May I ask a non-photography question?

[kdloftis]

DH and I are considering The Woodlands for our next home but we're somewhat clueless about the area. We drove around yesterday and found some areas we like, but I wanted to get others to weigh-in.

Please be VERY honest about your opinions about the schools elementary through high school.

Also, what's your opinion about the different villages? Which would/do you live in and which would you skip? I don't want to choose a village that's viewed poorly by everyone else around us and I don't want to choose a house that's zoned to bad schools. My neighborhood right now is VERY clearly divided on schools and it's impacting the resale values of houses. I would love to know this info up front.

We're really interested in the area right around the golf course (older homes) and it seems that those are in Panther Creek. I know this is one of the older sections, but is it a good one?

If you don't feel comfortable answering this on the board please feel free to PM me or email me at kloftis@kloftis.com.

Thanks!

[MarkBarbieri]

You can find some information about the schools on GreatSchools.net.

You can find basic pricing data on the different villages on Chron.com.

It's hard to assess villages because there isn't a universal standard for what is good and what is bad. The older villages are more wooded, closer to I-45, and less expensive. These villages are Panther Creek, Grogan's Mill, and Cochran's crossing.

Harper's Landing is a newer village that is across I-45 from the rest of The Woodlands. It has comparatively inexpensive homes.

The newer villages, Indian Springs, Alden Bridge, and Sterling Ridge are further back and more expensive. They have newer amenities and schools.

New areas in The Woodlands go through demographic bubbles. The new areas are magnets for people with young kids, so the schools start out more crowded. Over time, the crowds go down but they also draw from larger areas rather than just the neighborhoods right around them.

I've heard that homes immediately west of the Pavilion sometimes have problems with noise during performances. I don't have any personal experience with the problem, but I'd check into it before buying in that area.

We live way back in Sterling Ridge. Our kids attend Coulson Tough. We're happy with the school and our neighborhood. I haven't focused much energy in researching the high schools because we have many years before we'll be going and things are pretty dynamic here. From what I've seen, the high schools here are academically strong but suffer from the usual problems of affluent high schools.

[arcproducts]

Kelley

Another site you might check out for general Woodlands information is woodlandsonline.com ----- i think there is a forum on there too that you might pose the same question or find answers to someone elses question of similar nature.

I live in Alden Bridge - way in the back of the Woodlands and takes me about 15-20 min to get to I-45. I don't mind that part though. Having said that, there is easy access through the back of The Woodlands now on Woodlands Parkway, so if I-45 is not a necessary route then come on ........

Our kids were out of school by the time we moved here, but having heard about the high schools, I would tend to agree with Mark's assessment in his last sentence. The amenities and functions and events out here in the Woodlands is un-matched by any community I have ever seen or heard of. It is awesome.

Susan

[golden11]

Kelley,

We recently moved within Texas. One of the websites I found very helpful was schoolmatters.com.

Linda