Couple exploring possibility of moving Houston northern suburbs to DFW (Fort Worth: upper-class, homes)

[BCEagles01]

Ok. Where to start.

My wife and are both working professionals, very late 30's, no kids yet, 2 dogs and stable in our respective fields.

Wife has her MBA and has been working in the school district for 18 years in technology. Myself been in aviation the same amount of time. Given the number of aviation and aerospace companies in and around DFW I am willing to give this a shot, though I immensely hate moving. Did it alot as a kid. Hate it as an adult. So if this happens I want to find a place that will be home for GOOD. As I thought I found that here.

Currently we live in The Woodlands just north of Houston and personally I want to find an area as close to that as possible. Somewhere we could walk our dogs day or night. A place you can raise your family. Solid schools.

Really...my wife is looking to move on to a new district possibly in the DFW area. I want to know what districts are considered good districts in DFW. We'd ideally want to live in the district. I'm not sure if anyone there is familiar with this area we're in. We know about Carroll ISD and Southlake. It's the answer we get most, but we'd like to know of any other areas and districts comparable to The Woodlands and Conroe ISD. We both like Southlake. But we've been to DFW a few times and liked the entire metroplex. We'd just like to know of more options comparable to where we're at now district and living-wise.

We saw something in Arlington ISD as far a job.. Anyone know anything about the district or can suggest some areas and ISD's ?

[bmlx]

Look into Grapevine-Colleyville ISD as well. Keller ISD east of 377 (for living) is also pretty good too. If you decide to have kids (if you want to make that decision) it will make sense to live in a good school district. Carroll ISD is generally considered the best though in terms of academics. Keep in mind that from the kids' standpoint that many of these districts are going to have the feel of a highly-competitive atmosphere (as are many districts with a significant portion of upper-middle and upper-class people), definitely something to keep in mind if you decide to raise kids in such a district.

[BCEagles01]

Originally Posted by bmlx

Look into Grapevine-Colleyville ISD as well. Keller ISD east of 377 (for living) is also pretty good too. If you decide to have kids (if you want to make that decision) it will make sense to live in a good school district. Carroll ISD is generally considered the best though in terms of academics. Keep in mind that from the kids' standpoint that many of these districts are going to have the feel of a highly-competitive atmosphere (as are many districts with a significant portion of upper-middle and upper-class people), definitely something to keep in mind if you decide to raise kids in such a district.

Thank you. The Woodlands sounds similar to those areas.

So I guess my other question would be how is Arlington overall as a district and area ?

I was looking into the places you mentioned and am leaning that way myself from what I've seen., but my wife saw a position in Arlington ISD she likes. I would take it Arlington ( living-wise) is a no ?

[calgirlinnc]

Originally Posted by BCEagles01

Thank you. The Woodlands sounds similar to those areas.

So I guess my other question would be how is Arlington overall as a district and area ?

I was looking into the places you mentioned and am leaning that way myself from what I've seen., but my wife saw a position in Arlington ISD she likes. I would take it Arlington ( living-wise) is a no ?

IMO Arlington does not have the same kind of feel as The Woodlands. Arlington is a city unto itself. And although Arlington Martin HS ranks highly, the district as a whole does not.

On the Fort Worth side of the Metroplex, the districts to look at include:

Carroll ISD (most expensive place to live)
Keller ISD (target the area that feeds into Keller HS)
HEB ISD
Grapevine-Colleyville ISD
Birdville ISD IF you feed into Birdville HS
Northwest ISD (I have heard very mixed things about NW but the schools are beautiful and new)
Lewisville ISD and Argyle ISD (these are further from Fort Worth but are excellent districts and worth a look)

[BCEagles01]

Originally Posted by calgirlinnc

IMO Arlington does not have the same kind of feel as The Woodlands. Arlington is a city unto itself. And although Arlington Martin HS ranks highly, the district as a whole does not.

On the Fort Worth side of the Metroplex, the districts to look at include:

Carroll ISD (most expensive place to live)
Keller ISD (target the area that feeds into Keller HS)
HEB ISD
Grapevine-Colleyville ISD
Birdville ISD IF you feed into Birdville HS
Northwest ISD (I have heard very mixed things about NW but the schools are beautiful and new)
Lewisville ISD and Argyle ISD (these are further from Fort Worth but are excellent districts and worth a look)

Thank you very much. Your input is very much appreciated.

[DFWMike]

Originally Posted by BCEagles01

Thank you very much. Your input is very much appreciated.

Keller is certainly a good place to start, their schools are not competitive with The Woodlands as is no school district on the Fort Worth side of the Metroplex. Keller does come closest on the west side. Flower Mound may be your best bet as they also have some trees. Now Frisco, Argyle, Allen, Prosper and Plano have, by far, the best school districts in DFW as far as academics goes, Outside of Highland Park and Southlake of course.

However, demographics probably are more similar to The Woodlands in Flower Mound, Argyle, Grapevine-Colleyville and Keller. Northwest ISD says that they are strong, there is no data to back that up, schools are mediocre at best.

Say no to Arlington, it would be a mistake. You would regret leaving The Woodlands with that move, the two cities just aren't similar in any aspect other than having a big mall and shopping areas. Keller proper, is richer and whiter, difference ends there.

Btw, some posters are saying to stay eat of 377 in Keller ISD. Why would that be? Academics are very similar between Central and Keller High? Timbercreek is not a bad school. Heritage is a great neighborhood in Keller ISD, but it is in lowly Fort Worth.....that's a joke btw.

[calgirlinnc]

Originally Posted by DFWMike

Btw, some posters are saying to stay eat of 377 in Keller ISD. Why would that be? Academics are very similar between Central and Keller High? Timbercreek is not a bad school. Heritage is a great neighborhood in Keller ISD, but it is in lowly Fort Worth.....that's a joke btw.

It's not just me saying to focus on Keller HS vs the other schools in KISD. I've been reading that on here for over 2 years. Also, I guess you missed one of my posts where I recommended the Heritage area. It is a really nice area with good prices.

Having said that though, there really does seem to be a difference between Keller and the other high schools in KISD.

For the last two years, there have been 8 NMSF's in KISD...both years there were 6 from Keller and 2 from Central and 0 from Fossil Ridge or Timber Creek. (Even still, those numbers do lag behind Carroll and Grapevine/Heritage ISDs.) All the ranking sites, for whatever those are worth, rank Keller above the other district high schools.

There are many other differences as well, from athletics to band. For example, the Keller band marched in this past year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the only school from Texas to do so.

No one is saying that Keller is "better than" Southlake, Colleyville, Grapevine, etc. but it is also more affordable to live there than those other districts.

ETA: It's interesting what you mention about NWISD.

[MissTransplant]

I'm a 30 year resident of North Texas and realtor who has lived in and sold properties in many cities across the Metroplex.

Based on what you are describing you are looking for, I would suggest also looking into Lewisville ISD specifically schools that feed Flower Mound (west side of town) and Highland Village.

IMO, Highland Village has a Woodlands feel relative to the homes and it has 7 miles of hiking/biking trails that run through the city. It has rolling hills and lots of mature trees (somewhat rare up here as developers tend to mow them down when building). In fact, the cities of Flower Mound and Highland Village have restrictions for builders on removing trees to build. Makes a huge difference in the look and feel of the area.