Recommended elementary, middle, & HS (Houston, Austin: real estate, apartment, rentals)

[bg99]

Hi! My husband and I are relocating to Houston. My husband has actually started his job there and is currently living in a hotel, and my kids and I will join him shortly after Christmas. We have three kids 12,8, and 3 and have it narrowed down to settling in Sugar land. I am looking at the elementary, middle, and high schools in Sugar land. It looks like some of the schools are great, others, not so much.

Along with being a good school, I'd like one that is diverse, but I'm noticing that some are primarily one race. My girls are white and my son is black so I'd like a school that has a good balance of ethnicities. Can you tell me which schools I should make sure to avoid altogether and which ones are good? We are looking at rentals right now and want to make sure they are in good school systems. It's so hard to narrow it down to WHERE to settle in Sugar land. Do we go by zip code? Neighborhoods? TIA!

[Sross]

Sugarland is in Fort Bend county which will put you in the Fort Bend ISD. My kids attend Travis High School, James Bowie Middle School (new school) and Oakland Elementary. All great schools and very diverse. I live in a Richmond zip code, but live closer to Sugarland than Richmond.

Here's the link to the FBISD Website.
Welcome to Fort Bend ISD

Here's a link to the school rating State Reporting

School Zones
Attendance Boundary Maps

[slnt]

Welcome to Houston!

You and your family will not have any trouble finding schools that are diverse in Sugar Land. Sugar Land is very diverse.

You did not mention a budget or mention if it was a house or apartment that your are looking to rent. Some areas you can look at for a house are First Colony, Avalon, Commonwealth, New Territory, Telfair, and Sugar Creek (I believe Sugar Creek is part in Sugar Land and Stafford...stay on the Sugar Land/Fort Bend ISD side). These neighborhoods are in Sugar Land and in the Fort Bend ISD School District. Other areas you might want to consider is Pecan Grove which is in Richmond however, part of the neighborhood is in Fort Bend ISD (the school they are zoned to are good schools; Pecan Grove Elementary, Bowie Middle School and Travis High School). You might also want to consider Waterside Estates and Fieldstone (Richmond) are in the same area as Pecan Grove and are in Fort Bend ISD. Other areas (although it is not in Sugar Land) you might want to consider is Sienna Plantation and Riverstone in Missouri City. These two neighborhoods are zoned to good schools.

Some good elementary schools are Brazos Bend, Commonwealth, Pecan Grove, Walker Station (just to name a few, there are more that are good schools). Some good Middle Schools are Bowie, Fort Settlement, First Colony, and Sartartia. Good High Schools are Clements (Caveat, it a a very highly rated and HIGHLY competitive school), Austin, Elkins, Kempner, Ridge Point, Travis and Dulles.

Some zip codes to consider in Sugar Land are 77478 and 77479 however there are other good zip codes too.

Good Luck with your decision.

[bg99]

My husband will primarily be working in Downtown and the Galleria area. Given he will be heading into the city everyday, we were thinking of trying to stay close to SW Fwy (59) and more to the eastern portion of Sugarland. Is traffic that much different from Stafford exits to University Blvd to Grand Pkwy as far as getting to/from the city each day on the SW Fwy? (Understanding there is 90A, Westpark Tollway and the HOV, we are looking to reduce our daily expense and would prefer to avoid spending the additional money except when truly needed.)

We are looking to rent a house for about a year or so, just to make sure we are settled in with exactly where we'd like to live. Current budget somewhere in the 2k monthly range but lower is helpful if we can still be in a good school district.

In speaking with different people, my husband tells me there are not as many kids in the Sugar Creek area, and you definitely can get more for your money if you're willing to drive a little further into either Missouri City or Richmond.

Could you shed any more light on the diversity of different schools? Also, there's been mention of an "open concept" school. Does anyone know what this is, or the pros/cons of going to one of those types of schools? Is it just elementary or does it extend through middle/high school?

[slnt]

Here is the ethnicity report from every school in Fort Bend ISD: http://www.fortbendisd.com/docs/comm...ity-report.pdf

As far as "Open Concept" schools, if you mean the classroom is not enclosed, to the best of my knowledge I no longer think they exist in Fort Bend ISD. I believe all the classrooms in some of the older schools that had this concept, are now enclosed.

As far as homes, you can go to Houston Real estate, Houston homes, Houston Realtors: HAR.com and look up the single family rentals in the communities I mentioned in my earlier post. Har is a great tool for house hunting in our area. You can also see what schools are zoned to the house you are interested too (a caveat, sometimes the zoned schools are not accurate. To verify that you are zoned to a particular school, go to the Fort Bend ISD website and plug in the address to make sure: Welcome to Fort Bend ISD).

Given your budget, I am not sure you will find any homes under 2k a month in Telfair. New Territory is the community right next door to Telfair and you will definitely find some homes under 2k a month. You will also find homes in Pecan Grove, Sienna Plantation and some parts of First Colony that fits your budget.

Your husband might be right about Sugar Creek since it is one of Sugar Land's older neighborhoods. You will probably benefit by contacting a local realtor who can direct you to neighborhoods that fit all your criteria.

As far as commutes go, Sugar Creek would offer your husband the quickest commute since it is the first neighborhood off 59 in Sugar Land. The longest commute will probably be Pecan Grove, Waterside Estates and Sienna Plantation (if he doesn't want to use the tollways). Something for your husband to consider for commuting is Park and Ride. Sugar Land has vanpool/buses going into the Galleria area multiple times a day. There are pickup stations at the AMC Movie Theater @ First Colony Mall and another one at The University of Houston-Sugar Land Campus.

[bg99]

Thanks so much again for all your help. We are now relocating to Sugar Land/Missouri City (right on the line). Bought a house in First Colony and are waiting to close on it. Right now we are within walking distance to the new aquatic park.

We looked at a ton of houses, including in Riverstone, but I liked the idea of picking up an "older" home that needs updating and we can make our own, rather than one in Riverstone that's already updated and we can improve on, not to mention being worried about resale when competing with the constant new builds. Anyway, the commute will be great for the husband and I love the idea of being within minutes of absolutely EVERYTHING. I think we'll be very happy there!

Thanks again!