Alamo Heights School District, why is it considered one of the best in SA? (San Antonio: houses, best school districts)

[Septgirl75]

I was wondering why AHISD is considered one of the best school districts in San Antonio? There are so many other schools that are rated higher than the schools in AH, but so many people just rave about the schools and how good they are. I would like someone to tell me why they know AH schools are among the best. I would like to hear from someone who went to school there or taught school there. What are some facts that make the school one of the best, and not just because everyone thinks or says it is. According to test scores and ratings, there are so many other schools (atleast elementary and middle schools) rated much higher than AH.
Thank you.

[scuba steve]

Ooooo, now you've done it. Gone and questioned the AH people! If there's one thing you do, it's that you don't question Alamo Heights!
Seriously though, I'm kind of curious too.

[smuboy86]

hmm... It's a small school district, with a large and wealthy tax base. The teachers and administration have been there forever. They have language immersion beginning in elementary school.
Alamo Heights graduates are literally running some of the biggest companies in the city/ state. Alamo Heights graduates get instant recognition when applying to universities. No one in Dalllas gives a darn or has even heard about about Stone Oak or Reagan, but mention Alamo Heights and your seen on level with Highland Park or River Oaks.
AH schools are close knit, everyone knows one another much like a small town.
If their is one constant trend, AH schools have been the most desirable for 50+ plus years. 50 years ago it would have been AH/ Jefferson HS, then AH/Lee, Mac, then AH/ Mac, Roosevelt, then AH/Mac, Churchill, then AH/Churchill, then Ah/ Reagan,Churchill. The one constant is Alamo Heights, when Reagan is no longer the hottest new school (Hey, Johnson) Alamo Heights will still be desirable.

[stoneoak]

hmmm...and yet the only thing I ever hear about AH is its drug problems. As of 2009, the high school was rated "recognized" by the TEA and the school district is merely "academically acceptable" While NEISD and Reagan are a notch higher at "recognized" and "exemplary" Hmmm...

as for the overwhelming success of Alamo graduates -- if that's even true -- it probably has more to do with the kids riding on the coattails of their rich pappas and not their academic career.

[Dopo]

People usually assume based on what they see and hear.

If they see a school where everybody looks "upper class" they automatically assume that it's a good school and vice-versa.

[WilGar]

Part of it is permanence. How many in Stone Oak know their neighbor four houses down? In AH that house has the same residents for twenty years.

School lines do not change. One kindergarten , two elementary schools that feed one junior high, that feeds a single high school. The AH student has classmates that he/she has know since K. Even with two elementary schools the children associate with each other through sporting events and other activities.

A family moving to the northern areas has , as I read, no guarantee of schools or any sense of school community. An AH child walks into school knowing he/she will be a Mule.

The older children go to the K and elementary schools and interact with the younger children. There is a sense of community that is real.

[WilGar]

Originally Posted by Dopo

People usually assume based on what they see and hear.

If they see a school where everybody looks "upper class" they automatically assume that it's a good school and vice-versa.

A misconception, do not know the number now, but in the past 15-20% of the AH student body was "economically disadvantaged".

[ged_782]

Originally Posted by WilGar

School lines do not change. One kindergarten , two elementary schools that feed one junior high, that feeds a single high school.

Actually, attendance boundaries for the elementary schools have been changed in the past.

When I was a student in the district, I went to Cambridge Elementary, and many of my classmates lived in Terrell Hills. Terrell Hills now is in the Woodridge attendance zone. We also had four elementary schools in the district at the time. Robbins Elementary became Robbins Academy, and Howard Elementary became Howard Early Childhood Center.

But there has never been more than one junior and one senior high school, and as a small landlocked district, it's very doubtful that there ever will be. And personally, I don't perceive either elementary school as being more desirable than the other.

[WilGar]

Originally Posted by ged_782

Actually, attendance boundaries for the elementary schools have been changed in the past.

When I was a student in the district, I went to Cambridge Elementary, and many of my classmates lived in Terrell Hills. Terrell Hills now is in the Woodridge attendance zone. We also had four elementary schools in the district at the time. Robbins Elementary became Robbins Academy, and Howard Elementary became Howard Early Childhood Center.

But there has never been more than one junior and one senior high school, and as a small landlocked district, it's very doubtful that there ever will be. And personally, I don't perceive either elementary school as being more desirable than the other.

Did not want to muddy the water too much with the elementary school realignment. Much anguish at the time, but seems very smooth now. I also did not mention Robbins either.

The one constant is that all attend the same Junior and Senior High.

[zhugeliang1]

But doesn't AH have lack of diversity, like for example AH doesn't offer languages like Chinese.