How Do I Find Which High School In The Houston Area Is The Best

[mkultra25]

Strake Jesuit.

St. Thomas.

[TAK]

Not necessarily the richest.

Not necessarily the newest.

Not necessarily the whitest.

Not necessarily the blackest.

Not necessarily the most urban.

Not necessarily the most suburban.

The one at which your child learns the best, which you have quite a bit to do with.

I know engineers from Yates and Mayde Creek.

I know coke-whores from Kingwood, the Woodlands, and Eisenhower.

I know weed-heads from Westbury and Memorial (actually, I know weed heads from everywhere, but that's more about weed than the state of schools.)

I know entrepreneurs from Willowridge and Lamar.

I know several lawyers, two doctors, several engineers, several drug dealers and two murderers from Humble - from the time when it was one of the "good" schools with "good" demographics in the 80s.

The point is, you and your child(ren) will determine what type of education they get. You will determine what type of desire to learn and what type of drive to achieve they have. You will determine whether they join a 'gang', abuse/deal drugs, sing in the choir, play an instrument, play ball, or just hang out and be a good kid.

I'm going to go out on a limb - EVERY school in Houston has drug users, and most likely a drug dealer. Every school has kids that don't want to do their work. Every school has parents that don't have time for them (maybe because they have 1 - 3 jobs and work 60 hours a week, whether just to survive or to make the note on the Benz and the Country Club dues).

On the flip side, EVERY school has kids that want to learn - kids like to learn, even if not via the traditional method of school (I didn't, but it was easy, so I played the role). EVERY school has kids with parents who want their kids to get an education and they know that education starts at home. Every school teaches math and science. Every school has a library (and, I'm guessing, internet access.)

Don't fret so much on "THE BEST" school, because unless your kids are in high school right now, "THE BEST" could be different in two years or five years. Be "THE BEST" parent you can be, and the rest will follow accordingly. If you suck at parenting, your kid could be the drug dealer at HSPVA or Strake. If you're a good parent, your kid could be the valedictorian at Elsik or Eisenhower. Which would you prefer?

And yes, I get the point - you want a good school for your kids. I do, too. I want my kid in an exemplary school, but that comes a distant second to me being an exemplary dad. I agree, you don't want your kids at, say, Forest Brook, because the school is terrible. But don't hurt yourself trying to get your kids to Memorial or into private school. There are a lot of good schools[/rant]

and I generally think schools in Texas suck...

Edited April 9, 2007 by TAK

[texas911]

All this is true, but at better schools, the odds are with you that your kid will get a better education. That's what people are looking for, better odds.

[TAK]

All this is true, but at better schools, the odds are with you that your kid will get a better education. That's what people are looking for, better odds.

Agreed. I'm actually in the same boat - looking to move to a better school (the rant of hypocrisy / dichotomy). The problem I have is that my son is 8 months old, so moving for a school right now is useless, except for resale value.

The real odds are that the schools in Houston, even the best schools, suck relative to schools outside the state of Texas. The system is set up, well, like America. No money = no access.

[AftonAg]

All of my nieces and nephews (6 of them) have gone to private high schools except one. She went to HSPVA. She is a succesful actress on Broadway while the other five are working as a spec writer/checker at an architectual firm, baristars at Starbucks and the last two are still in private school. One of those is going to be quite successful and the other will probably end up being a biker chick. If you have a choice in your area, pick the best and if your kids are already bright, they'll do fine. If any of your kids are artistic, apply to HSPVA and see what happens. I understand your $$ issues from our discussions so the best I can give you is to hang in there and look for what's best for your kids-not what some article says is the best.

Can I get the phone number of the biker chick? I have a son that is really into biker chicks, and his birthday is coming up.

[texas911]

I agree with you AftonAg, that's why I try to promote UH to become the state's 3rd Flagship Tier University. It's a crying shame that the 3rd most populous state only has 2 Flagship funded state Universities. They have to turn away eligible students who then go out of state and stay there. But UT and ATM want to keep all the money for themselves. California in comparison has 7! They lead the nation in tech companies and jobs, do you think that's just a coincidence?

[VicMan]

As for secondary schools:

My sister attended Lamar from Fall 2001 through Spring 2005 and graduated with an IB Diploma- Obviously she performed at Lamar.

But I attend a different school because I want a smaller environment that does not resemble the typical large American high school. I will graduate from that school in May 2007.

My parents knew that their son and their daughter had different needs and desires, so therefore we attended different high schools.

Schools can differ in many ways, including:

* Dress code

* General atmosphere

* Type of curriculum

* Overall school size

* Average class size

The moral of the story here is that school districts should (and do) offer a variety of choices of schools to parents. This is also part of the reason why I want the district boundaries of HISD to change so that all of the city of Houston as well as the "island cities" are within the same school district.

Edited April 16, 2007 by VicMan

[rippedoff]

Once you have a few schools in mind you may want to drop in (unannounced) , say you are thinking of moving to the neighborhood and if there is someone who could spare a few minutes to escort you around the school. They may do it for you. If not they will ask you to make an appointment but more likely then not, staff and students will be alerted to a guest visiting.

This will give you a good indicator of the school's climate. You may also want to find out what clubs, activities etc. are offered to the students at each of these schools.

Also look at the zero tolerence policy and how that is handled.