Moving to DFW area - Options (schools & housing) (Austin: 2015, attorneys)

[Reloc1234]

Hi all,

My wife got a job at JPS hospital in Fort Worth. We have 2 daughters (entering middle and high school this fall). We are from India. We are moving from VA. In our current neighborhood, we have ~30% Asians (5-10% Indians). We are looking for neighborhoods and schools with similar or higher diversity (may be 10-20% Indians). Our budget for the house is ~1M. If kids go to public schools, we can stretch it to 1.5M.

Education and diversity are very important to us. I have been doing some research online. Thanks to this forum, able to narrow down our options to two so far.

1. Live in safer Fort worth suburbs and send kids to private schools. Checks educational needs but may be not diversity. It looks FWCD has better diversity than TVS. The safer neighborhoods in the area (Tanglewood, Ridgea hills, Montserrat, etc..) don't have much diversity.

2. Live in Southlake with kids going to public schools. This checks both education and diversity needs. However, we are not sure how bad the drive would be. My wife's commute times are likely 7AM and 4PM which may avoid the peak rush hour. She generally hates driving so would like to keep it to under 30 minutes.

Want to know if our understanding is correct and if we are overlooking any other options (Colleyville?). Thanks for your help.

[ChristieP]

How old are your kids?

The Paschal HS feeder pattern in SW Fort Worth would allow your kids to attend excellent public schools, and also to keep your wife's commute short. Your housing budget will be perfect for that area. I have many professional friends in FW (executives and attorneys) who chose that area specifically for the excellent public schools.

There is no way that a commute from either Southlake or Colleyville to JPS will be under 30 minutes most days, even with her working the earlier hours. I made that commute in 2012-2015 from Grapevine, and my commute was usually closer to 45 minutes especially in the evening.

[Reloc1234]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

How old are your kids?

The Paschal HS feeder pattern in SW Fort Worth would allow your kids to attend excellent public schools, and also to keep your wife's commute short. Your housing budget will be perfect for that area. I have many professional friends in FW (executives and attorneys) who chose that area specifically for the excellent public schools.

There is no way that a commute from either Southlake or Colleyville to JPS will be under 30 minutes most days, even with her working the earlier hours. I made that commute in 2012-2015 from Grapevine, and my commute was usually closer to 45 minutes especially in the evening.

Thank you, Christie. Kids are 11 & 14. Will start middle and high school this fall. School ratings for Pashal HS and the associated middle schools (Mclean & Monning) aren't good. I know ratings aren't everything but without significant first-hand knowledge, that's all outsides like us can go with. Also, how is the diversity in these neighborhoods?

Looks like someone at JPS told my wife that they live close to the southern border of Southlake and it takes them 25 min to get to JPS. Not sure about their commute times but sounds too good to be true.

[ChristieP]

They must be working off-hours or making a reverse commute. I lived in Grapevine for 20 years and I could only make the drive in that time on a Sunday morning with zero traffic.

As with almost all public high schools, except Southlake where every student is expected to excel, there are the college prep kids and those who just get by. Paschal has an excellent AP program which is why many people choose to send their kids there. Do a search here, and there’s a regular poster who will give you a lot more info about Paschal.

One thing to keep in mind is class ranking and how it affects college admission. In Texas, you only get automatic admission to Division 1 schools if you graduate in the top 10% of your class. This means that at a very competitive school like Southlake, you can be awesome, but only get in the top 15% due to the intense completion. You’ll be effectively shut out from Texas A&M and UT Austin.

[tcualum]

I don't know anything about the Paschal feeder middle schools but many people pay an unofficial "Paschal premium" to live in a nice neighborhood zoned for Paschal because their honors program is so highly regarded. My younger son goes to a K-8 private school. Most of the kids who live in homes zoned for Paschal choose to go there for the honors program instead of going to a private school for high school. A few years ago there was talk about redrawing the attendance borders for Paschal a lot of parents were mad because they bought their homes based on their kids being able to attend Paschal. There were other people who were angry because they were afraid that being zoned out of Paschal would hurt their property values.

There are also some well-regarded high schools of choice but you may have missed the application deadline.

[ChristieP]

Thanks, TCUAlum! You were the "regular poster" I was referring to who could give more info on Paschal HS!

