schooling texas
 

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:D

Re: schooling texas
 

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/

Re: schooling texas
 

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.;)

Re: schooling texas
 

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 .:confused:

Re: schooling texas
 

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.

Re: schooling texas
 

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 :thumbsup:

Re: schooling texas
 

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. :thumbup:

Re: schooling texas
 

What are school taxes? :confused:

Re: schooling texas
 

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.

Re: schooling texas
 

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

Thanks for putting up a more informative explanation Kar98. :thumbup:

Re: schooling texas
 

Thanks for all your advise,im a lot clearer now :D

Re: schooling texas
 

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. :D

Re: schooling texas
 

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.

Re: schooling texas
 

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:D

Re: schooling texas
 

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.

Re: schooling texas
 

Ha - that's a funny coincidence - is it your husbands' job that's bringing you here or yours? If it's his - where does he work?

Re: schooling texas
 

Its his job,im a full time cook,cleaner,chid carer,dog walker,taxi, ( stay at home mum ), we are still waiting to find out from his work if the move is going ahead at the mo its 75% yes we are going, so my head is spinning :eek:

he works for Olive

Re: schooling texas
 

Hello~ you should be clear about what kind of school you want to choose for your son, public or private one.
Additionally, does the school rank important for you when you make a decision? In view of the age of your son, you had better take the distance into consideration. He is too young to go to a faraway school. Do you think so?
The Cinco Ranch High School may be a good choice for you!
:thumbsup:

Re: schooling texas
 

If you can get your 7 year old into Cinco Ranch High School then I'd be very impressed....

We lived in Cinco for a year before buying in a neighbourhood just north of Cinco. As others have said, look for the 4 star exemplary Elementaries and try and get the ones that feed into the best Junior Highs and Highs (although those may have changed by the time you get there).

We did a visit a few months before the move and the missus went and talked to the heads of several schools. I know she was impressed with Williams but that is in a slightly older (it's all relative) part of Cinco. It seems that the District is pumping it's resources into the western newer parts as the older parts of Cinco now have older kids in general.

Ours went to Kilpatrick for one year and then Woodcreek. We were impressed with both although the schooling takes a bit of getting used to here. Although Cinco is an excellent community with fantastic facilities - it is worth looking at some of the other neighbourhoods. Some people fall in love with Cross Creek which is further south (good if you need a Westpark Tollway commute) or Firethorne which is further north - nearer I-10 but a bit further west.

Good luck...

Re: schooling texas
 

Ooh - one more thing - be careful when buying/renting in the newer areas and check out if new schools are being built in the area. You might find your house gets rezoned to the new school once it's completed which isn't the end of the world but can be a bit tumultuous given they have just been moved once. Rezoning can affect any area but is obviously much more likely in the newer areas.

Re: schooling texas
 

US public school districts are funded by federal, state, and local taxes property taxes). If you are a renter, you don't pay property taxes directly since this is the responsibility of the landlord. If you are a homeowner, landlord, or business owner, annual property taxes are usually accessed as a percentage of the value of the property.

Although federal and state funds generally pay more per student for a less affluent school district than a more affluent school district, property tax revenues in the more affluent school district can be significantly more than the less affluent school district possibly causing the more affluent school district to have total funding double or more per student than the poorest school district.

Therefore with a large amount of funding and the high motivation of students, affluent school districts tend to be ranked high. However even within an affluent school district, rankings can vary so it can be important to live at an address that is part of an area school within that district that you want you child to attend since your address determines the school that your children will attend.

Re: schooling texas
 

JMHO, Cypress is a lot nicer than Katy, and the schools are great. The Katy School District has has some negative press this year.

The big thing is WHERE if your husband working. If he's out near the airport, then a commute from Katy is horrendous. The Woodlands has great schools too, owing to its higher income bracket (taxes pay for schools here...)

Check out city-data for Houston, and folks have a lot of insight over there.

Re: schooling texas
 

Thanks for all your info,i have the summer hols to go thru all info on schools ,a lot of the schools mentioned are the ones i had shortlisted,tho will def take a look at the other areas mentioned ,i had Woodcreek and Williams on my list will check out Kilpatrick , We are hoping to go over in November to have a look,i liked Cinco Ranch as had plenty af amenities there but guess other areas have as well,:thumbsup:

Re: schooling texas
 

Hi all,
thanks so much for all your info,ive been looking at Hamilton Elementary and Sampson Elementary in Cypress area anyone got kids there?, for my husbands work either Cinco Ranch,Woodlands or Cypress areas are fine,hes going over in August to have a look then we are both going over in November to hopefully get a house sorted,is it easy to rent a house as we would hopefully see something in Nov and rent from December as that is when we would move there,over here in Dubai getting things like electricity,water ,telephone etc connected is a NIGHTMARE,

Also are there expat groups in most areas to meet up with other women as dont know anyone ( like everyone else who moves over )

In Cypress area are there plenty of shops ( grocery and malls ) ,


lots of questions sorry :cool:

Re: schooling texas
 

Hi again Lisa

There are a few expat meet ups. One that meets monthly in Katy and another that meets each week about 20 mins away. Run by expat women so you'll get go meet lots of people that have gone through the process and can empathize as well as share practical info (who goes to what hairdressers etc). As for shops they are everywhere so wherever you chose you wont be more than a stones throw from being able to flex your credit cards!

Re: schooling texas
 

I would say there's normally plenty of empty stuff to rent but with a short timeframe you may not get your pick of the bunch. When we looked, probably half were empty but the other half were occupied with approx a 1-2 month wait for availability. The empty ones can go quite quickly too so best not to fall in love with anything.

Utilities are a bit of a pain to get connected here - especially when you have no US credit history. You will probably have to put some chunky deposits down but hopefully the company would help out with that - if not you get them back after a year so it's no huge deal - just a hurdle. Definitely worth shopping around for electricity as the big names tend to be more expensive.

Re: schooling texas
 

Hi. We are in kelliwood, which is next to Cinco Ranch. Cinco covers a huge area and some of the new developments are calling themselves Cinco as well and they are a good 20 mins drive from me. I like the area and it's a 25 (ish) min commute for hubby into Galleria in the morning, a bit longer on a night.
With regards to utilities, my hubby spoke to the utility companies very nicely about why should he have to pay a huge deposit just for being an expat - they let him get away without paying it, so it's worth a try!