mrfootball
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Exemplary Districts - None
Recognized Districts - Cy-Fair, Clear Creek, Friendswood, Katy
Acceptable Districts - All others
Unacceptable Districts - None
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The school feeder pattern in my neighborhood (Longwood) had the following ratings:
Hamilton Elementary - Exemplary
Hamilton Middle - Exemplary
Cy-Fair HS - Recognized
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Cy-Fair is one again, the largest Recognized school district in the State.
Cypress-Fairbanks may be winning praise for students' high test scores, but they're getting an "unacceptable" for secret-keeping ability.
District leaders spilled the beans Thursday that Cy-Fair has reclaimed a "recognized" rating, the second-highest label issued by the Texas Education Agency.
Ratings for the rest of the state will be released at 1 p.m. today.
"We couldn't keep good news like this quiet," Cy-Fair spokeswoman Kelli Durham said.
Cy-Fair will likely be the largest school district in Texas with a "recognized" rating. Only Houston and Dallas are bigger and neither is expected to crack that category.
District officials also revealed that 49 of the district's 70 campuses earned "exemplary" or "recognized" ratings, an increase from 36 in 2007.
"Teachers, staff members and parents have worked tirelessly so that our students' success rate increased each year in an environment of rising academic standards and state mandates," said David Anthony, superintendent of the 98,000-student district.
The Texas Education Agency made ratings available to districts Thursday via a secured state Web site, so administrators could review the data and alert the state of any mistakes, officials said.
"They should have waited," TEA spokeswoman DeEtta Culbertson said, warning that rating won't be official until 1 p.m. In past years, last-minute fixes have changed data moments before the release, she said.
"It's highly unlikely, but one year there was a glitch in the calculation and some ratings changed," Culbertson said.
Cy-Fair officials said they're confident in their good news and didn't want to keep families waiting.
"We share news with our public as soon as we receive it," Durham said.
HISD's Terry Abbott declined to offer a sneak peek at his district's rating: "Not till (today) at 1 p.m.!" he said in an e-mail.
He did, however, offer this hint in a press release: "HISD will announce Friday a record number of Houston schools have earned the state's highest academic ratings."
Other highlights, Abbott said, will include the first recognized rating for a comprehensive high school in HISD.
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That's my opinion of him as well. I remember seeing him all the time at Kim Son in the Moody Towers.
He looks likey your typical fat cat State of Texas employee.
UH at HP would have been a perfect fit. Maybe they should have tried the UHCL route. It would have been a nice with the the community college down the street (for transfers).
Agreed, it would've been a good fit and a huge success for them as well as another nice asset to the area.
So back to the question.
Who's going in there now?
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what happened is PVAMU got their panties in a bunch because they claim that is their turf!
That's the absurdity of it all.
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Looks like they're making room for some large developments across the street as well in that area of the Vintage development close to the lake and proposed park.
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According to B4-U-Eat, the 1960 location has been closed since early June. The other location at Northwest Mall seems to still be open (I wasn't even aware there was one over there...).
SRO's website lists both locations, with simply "currently closed" under the 1960/Champions location. Someone could call and ask them what's up, but I frankly don't care enough to do so.
I loved SRO's in Champions. I hope they open up again. Whether its at the same location or in a new place.
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REAL ESTATE
A look at the health of the FM 1960 area
By KIM JACKSON Chronicle Correspondent
July 29, 2008, 2:48PM
In the past decade, the FM 1960 area has been criticized as being a crowded commercial center with many absentee landlords, unfettered growth patterns and traffic congestion.
Leaders in the business, real estate, development and community sectors say it is time to cut FM 1960 some slack. They agree there is room for improvement, but say the constant criticism does nothing but create an atmosphere of negativity and prevent real improvements.
And there are many ready to sing the FM 1960 area’s praises.
They say it is still a vibrant commercial area where businesses are choosing to set up shop. And there are older neighborhoods working to maintain their status and values. Meanwhile, new neighborhoods are springing up along roads that feed off FM 1960.
In the past five or so years, several groups have taken the stretch of FM 1960 from Interstate 45 west to Texas 249 on as a “project,” including the grass-roots Renaissance 1960 coalition, which was formed by the Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce, 1960 Improvement Corp. and other community organizations to spark a community revitalization effort.
“What we are hearing from the community is that there are pockets of declining property value, but that does not apply to the entire stretch,” said Mary Davis, 1960 Renaissance coalition’s executive director. “We (1960 area) are becoming a point of focus because we are doing something about it. We are not giving up on our community.”