Seriously, I know an attorney who is General Counsel for a major FW hospital, and two very successful business owners, whose kids graduated from PHS. These people could have afforded to send their kids to FWCD or any other private HS, and they went with Paschal.

https://www.usnews.com/education/bes...h-school-19079
"Overview of Paschal High School
Paschal High School is ranked 322nd within Texas. Students have the opportunity to take Advanced Placement® coursework and exams. The AP® participation rate at Paschal High School is 62%. The total minority enrollment is 74%, and 63% of students are economically disadvantaged. Paschal High School is 1 of 27 high schools in the Fort Worth Independent School District. Enrollment: 26.1% White, 63.9% Hispanic, 6.0% Black, 2.3% Asian, 1.7% Two or More Races, 0.1% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander"

[Reloc1234]

Originally Posted by tcualum

I don't know anything about the Paschal feeder middle schools but many people pay an unofficial "Paschal premium" to live in a nice neighborhood zoned for Paschal because their honors program is so highly regarded. My younger son goes to a K-8 private school. Most of the kids who live in homes zoned for Paschal choose to go there for the honors program instead of going to a private school for high school. A few years ago there was talk about redrawing the attendance borders for Paschal a lot of parents were mad because they bought their homes based on their kids being able to attend Paschal. There were other people who were angry because they were afraid that being zoned out of Paschal would hurt their property values.

There are also some well-regarded high schools of choice but you may have missed the application deadline.

Thank you TCUAlum. Your posts in this forum have been very informative. Thank you for taking the time to help out. Question for you about private schools in the area. In a couple of your previous posts, I think I have read conflicting info. In one post, you said you chose FWCD over TVS because of its diversity while in another one you mentioned that you picked TVS because FWCD doesn't want to talk about your kid skipping a math grade. Not sure if I misunderstood. Any info you can share on those 2 schools specifically?

[tcualum]

I chose Fort Worth Academy, not Fort Worth Country Day, over TVS because of the diversity. FWCD is the opposite of diverse. We stayed at FWA because FWCD didn't want our son to continue skipping a math grade.

My younger son is still at FWA and will be there through 8th grade. The high schools we are considering for him are TVS, FWCD, and All Saints. Originally, we weren't considering All Saints. More and more of our FWA friends though are sending their kids to All Saints for high school and they seem very happy with their choice.

[widespreadfan]

Southlake Carroll ISD is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Education right now. I think that alone would be a good reason to take it out of consideration. I really do not know much about Fort Worth private schools except for All Saints Episcopal School, but I do not think it is very diverse. FWISD if you were zoned for Paschal or Arlington Heights would probably offer some diversity.

[TeamLynn]

Tough situation.....unless you can give on some factors.
I've had several physician friends live in Arlington and sent their kids to Martin HS.
They seem pretty happy with that, but my guess is if you look at the rankings alone, it may not look great.
My guess is that it might not meet your diversity requirement....diverse but not South Asian diverse.
There are some new homes in Dalworthington Gardens being built that are around $1mil I expect.
Good news is that it would easy drive to JPS.

Another place you might look is HEB school district....plenty of people don't ever recommend this, but I've met some pretty sharp kids coming out of both Bell and Trinity. If you want diversity, I think superintendent told me one time something like 80 different languages spoken by kids in their ISD. Probably don't get a school full of physician kids, but the top students seem to do a good job of pushing each other. I believe they have IB too, if you are into that.

Southlake...$1mil might be tough there....$1.5 probably gets you started....if it were me, I would get in Carroll ISD not just SL. ISDs can be funny about who they allow or don't allow to go to their schools. In the past you had to live in the district, many districts cross several cities...so I think for right now if you live in SL, but not in the ISD they still allow kids to go to Carroll ISD schools if there is space, but that could always change. Not sure it meets your diversity requirements, but maybe could get there with a bit of a stretch. They've had plenty of issues on diversity that are not nice. Maybe that is every school, but they've been in the news. Kids might have to put up with some crap now and then. Probably changing for the better year by year. I think Carroll is about 20% Asian, but that is spread around all countries, not just South Asian.
Like one of the previous posters said, I think maybe on a Sunday morning you might be able to make it in about 30mins....if you hit all the green lights and no accidents. Normal day to or from would probably be 45mins at best...and heavy pay attention traffic. Come take a test drive before you buy....both ways.

I often think it is horrible advice, because everyone will tell you the good things about where they live, but I think in this case might be just as good to have your wife ask her trusted colleagues at JPS where they live and if they like it and what they do for schools.