British Family Moving to Dallas from UK (Allen, University Park: apartment, rentals)

[BritishFam]

Greetings from the UK, my husband is potentially moving jobs to be based in central Dallas so we're considering a move from the UK to Dallas.

We have three children, aged 4, 7 and 9 and a dog are would welcome any advice on what we should be considering with regards to schooling and finding a property to rent, initially.

We're looking for schools within a small community, small classes size that won't be too overwhelming for our children that will be coming from a UK school of just 100 pupils. We think that we actually have larger class sizes here in the UK, my eldest is currently in a class of 34, are we right in thinking that class sizes in Dallas/Texas are smaller than this?

I initial questions, that we'd welcome any help with, are:

- Neighbourhoods to consider
- Any small-ish elementary schools you can recommend
- Best way to find a rental property (is this through a realtor, rather than via online sites?)

[Threestep2]

Please pull up a map of DFW and familiarize yourself with the size of it. This seems to surprise most Europeans. Then take a reasonable radius of commutable distance/time from work and start looking for rentals. Talk to colleagues in DFW.
Public school is tied to residence address. Dallas ISD has an informative web site.

[tcualum]

I've spent a lot of time in the UK and I will tell you that DFW is very different. It's incredibly spread out in a way that you never see in the UK. You will not be able to replicate the small school experience you're talking about except at a private school where you apply and pay tuition. Just the grade your child is in may be the same size or bigger than the school they came from. Even then, most private schools are bigger than what you mentioned. Expect to do lots of driving. Do not expect to rely on public transit. Most families have two cars for a reason.

[hbdwihdh378y9]

What do you mean by "schools within a small community"?

Are you willing/able to pay for tuition at a private school? There are private schools with 100 or fewer children and class sizes of 10-12 students.

[TurtleCreek80]

Brace yourself for culture shock. To find a public school district where there are even just 100 kids PER GRADE (not for the entire school), you are looking at very small towns on the remote fringes of the DFW metroplex. Emphasis on “remote fringes”. Van Alstyne is one small town with good schools but it would easily take you 2-2.5+ hours to drive to work each direction and there is simply no good reason to do that.

Private schools are smaller but, still, 100 kids in an entire K-5 elementary school is an unreasonable expectation.

When you say 34 kids per class, so you mean per grade (1st grade, 2nd grade, etc) or per classroom with 1 teacher? In elementary school (public) here, you’re likely to find anywhere from 16-24 kids per classroom depending on enrollment. Legally the limit in Texas is 22 kids for elementary school but overcrowded schools can get waivers to exceed that limit.

I would go about your search another way:
1. What US$ amount do you expect to pay in rent each month?
2. Where exactly is the job (zip code) and how long do you want to commute (Drive) each direction?

Then we can help recommend some school options.

[texstout]

Hi! Welcome. Here are the questions I would suggest asking:


- Where is your husband's job? What is a reasonable commute you are comfortable with? Will you be also looking to work?
- Are you looking for a inner Dallas or suburb experience? (There are inner Dallas areas that feel neighbord-y)
- Are you looking to rent a single family home, apartment or condo?
- Will you eventually want to buy a home in the same school district?
- Are you willing to do private (costs are 10-30K a year per child)? Many public schools are great here, but they do depend upon community. Even wish Independent School Districts (ISDs). For example, Dallas ISD has some great schools....and many not good ones. Don't always judge a book by its cover.

- Do you strongly want diversity? (Diversity can include ethnicity, politics, country of origin, etc.)
- Many people move to Texas and want to buy the big new home and get excited to have a huge home with a pool. Are you similar? That said, I've noticed a lot of expat and East Coast families feel comfortable in some of the inner Dallas neighborhoods that have smaller homes (on average), but more diversity/arts/trees/liberal. (Bare with me for the stereotypes.)
- What price range are you looking for?



Yes, schools here tend to be much bigger for public. That said, class sizes probably are much smaller with around ~22 kids.


Give us your thoughts on the above questions and we can help to provide insight into areas. DFW is huge. But yes...a realtor is great, but you'll want to have general areas that interest you. Very few realtors work across the entire area - they specialize in neighborhoods and will try and steer you to the areas they are most familiar with.


Good luck and Welcome!

[WorldKlas]

What are the major cross streets of your husband’s work location? Central Dallas means nothing to us.

What is the target budget (USD) for monthly rental?

How long (in time, not distance) is your husband willing to commute?

Will your husband have a car?

Will you have a car?


With these answers, we can start giving you some ideas.

[TXFin214]

Further, where in the UK are you moving from? somewhere smaller and rural such as cornwall or conversely, somewhere like central london?

[PriscillaVanilla]

Originally Posted by tcualum

I've spent a lot of time in the UK and I will tell you that DFW is very different. It's incredibly spread out in a way that you never see in the UK. You will not be able to replicate the small school experience you're talking about except at a private school where you apply and pay tuition. .

I agree with this.

I can't think of any public schools that are small, that have small class sizes. The Allen high school is something like 3,000 students. It's huge.

I would recommend private school if someone wants small classes.

The Park Cities is a smaller community than most areas of Dallas. (University Park & Highland Park).

[BritishFam]

Originally Posted by WorldKlas

What are the major cross streets of your husband’s work location? Central Dallas means nothing to us.

What is the target budget (USD) for monthly rental?

How long (in time, not distance) is your husband willing to commute?

Will your husband have a car?

Will you have a car?


With these answers, we can start giving you some ideas.

Hi WorldKlas,

In answer to your questions:

We're expecting to pay anything between $3000 - $3500 per month rental, but as we're only just starting our search, we're not sure if this is unrealistic/achievable.

My husband would be happy to commute for up to 45 minutes, and will be travelling to the area of Ross Avenue & North Pearl Street intersection.

Both my husband and I will have a car each.