High-growth area
Barbara Thomason, the Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce’s president, said FM 1960 continues to be a high-growth area, which is a good sign. However, there are major issues that need to be addressed.
One example, Thomason said, is the congestion on FM 1960. While there are east-west corridor alternatives that motorists can use north of FM 1960, such as Cypresswood and Louetta, there are no full-scale alternatives south of FM 1960.
“In the long run, we need to look at additional mobility options,” Thomason said. “In the short term, a management district could help jump-start efforts to help FM 1960. It could provide help to property owners who do not have the resources they need, and who sometimes let their properties deteriorate.”
more here:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/cyf...ws/5913642.html
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Wow, is that across from the BJ Services corporate campus?
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From the Newquest company newletter for Spring 2008:
Cypress Station Village:
Signed tenants include Stewart Title,
Heritage Texas Properties, a dental office,
Schlotzsky's and The Cajun Family
Restaurant and Tuscan Sun Coffee.
The Greystar apartment (273 units) development
will lend a high-end, urban atmosphere
to the Center, while providing an aroundthe-
clock client base.
What? No Starbucks???
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I like the fact they've signed some original sounding tenants and names that I've not heard of in Houston. Of course Mission Burrito is a familiar name and I heartily welcome its arrival.
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It's a good time for a REVOLT!
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If it were not for Houston there would be no Cinco or just about any other unincorporated portion of Harris County.
You can run but you can't hide.
Conversely, if it weren't for the Suburbs like Klein, Spring, Cypress, Katy, Sugar Land, etc. Houston wouldn't be as attractive a location for Fortune 500 companies and the like.
The good quality of life and low cost of living that the burbs offers is a big draw for these companies and their employees.
The argument about Dallas getting hemmed in is idiotic. You idiots think a bloated, cookie cutter City Government is the answer? Dallas/FW/Metroplex has flourished and is a larger MSA than Houston. Regionally, it has done just as well if not better at attracting Fortune 500 corporations, etc. I think the Metroplex works better than Houston because of the various municipalities that compete with one another and offer differing solutions and ideas that reflect the values and concerns of their citizens.
I'd like to see every one of the major suburbs incorporate themselves.
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/spr...ws/5891195.html
I have no doubt that they'll get the 10,000 signatures needed, but not sure whether they can overcome all the obstacles to incorporating. IMHO forming a city would be a good thing, there are too many service holes and poorer reaction times in the unincorporated areas that many people are not aware of when they buy their home. Would give the residents better control over their future, and who wants to be eventually sucked into giant and often poorly run Houston?
Excellent.
Nice to see some motion on the issue.
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Funny thing is, its pretty much this way all over Houston, save for a couple of large master-planned communities. Once you go outside these communities...same issue.
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OK, my thought is this: Imagine FM 1960 without all the nail salons, tanning places and other crap -- which were all there 10 years ago when I moved here so it's nothing new. But let's say you're someone living inside the loop renting an apartment and you want to move out into your first home. Here's your list of what you want and how you can get it by living off 1960:
--To be close to mass transit (Kuykendahl Park & Ride & Seton Lake Park & Ride off Bammel, plus bus service on 1960)
-- You want upscale restaurants you could possibly walk to (Champions Village with Barnes & Noble, Pei Wei, La Mad & across the street from that there's RockFish, Carraba's, Container Store etc.)
--You want great medical care without having to go to the Medical Center or the Woodlands(there's Methodist Willowbrook plus all of the stuff down at Red Oak & Houston Northwest)
--You want trees and not a concrete jungle of new homes (Greenwood Forest, Huntwick, Champions)
--You want to live somewhere without exorbitant fees but with a neighborhood pool and tennis courts (see above)
--You want a diverse neighborhood and neighborhood schools but not just one that is full of only young familieis overrunning the facilities (see above.)
--You want a fairly low crime rate with high Constable visibility (I'm speaking as a Greenwood Forest homeowner ... but we've def. got that one covered.)
--You want an established neighborhood with custom homes that run between $50 and $70 per square foot (see all of the above)
I guess this is really a glass half-full, half-empty thing ... but my belief is that between all of the money in Northgate, Champions, the medical centers, the churches etc... FM 1960 is not down for the count.
I agree. There are many parts of 1960 that are booming.
NW Harris County is booming.
If you'd like to get an idea how NW Harris County neighborhoods compare to other burbs, here's one of the best sites I've found:
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I totally agree with this statement. People want the latest and greatest, and 1960 is neither one of those.
