Elementary Schools in The Woodlands (Sugar Land: apartment complexes, rental, homes)

[Indecision2011]

My husband got a job in The Woodlands so we'll be moving there in August. My daughter will be starting kindergarten in the fall. One of the homes we are looking into buying will be zoned to Lamar Elementary and the other is zoned to Ride Elementary. When I looked up Lamar Elementary on greatschools.org it was rated 9 (which was good enough I guess) but it said it had 28% economically disadvantaged students....what exactly makes someone economically disadvantaged and should I be concerned with this? When I drove past the school I noticed it was located next to an old neighborhood and it looked a little scary to me. Also the school is located near the mall and close to I-45. A lot of the other elementary schools in the Woodlands only had 3-5% economically disadvantaged students.

Does anyone know anything about Lamar Elementary in the Woodlands and would you feel comfortable sending your child there? I was a nerd and grew up in Sugar Land and I want my children to be in a good school where they can be challenged. Of course I want a school that feels safe as well.

[RCH99]

Lamar was built and opened in 1971. The official Woodlands grand opening was in 1974. That part of Grogan's Mill around Lamar was where The Woodlands began. In that they were mostly entry level homes 35 years ago, the vast majority of them are now rental properties. There are also a number of apartment complexes from that era that are zoned to Lamar as well. The price points simply reflect the age and condition of the properties. They are attractive to lower income folks looking for the same good schools for their children. I may be wrong, but I think this explains that 28% figure that you asked about possibly.

[Indecision2011]

Okay. Thanks for the info. I guess what I'm wanting to know now is, does anyone attend Lamar and do they feel my child would be getting just as good of an education at this school as compared to other schools in the Woodlands. I've read some good reviews about other schools like David Elementary and Galatas....would it be worth looking for a home zoned to those schools instead or is there not much difference between those schools and Lamar Elementary.