're really looking for recommendations on schools and good locations to live :-)

[BritishFam]

Originally Posted by GigiTer

You are allowed 10 absences without a doctor’s note per year. Over that and the student serves a “detention” or “Thursday school” as they call it in our district. Kids stay after and can work on homework etc..

By the sounds of it, the UK public school system is actually just as rigid. There's a limit of 10 absences (which accounts to 5 days) and you're then subject to a monetary fine, per parent and per child. We would likely work around the American school terms, rather than the UK ones.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by tcualum

If you are expats, I would recommend private school if you can swing it for one reason: the public schools are very strict here about school attendance. Unexcused absences (absences without a doctor's note) can cause lots of problems once you go past 2-3 a school year. I highly doubt the following story will happen to you but I want you to be aware of it.

One of my best friends is a former expat from England. I say former expat because she and her family decided to stay in the US. She and her husband just got their green cards so going back and forth from England is much easier. A few years ago, they went back to England for the summer to visit family and to renew their visas. Because of a backlog at the US Embassy, their interviews were delayed to the point where their kids missed the first two weeks of school in the US. Luckily, the private school her kids and my kids attended at the time was very understanding and helped the kids keep up with their studies through email, Skype and Google Drive. When they returned, the kids insisted on attending school the day after they landed even though both had spelling quizzes. They ended up doing very well on the quizzes because their teachers did such a great job of corresponding with them while they were gone. I'm not sure how this would have been handled if they had attended public school.

Hopefully, this will never happen to you.

Technically that wouldn’t be an attendance issue in public schools at the beginning of the school year either because the kids wouldn’t have been enrolled yet. I think you have to show up once for absences to start counting. But public’s wouldn’t have accommodated Skype, etc either.

[biafra4life]

What about Sunnyvale?
It offers a reasonable job commute. The schools are good, and pretty small compared to most of the other suburbs around here. And they have some diversity (racial not economic, it’s all upper middle class over there). The town itself is pretty small so not as bad a shock for you coming from a small town in the UK to somewhere like Plano for example.