private schools in Houston but live in burbs (Pearland, West: 2014, home)

[jdias08]

Hi,

We are moving to the Houston area next month. We've decided on Sienna Plantation to buy our home as it's affordable and we really like the area as well as my husband's job will be close by. My daughter is 3 now and I'm considering private schools over public for her. I used to teach school in Texas and don't like that teacher have to "teach to the test" so their students will have good test scores on the TAKS.

I've been researching the past few days and am looking at St. John's, St. Francis, St. Thomas Episcopal, Kinkaid. These all seem like the best schools Houston area has to offer. My question is, do you find there are children living in the suburbs as far out in Sienna attending these top schools? I'd rather not drive 30 minutes to school but want my daughter to have the best education possible.

Also, we are a mixed race family. I'm white and my husband is hispanic. Have any of you heard if because we aren't wealthy and she is mixed raced, would she get teased? My father is paying for her education - we don't have the kind of money that you probably see in these top schools. thoughts? thanks!!

[EasilyAmused]

Originally Posted by jdias08

Hi,

We are moving to the Houston area next month. We've decided on Sienna Plantation to buy our home as it's affordable and we really like the area as well as my husband's job will be close by. My daughter is 3 now and I'm considering private schools over public for her. I used to teach school in Texas and don't like that teacher have to "teach to the test" so their students will have good test scores on the TAKS.

I've been researching the past few days and am looking at St. John's, St. Francis, St. Thomas Episcopal, Kinkaid. These all seem like the best schools Houston area has to offer. My question is, do you find there are children living in the suburbs as far out in Sienna attending these top schools? I'd rather not drive 30 minutes to school but want my daughter to have the best education possible.

Also, we are a mixed race family. I'm white and my husband is hispanic. Have any of you heard if because we aren't wealthy and she is mixed raced, would she get teased? My father is paying for her education - we don't have the kind of money that you probably see in these top schools. thoughts? thanks!!

More come in from the burbs for High School. Grade school there are some, but it REALLY limits their social life and play dates. At least in HS, they start being able to drive themselves. On your side of town Strake/st. Agnus has a lot of burb kids..in fact its becoming the dominate population of those High Schools.

also,private schools really have a lot of parent participation, so you will be living in your car.

[westres1]

She wont be teased but you may feel out of your comfort zone. I know at St Francis parent volunteer expectations are pretty high. Your child will go to parties that will amaze you. They may have friends that invite them to go places on their private planes. Keep in mind that private school tuition goes up every year. It may be $19,000 now at SFEDS but by the time they graduate in 8th grade you can expect that to be pushing $30,000.
But to answere your question there is always a handful of kids in each class that live in the burbs. However, most live in the West Houston/Memorial area.( St Johns and Kinkaid probably have more inner loop)

[fnh]

Awty has bus service to Pearland with pick-up near 288 and Broadway. You may have reasons for not considering it but it is a private school that draws from the entire metro area due to its nature as an international school.

(Also, there are plenty of mixed race and/or mixed culture families at the school. Many or most families are ex-pats whose companies subsidize or pay the tuition so there isn't an atmosphere of wealth and entitlement at the school, at least not in our experience.)

[jdias08]

Thank you for the responses. Awty looks interesting. I'm going to have to tour all of them and see which one I like. What are the top schools in Houston? Is Awty up there with St. John's and Kinkaid? Do you know if we wanted to enroll my daughter (just turned 3) for school next year (2013-2014), am I already too late to get the ball rolling with the testing and such? thanks!

[Supermac34]

One of the main reasons to live in the burbs is that you do not have to put your kids in expensive private schools. It is personal choice, of course, but if your kids do well in the good suburban public schools, they'll end up going to any University they want.

I can attest through experience of coworkers and friends: the high end private schools do not guarantee success. I have several coworkers that have spent tens of thousands sending their kids to St. Johns or Kinkaide. They end up going to the same schools as the kids that go to Cy Fair or Klein.

[HoustonBornNRaised]

Originally Posted by westres1

She wont be teased but you may feel out of your comfort zone. I know at St Francis parent volunteer expectations are pretty high. Your child will go to parties that will amaze you. They may have friends that invite them to go places on their private planes. Keep in mind that private school tuition goes up every year. It may be $19,000 now at SFEDS but by the time they graduate in 8th grade you can expect that to be pushing $30,000.
But to answere your question there is always a handful of kids in each class that live in the burbs. However, most live in the West Houston/Memorial area.( St Johns and Kinkaid probably have more inner loop)

Are you kidding me?

[Glossa]

Originally Posted by HoustonBornNRaised

Are you kidding me?

It happens in public schools too.

[dosto]

First of all, I wouldn't worry about the racial aspect. Houston is very multicultural.
As for the private schools, there are a lot of good ones, but they are very expensive. Tuition is not the only investment you will be making, keep this in mind. Uniforms (though not everywhere), field trips, auctions/donations, etc. Plus a lot of parent participation. Though this usually starts in elementary, pre-K and K are pretty easy on parent participation. Another thing is to get into those schools. It is extremely difficult. They have a priority system, first priority given to legacy kids, siblings, etc. As an example, a friend of mine has a very bright child (his IQ is very high) and has been trying for 2 years to get into St. John's. Money is not a problem for her. I can say the same about Kinkaid and Duchesne Academy (know people who work there). Even though we can afford such schools, we decided not to consider them.
I also agree with Supermac34 - these schools do not guarantee success. I actually work with one girl who went St. Agnes and makes less than $35K a year.
How long are you planning to stay in Houston and in Sierra Plantation? Are you planning to move in the future? Finding a good public/private elementary school is not a problem. There are a lot of them in Houston. Middle and high schools - that is when you have to look for a good school. If there's a plan to move somewhere else in the future, I would consider looking just for a good elementary, not necessarily private. If you are staying here for good, it makes sense to find a private school. It's easier to adjust going from private to private vs. public to private, imho.
My daughter is 3 too, I started looking for private schools (or schols in general) when she was about 2.5. I think it's kinda too late, but we were planning on public school originally. We were lucky to get into one private school (part-time program only for now), got rejected by others. I tried driving from Pearland to her school (most of those private schools are located in the same area of Houston, kinda arond 610 and I-10 intersection or a bit below near I-59 intersection), but we realized it's not an option for us (we both work). The drive is very long, especially in the morning traffic. For you too, because you will probably take 59 in the morning going north and traffic on 59 is horrible in the morning. We decied to move closer to her school, which we did last week :-)

Good luck with schools! I would consider expanding your search to other schools. There are a lot of good not-so-elite schools in Houston.

[EasilyAmused]

Originally Posted by HoustonBornNRaised

Are you kidding me?

No, happens often.