Second best after AHISD? (Alamo, Alamo Heights: fit in, 2015, apartment)

[Maqrull]

Could you please tell me which school district is the best one after AHISD? Thank you.

[ashbeeigh]

Neisd or nisd. Those are much much larger districts and have great/not so great schools, but are generally considered tops. Search for both in the forum and you will hear good/bad of each.

[Thetowguy]

boerne

[rynetwo]

ISD as a whole would be Boerne.

Other High Schools:

Johnson High
MacArthur
Churchill
Reagan

I do not know enough about NISD to comment on good high schools within that district. .

[BoerneMan]

Clearly Boerne, then NEISD after that. Niche rankings gave Boerne the #1 town based school district ranking in the state (and 15th nationally) in 2015. For 2016, it has dropped to #19 (not sure why), while Alamo Heights is ranked #10. Family Circle magazine named Boerne the #6 town nationally for families based on quality of life factors. Quality of life and the school district (along with job generators along I-10 and Loop 1604 in SA) are why the Boerne area is exploding.

[NeedCoffee]

Looking at your previous posts it seems you were pretty set on AHISD but had some concerns about your son entering the school at his current grade level. Have you encountered any problems, or are you looking at other areas of town as a backup?

Boerne has good schools, but it's a long drive to certain areas of SA and the traffic gets worse every year. If you're retired or work from home it would be a great fit. NEISD also has some highly rated schools, especially those in the Stone Oak area, but you'll be fighting traffic there too. Where will you be working when you move? What is your traffic tolerance? Some people from congested areas like LA and DC are happy to have a 45 minute or longer commute. Inside loop 410 your best bet would either be private, charter, or AHISD.

[WilGar]

Boerne

[Maqrull]

Thank you all for your replies.

You are right NeedCoffee, we were set on AHISD since we have read it is a very school district. Thing is I realized the price you pay for a small house/apartment in Alamo Height district will get you a bigger place in a different neighborhood. It made me think... However, the further we move the more traffic we will face. My husband is going to be working in downtown so not a good news for him...

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by Maqrull

Thank you all for your replies.

You are right NeedCoffee, we were set on AHISD since we have read it is a very school district. Thing is I realized the price you pay for a small house/apartment in Alamo Height district will get you a bigger place in a different neighborhood. It made me think... However, the further we move the more traffic we will face. My husband is going to be working in downtown so not a good news for him...

It's important to know what you want out of the school and how your child will fit in with that school culture and its expectations. Not every school is a good fit for every child. I know quite a few people who moved into AHISD or a specific zone in NEISD so their kids could go to the "best schools" only to pull their kids out and go private or public charter because the school was just not a fit for their kid. OTOH, we live downtown, in SAISD, the "worst" district (certainly among the poorest and people act like no person who could go elsewhere would ever send their kid to an SAISD), yet we, two higher educated professionals, send our kids to our neighborhood SAISD school and will continue to do so through 8th grade at least. While it's not a fit for all, the opportunities our kids have there, the commitment from faculty and administration to address their needs, the school community all have a huge impact on their education.

There are private schools lauded nationally, but we have friends who pulled their kids out because they didn't like the environment whereas others swear by the same school for their kids. We have multiple friends who invested everything in one of the new public charters, only to pull their kids out and return to traditional public school because the top performing charter wasn't a good match. Others swear by it. And FTR, most of these families are higher educated with kids who tend to perform academically at the top of their class.

For special needs, however, AHISD appears to be the absolute best. But for academics, test scores don't tell the whole story and you need to investigate further. This may be challenging coming from Italy, but ask your kid where his interests lie. Arts? Music? Athletics? Science? Math? Humanities? Some schools may be better than others in each of these areas. Many schools have Facebook community pages you can ask to join to get first hand info from parents.Does your kid thrive on high intensity academic competition? If so, certain schools will work well. if not, then you'd want to steer clear of them.

Schools with more $ (private, or districts like AHISD) can provide a lot more, but if the culture isn't to your kids' style, then it won't matter.

[TexasRedneck]

I see Boerne brought up a lot. Let me just say that based on the information I have, I would not place any child of mine in their high school. Not wishing to start a battle over it - but I WILL say that those considering doing so, PLEASE investigate very thoroughly. There's more to things than meet the eye.