Please help! Moving from AH to Oak Glen PK/Castle Hills Area (San Antonio: fit in, for sale) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

RTL · 04-12-2007, 03:14 PM

Can anyone please help?! My husband and I moved here about 2 years ago and have 2 young children. One will be starting kindergarten and the other is in 2nd grade. We currently live in Alamo Heights and are considering moving to the Oak Glen Pk/Castle Hills Area. We'd always heard so many wonderful things about AH and do love our neighborhood but are concerned w/the lack of diversity here. The Oak Glen Pk/Castle Hills area looks nice enough, quiet, older people BUT I am so worried about the new school. We are wanting to move b/c we've found a much larger house for the $ but more importantly, we are wanting to be in a school district where there is more diversity. I am just so afraid of going the opposite way!!! Does anyone know if Castle Hills Elementary school is a "desirable" school? Thanks so much for any information.

TXRose · 04-13-2007, 08:44 AM

I definitely think that you are making a move in the right direction. CHE won't be as diverse as some of the other schools in NEISD in the area - like Larkspur or Harmony Hills. But more than the AH schools and the NEISD schools farther north.

We live in that neighborhood and LOVE it. It's so nice and peaceful.

One thing, too, is that I think that your children will be exposed to more diversity just by going to to the HEB or McDonald's...you know? Plus, Eisenhower and Churchill are both schools with a good mix of ethnicities and socio-economic classes, but are still safe, good schools.

Good luck! If you have any other questions about the 'hood just message me and I'm happy to help! I'm kinda curious as to which home you're buying - there have been so few for sale!

TXRose · 04-13-2007, 08:46 AM

Forgot to add - CHE is a desirable school, academically as well. It attracts great teachers and has a very good reputation in the district.

googie2525 · 04-13-2007, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RTL

Can anyone please help?! My husband and I moved here about 2 years ago and have 2 young children. One will be starting kindergarten and the other is in 2nd grade. We currently live in Alamo Heights and are considering moving to the Oak Glen Pk/Castle Hills Area. We'd always heard so many wonderful things about AH and do love our neighborhood but are concerned w/the lack of diversity here. The Oak Glen Pk/Castle Hills area looks nice enough, quiet, older people BUT I am so worried about the new school. We are wanting to move b/c we've found a much larger house for the $ but more importantly, we are wanting to be in a school district where there is more diversity. I am just so afraid of going the opposite way!!! Does anyone know if Castle Hills Elementary school is a "desirable" school? Thanks so much for any information.

I know this is far off, but I would definately consider the high schools in that area if you plan on staying indefinately. Depending on the divinding line, it's either Churchill or Lee. Lee was a nightmare in the late 80's when I was there, and now I hear it's far worse. Churchill i'm not too sure about - it had a much better reputation when I was at Lee 100 years ago. But alas, things change, and it may be bad news these days. It's worth investigating though, and yeah, there is a lack of diversity in AH, for sure, but at least your kids are safe and won't get beat up every other day.

TXRose · 04-13-2007, 12:19 PM

That subdivision is currently in the Churchill boundary.

Lee is a "rougher" school.

Churchill is a great school - great music and athletic programs. It's buildings have been rennovated and added to quite extensively over the last decade. Excellent teachers and academic reputation. It is a more diverse school than Reagan or than I anticipate the new NEISD high school being, but this, to me, is something that is positive and works to Churchill's favor.

sapphire · 04-13-2007, 01:27 PM

My oldest son graduated from Churchill in 05 and that was a great school for him. The NEISD teachers stayed on his butt for the entire 4 years, when he had been virtually ignored for the previous years at another district. He didn't like it, but I sure did! My youngest went to Huebner Elementary first--I didn't fit in there--lots of stay-at-home moms that live at the gym!--but then transferred to Harmony Hills. HH is an awesome school! He loved getting up every day for school! We have since moved over to the Northwest area and he's in NISD. They have been exceptionally good so far. He has a really good team of teachers that keep me informed and are always available for communication. Other than the teaching of the TAKS test like every other district, I have no complaints. I know you are asking about CHE, and I don't really know about that school, I just thought that if HH was affordable (the neighborhood), I think you would be really happy there. There are lots of young families moving in and updating those homes.

Good luck!

bigthirsty · 04-13-2007, 03:23 PM

What is Castle Hills Forest like?

RTL · 04-16-2007, 08:39 PM

Thanks to everyone who replied. I appreciate your help.

hello13685 · 04-16-2007, 09:18 PM

For those suggesting schools with diversity, I think it might help RTL to know what you mean by "diversity." From my experience, people in San Antonio point out the presence of Hispanics and Whites as representative of "diversity." From my experience, diversity is black, white (including Polish, Swedish, German, Irish), East Indian, Middle Eastern, and Pacific Islander groups. This is the diversity that you find in most large cities. Is that the diversity people here are referring to?

phil938 · 10-10-2007, 07:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TXRose

I definitely think that you are making a move in the right direction. CHE won't be as diverse as some of the other schools in NEISD in the area - like Larkspur or Harmony Hills. But more than the AH schools and the NEISD schools farther north.

We live in that neighborhood and LOVE it. It's so nice and peaceful.

One thing, too, is that I think that your children will be exposed to more diversity just by going to to the HEB or McDonald's...you know? Plus, Eisenhower and Churchill are both schools with a good mix of ethnicities and socio-economic classes, but are still safe, good schools.

Good luck! If you have any other questions about the 'hood just message me and I'm happy to help! I'm kinda curious as to which home you're buying - there have been so few for sale!

This is great... we plan to move back to San Antonio at some point in the next couple of years (my wife's from there, we're in our early thirties) and have looked extensively in the Castle Hills area... question: what's the commute time to/from downtown in the rush hours, and the best route to take?

Also, what's the (reverse commute) time to the north side of the city (outside 1604)... we don't know where we'll be working yet so we're trying to look at central locations.. and trying to consider places other than the pricy AH area.