I grew up in Ponderosa Forest and graduated from Westfield HS in 1994. We moved into Ponderosa in the early 80's, and our home was one of the nicest in the subdivision. 20-something years later, it is worth roughly what was paid for it when purchased. There has been no growth.... or what little there was has been erased.
The situation makes me sad, as this section of 1960 is where I grew up. It used to be quiet(er), cleaner, and with much less crime. Spring ISD was once considered to be superior to KISD, believe it or not, and that's why we moved when my siblings started school.
As we all know, property values decline with the decline of the public schools in the area. So I attribute some of this to the education situation. Some of that decline is directly related to the abundance of apartments along Ella and Bammel N. Houston. The school became grossly overcrowded very, very quickly, and many parents don't want their kids in that type of environment.
I also feel the decline, paired with the other factors, grew quite quickly and was overwhelming. So overwhelming, in fact, that the residents of the area just gave up. Now there are so many strip centers in disrepair, that you can't see any of the upsides.
For goodness sake, there is a massage parlor at the entrance of Ponderosa Forest now!
Perhaps you don't remember the Hot Tub party place in front of the neighborhood in the 1980's? I recall my neighbor who was on the HOA at the time, putting together a campaign to put them out of business. They couldn't. Simply put, there's no zoning and nobody to complain to out here. NOBODY IS ACCOUNTABLE or at least nobody knows who is accountable. The area has become too large for the county to handle with its limited ordinance making ability and Houston's been pretty happy with the status quo extracting sales tax dollars from its Limited Purpose Annexation. Add to that the abundance of Section 8 and tax-credit apartments enabled by County/State/Federal authorities that saw an area of opportunity, with great schools, cheap land and no zoning...voila!
Your government quietly came in and screwed it up for everyone. End the subsidies and half the problem goes away once they move on to easier pickings. Create a TIRZ and/or incorporation and you're on the road to recovery.
Neighborhoods like Ponderosa and Greenwood are still very nice looking neighborhoods. Many of the original residents still live there. I was looking at those great photos of Yorkshire on the other board and couldn't help but think how much it looks like the above neighborhoods. My parents moved out here in the early 1970's. At the time, they were torn between Wilchester and Greenwood Forest. They were both at a similar price range back in the 70's and 80's. Similar looking homes, similar demographic. Its sad to see them having a difficult time with the decline in schools. Nonetheless, something needs to change over there and I hope this article wakes people up all over unincorporated Houston.
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We know, 1960 is ugly and overdeveloped. They didn't really choose to delineate which parts of 1960 were actually in decline. Of course we know it to be the area b/w Stuebner and I-45...not the biggest stretch of land in the world, but certainly noted that it used to be nice and now its not so nice. I wouldn't go so far as to say that its worse than some parts of Westheimer.
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Again, hugely underserved market in this area stretching from 1960 up to 2920...from 290 to Kuykendahl. Great demos and very little substantial competition in that segment. The solution would be to do what was done in the Woodlands by offering incentives to big-name anchors which got the ball rolling on everything else.
The leasing/marketing team is either wholly incompetent (knowing nothing about this market) or they're distracted. It's a beautiful center and people are anxious to see some good retailers in there.
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Actually, it's a very nice center that most people are anxious to see filled up. I'd rather see centers like this (filled up of course) than endless miles of strip centers that you see all over Houston.
If you've seen it in person, its hard to believe the owners haven't fired the leasing agents for incompetance. Beautiful center, large market with great demographics anxious to see this place open for business. Do what the Woodlands did and sign up a few big name anchors as loss leaders, the rest will follow.
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I'd like to try it out this weekend.
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Does anyone know what is coming to the corners of Spring Cypress & Louetta? I heard a Walgreens will be at Spring Cypress & Grant. (like we need another).
Not sure, but Rock Creek's HOA needs to buy up that Spring-Cypress frontage near the entrance of "Rock Creek Trails" before that becomes a stinkin' Qwik-E Mart or Valero.
Surprised Caldwell would've left that entrance open for commercial development like that as that's the only entrance to the neighborhood on a high visibility street (Spring Cypress). Nothing worse than having some greasy gas station marking the entrance of your high-end custom home neighborhood.
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Ahh yes. We used to go to the one on FM 1960 in the Target shopping center near Greenwood Forest.
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As a rule, I'd never allow my kids to play in those cootie-ridden mall playgrounds.
Cy-Fair ISD Reclaims Recognized Rating
in The Great Northwest
Posted · Edited by mrfootball
Agreed, the whole area between 249 and 290 (including the Tomball ISD schools...ie Lakewood Elementary) were rated highly.
Is Goodson Middle no longer zoned to Coles?