lisajdubai

hi, we are planning on moving to Texas next year and looking at Cinco Ranch area my son is 6yr ( 7 in nov ) and just wondered if anyone had any advise on schools in the area also costs thanks

penguinsix

Our wiki answers some general questions:

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/What_d...kids_in_school

If you are seeking to use the government schools, it will depend pretty much entirely on where you live. One side of the street, school A, other side, school B, so please take note of this when house hunting.

For more specifics about various areas you should also check City Data messageboards and also greatschools.net

http://www.city-data.com/forum/texas/

grumpy39

Hi Lisa

We moved to the Cypress area in 2008 from Scotland and my kids go to Tomball ISD, they're school (Willowcreek elem) has an exemplary rating.

You can use a website called www.greatschools.org to look up schools in the Houston area.

P.S I know the Cinco Ranch High School has a good rep and the area is full of Brits.

lisajdubai

hi thanks for your posts,i am currently working my way thru the lists of schools, we are currently in Dubai ( im English my husband Scottish and our son born in Bahrain but grown up in Dubai, just to confuse the poor wee thing ) and here we dont have much choice in schooling everywhere has a v v v long waiting list so you end up with a choice of 2, also unless im not looking properly i can't seem to find prices of the schools ,he is 6yr old and will be going into yr 2 here but as i understand is yr 1 in USA, my husband will be going over for a few weeks to try suss out areas to live Cinco Ranch is the only one we looked at in detail, what is Cypress area like , sorry for all questions i have been in the mid east 14yrs so im just starting out in the real world again .

AmerLisa

Why do you need prices of the schools? Are you looking at private schools or public (which is free)? Where you live determines what school district and school your son will attend.

lisajdubai

thanks amerlisa ,it would be a public school my son would be going to,after living in Dubai nothing is free so wasn't sure,thanks for clearing that up,we will plan a trip to look at areas and schools

grumpy39

Cypress is a really nice area, great subdivisions all over and great schools.
You just pay school taxes over here, unless they go to private school (British school is in the city). I have a 6 yr old and he just finished kindergarten and goes into 1st grade after the summer.

Enjoy your visit over to Houston.

AmerLisa

What are school taxes?

Kar98

If you own a house in Texas, you're getting assessed a variety of city and county taxes, depending on the value of your house. A property valued at $151,890 for instance, would cost $1,764.28 in taxes in a certain city. $1,161.31 of it going to the school district.

That's what pays for public, basic education in Texas, since there is no state income tax in Texas. Tax rates vary.

Edited to add: even if you send your kids to a private school, you'll still pay that tax. And whatever the private school costs on top of that.

grumpy39

Well it the property taxes that help pay for the upkeep of the public schools, so pretty much a school tax!!

Thanks for putting up a more informative explanation Kar98.

lisajdubai

Thanks for all your advise,im a lot clearer now

grumpy39

Lisa

Don't know if someone else has told you about this website but www.har.com is great for house hunting, it will tell you what schools the houses fall under etc.

ukintexas

Hi Lisa

I live in Cinco Ranch, and moved there in 2005 specifically because Katy Independant School District has such a strong reputation. My children were and 9 and the time we moved so they went into 2nd and 5th grade elementary respectively.

Cinco is a great area for families - lots of area pools and amenties (if the house you chose does not have a private pool) and there's lots of money being spent on shopping areas and new restaurants. It's at least doubled in size since I've been here so they really are building it up on a consistent basis.

Have you taken a look on the Cinco Ranch website - www.cincoranch.com. Also, what area is your husband going to be working in? I'm not sure you said that, or if you did, I missed it!

Will be happy to answer any questions either on here, on via Private Message.

lisajdubai

thanks for all your replies its helped a lot and the website for real estate very good ,am i right in if you move onto a street you automatically go to that school for the particular street ,do the schools ever say no ?, i have a few schools shortlisted in Cinco Ranch so just a case of getting over and having a look nearer the time,

ukintexas my husband works in security

AmerLisa

Where you live determines which school your child will go to..... As far as saying no, do you mean to that particular school? No, they won't.