Birdville ISD (North Richland Hills, Hurst, Keller: city hall, homes, buying)

[tinman1412]

Hi All,

Can someone tell me about the Birdville ISD. There are homes in the North Richland Hills area that I'm interested in, but unsure about the school district. Specifically, Walnut Creek Elementary, Smithfield Middle School, and Birdville High School. Also, what type of families live in this area of town and what are the demographics. Any help is appreciated

Thanks in advance

[ceyko]

I can only offer some insight. I'm in the IT consulting business and I've heard that district is one of the most advanced technology wise -from a NETWORK point of view- in the area. The area seems nice when I whiz by on the highway.

[loves2read]

article in paper this week about the tech classes they have for kids who are not really college bound. But I don't see a Walnut Creek Elementary--could it be WALKER Creek Elem--that is rated exemplary...and Smithfield Middle is recognized--(it is tougher for middle schools to be rated exemplary)...
City-data.com has statistics about North Richland Hills--
it has older and newer section--newer is north of 820/Mid Cities Blvd--has a Target/WalMart strip where Davis and Precinct Line merge at the north end....has a great water park the city put in that is a money maker for the town--has been doing some redevelopment along Hwy 26 where the Kohls/Kroger shopping strip is but also has some older areas south of 820 is kind of blighted--like where the old mall was at 820 and Hwy 26 that has been torn down and waiting for redevelopment...
the sound end of the city merges with Richland Hills and that is really older/dated area

big argument at city hall this week with developer who wants to put in lots of apts in area S of the Kroger strip mall on Hwy 26--lots of people against it and the city was too--was willing to let him buid some apts--just not the high density he wanted to...developer is going to sue to be allowed to follow his plan--will really make a blight in the area if he gets his way...IMO--and create even more traffic problems than there are now...

think the schools are pretty good--usually don't have a problem getting/keeping teachers..pretty decent athletic/elective side--some of their students in the film/audio/visual sections do well in student competitions like at SXSW

[Synopsis]

I live across the street from the Birdville school. It has very fine looking facilities, and from what I understand it is one of the better schools in the area.

[imjustsayin]

You know how the Keller ISD has a great reputation but is so obviously OVER-rated and living on it's reputation from a decade ago? Well, Birdville ISD is just the opposite. You don't really hear too much about them, but when you do it's almost always good. People who really KNOW will tell you just how UNDER-rated Birdville ISD is. Overall, it's a fine district that you almost can't go wrong with. Who knows how good it will be a decade from now (again, look at Keller ISD for example) but it's a very nice school district today.

[loves2read]

don't wax on and on about how Birdville is so great--there are issues in it just like any other district---I know some people that are not very happy with the special needs programs at couple of the schools and some of the older areas really need to have some facelifting done of their schools vs building two new elementaries...
but it does a pretty good job of educating kids who want to learn...they have pretty good record for their national merit scores and I think they are starting or have started IB programs...

[Synopsis]

I love it in the Fall when I can hear the band playing during football games at that huge stadium.

[imjustsayin]

Originally Posted by loves2read

don't wax on and on about how Birdville is so great--there are issues in it just like any other district---I know some people that are not very happy with the special needs programs at couple of the schools and some of the older areas really need to have some facelifting done of their schools vs building two new elementaries...
but it does a pretty good job of educating kids who want to learn...they have pretty good record for their national merit scores and I think they are starting or have started IB programs...

You are right loves2read, I suppose I should have been more specific. I know absolutely nothing about the BISD special needs programs, and I also failed to mention a little facelift work could be done on a few of the campuses. Fortunately, I've been blessed with a couple of kids who love school and want to learn, so, as you said, BISD would be a good choice for a family like mine. I cannot speak to the situation of the op's family.

[hypocore]

Originally Posted by loves2read

don't wax on and on about how Birdville is so great--there are issues in it just like any other district---I know some people that are not very happy with the special needs programs at couple of the schools and some of the older areas really need to have some facelifting done of their schools vs building two new elementaries...
but it does a pretty good job of educating kids who want to learn...they have pretty good record for their national merit scores and I think they are starting or have started IB programs...

The two newest elementary schools replaced two 50+ yr old schools that were far beyond face-lifting measures that were then torn down. That's the ultimate face lift if you ask me. haha

To the OP-Walker Creek was built within the newer housing development of Home Town and is just a few years old. The two newer schools mentioned above were modeled after that school. So far it seems to be a successful school in all ways that count and hopefully that will continue as it settles into it's own.

Smithfield Middle had been very overcrowded until this school year, and now it's just slightly over crowded after they changed the attendance zones somewhat. It's also one of the less diverse schools which means it should have better ratings than average, and it does. I've known many kids who have come through that school and would say that it's a good school overall.

Birdville High seems to have settled very nicely into a good spot since it opened 10 years ago. That's a good thing since it's feeder schools run the gamut of ranges in families. They seem to have found a solid harmony in all the differences and still do fairly well in all areas.

[loves2read]

I live not to far from the new Walker Creek and know that it is rated exemplary by TEA--there were lots of people buying in Forest Glenn because of the other new school out there...I did not know they were replacement schools--
Birdville is a good district--hard to get hired there because few teachers leave--it has good pay scale and pretty good admin I think--certainly not a lot of infighting on the board like Keller went through a couple of years ago...and NRHills and Hurst have been pretty aggressive about creating some business growth to take the burden off residential homeowners--NRHills was getting pretty stagnant when the North Hills Mall closed and all the other ventures to move into that spot fizzled...it has managed to keep the car dealers and the stuff on Rufe Snow is still staying in business -- the water park is doing well--at least before this summer--and the miniature golf place was redone and seems to be drawing a pretty good crowd...

so yes--there are definitely worse districts for a quality education...I think Birdville -- for its demographics/size--has a decent number of National Merit semifinalists over the past few years as well...