Field Elementary School At 703 E. 17th St.

[goastros]

If you live in the Heights, where do you send your kids to elementary school or where do you plan for them to go? Public--which one, private--which one?

I hear lots of people say how much they like Creme de la Creme downtown for day care but I wasn't sure what they did about school once they reach that age.

[Heights2Bastrop]

When I lived in Timbergrove, many residents sent their kids to Sinclair because Love was under funded, and the school was a poor performer. I looked at a recent list of HISD schools and was surprised (pleasantly) to see that Love was now rated

[Zippy]

We're zoned to fields.. ugh.. my son will not be going to Fields.

We're going to try for the Harvard magnet program, or River Oaks magnet.. if he doesn't get in either.. we'll suck it up and send him private and pay twice.

[flatline]

Harvard Elementary reached "exemplary" this year, as well as winning a National Blue Ribbon award. I know several parents whose children tested into the HISD Vanguard program who decided to send their kids to Harvard instead. They've got a principal and core group of teachers who have their sh stuff together and are doing good work. Helms Elementary up on 21st gets good reviews for their dual language program. Travis in Woodland Heights has enjoyed a good reputation for several years now and has a fantastic new facility.

[goastros]

We just moved from Sunset Heights to Lazybrook and went from being zoned from Helms to Sinclair. The reviews on Sinclair on greatschools.net are just ok.

We were thinking of using Trinity Lutheran for private but I don't know how good they really are. Any ideas on really good rated private schools? I work downtown so anywhere from the loop to downtown works.

[Zippy]

We just moved from Sunset Heights to Lazybrook and went from being zoned from Helms to Sinclair. The reviews on Sinclair on greatschools.net are just ok.

We were thinking of using Trinity Lutheran for private but I don't know how good they really are. Any ideas on really good rated private schools? I work downtown so anywhere from the loop to downtown works.

Awty international school is fantastic.. It's grown the last couple of years.. but it goes from 1st through high school. My bro in law graduated from there a some years back. There is a French program as well as "American" program, and all students are required to graduate with an IB diploma.

Not cheap, but definitely one of the best ones if you're not looking for a religious affiliated school..

They're on Post Oak, just north of I-10..

I think St Johns (?) is good too if you are looking for a religious school.. All boys, but St Agnes, all girls, across the street supposedly have some social interaction.. I don't really know that much about it first-hand tho.

Edited October 16, 2008 by Zippy

[HeyHatch]

My daughter goes to School of the Woods, a Montessori school that goes through high school. They are located on Wirt Road north of I-10. I take Hempstead Highway and other surface streets there in the morning and it taked about 15 minutes. They have an after and before school program. My son will be starting there in the fall.

Dr. Betsy Coe is head of the Upper School and a main driving force behind the entire School of the Woods (not to mention the former head of the American Montessori Society). She has testified at both the U.N. (more than once) and the Hague on the benefits of a Montessori education. We have had such a wonderful experience with SOTW! In my daughter's kindergarten there were children who spoke English (of course) French, German, Hindi, Urdu, Spanish and Japanese - talk about your true international experience! The year I was checking them out, the highschool's entire graudating class got in to their first choice colleges, Ivy Leagues included, and all had scholarships. In fact, as an exercise in "flying solo" for two weeks out of the year, they take the entire High School and turn it in to a college campus that the kids actually live on in order to get the experience of dormitory living, making all their own meals, doing their own laundry, etc. They bring in college professors from around the entire country to work with the kids on their college entrance essays. In middle school, when economics are first introduced to the kids, they put the middleschoolers in charge of the school salad bar. The kid learn about supply and demand, basic book keeping skills, how to run a small business, etc.

Check out their website at http://schoolofthewoods.org

By the way, Saint Andrew's Episcopal School (19th and Yale) is an excllent feeder school for pre-SOTW

Good Luck!

[heights_yankee]

Thanks for the info on SOTW, hatch. it's on our list. Awty is our 1st choice. it actually starts at pre-k 3. we are 95% going to do private but this has nothing to do with the quality of schools in the heights.

helms, harvard and travis are all good- they have very high levels of parental involvement that make them so. in fact, parents from those schools have already started addressing issues at the middle schools (mostly hogg. hamilton is strong but not exemplary). it will not be long before heights schools rival any others in HISD.

and just as an aside, reagan hs is the technology magnet for houston. another very good thing =)

[Zippy]

hmm.. the Woods graduating class seems smaller than Awty's.. I'll have to put it on the list too as well.. Didn't know about it before..

Hopefully, as more kids of parents who care start attending the tax funded schools, maybe quality will increase.. Until then I'm not personally looking beyond public elementary school..

[Ross]

Zippy, I think you mean Strake Jesuit is near St. Agnes. St. Johns is in River Oaks. All of those are great schools.

For elementary, St. Anne's at Kirby and Westheimer is our first choice. We are also trying for River Oaks Vanguard. we will settle for Travis or Harvard if we have to.

[jgs1419]

We are zoned to Field Elementary. We have two kids at Harvard (2nd G and K). I lost my wife to the PTA.

If you would like the details of our decision making process, please PM me and I'll share with you our thinking on schools and why we selected Harvard. Old oldest has been there since K and we are very pleased with the school, staff and parent involvement.

[Zippy]

Zippy, I think you mean Strake Jesuit is near St. Agnes. St. Johns is in River Oaks. All of those are great schools.

For elementary, St. Anne's at Kirby and Westheimer is our first choice. We are also trying for River Oaks Vanguard. we will settle for Travis or Harvard if we have to.

Ah yes, thanks.

[fwki]

I have 3 boys at St. Anne. If you want to get a feel for the St. Anne community, head over the the school's annual Fiesta on Sunday 10/19 for a good dose of family fun. You'll also get a good look at the beautiful campus. My eighth grader graduates this year with a class of about 50 students, and I have a fifth grader and a first year student in PK3.

[HeyHatch]

I do believe that the Woods High graudating class is usually right around 10 students. They are, however, breaking ground on a completely new, green campus right after the new year. I think the goal is to get the graudating class up to 30 or so. I do agree that Awty has a good reputation, but there are a couple of things that concerned me. First off, the homework load is incredibly heavy. My friends have two daughters there, one in third grade, the other in first. It is not uncommon for the first grader to come home with 45 minutes of homework. The other thing is that the air quality on campus is horrible. There's a non-profit group called Mothers for Clean Air that did studies on the pollution levels at areas around the city. The are by the I10/610 interchange is one of the worst in the city; I believe on par with the Pasadena/Ship Channel area.

[darva]

Our oldest goes to St. Rose of Lima Catholic School in the Garden Oaks area... both my husband and sister in law attended St. Rose growing up. It's gotten smaller since then, but is still a very good school. My daughter is thriving there and now LOVES school. As long as we live in the Heights area, she will attend St. Rose, as will my youngest if we are still in the area when she is school aged.