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Best areas to live in and around Fort Worth with young kids

3,411 Views | 29 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by EOE
Dallas10
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We are moving soon and looking for suggestions! Thanks!
Teacher_Ag
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AG
Will they go to public schools?
Dallas10
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That's what we're trying to figure out! We would prefer good public but not opposed to private
aggie_wes
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AG
Aledo. Mansfield. Southlake, grapevine-colleyville, private.

Depends I guess in what you consider "around fort worth"
Buford Tannen
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AG
In FW proper? Tanglewood and Ridglea Hills.
Shooter McGavin
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AG
Keller, Argyle, Trophy Club
wbt5845
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AG
aggie_wes said:

Aledo. Mansfield. Southlake, grapevine-colleyville, private.

Depends I guess in what you consider "around fort worth"
I would add Keller to that mix.

Be aware there are parts of some cities that are in other ISDs that are very nice. I live in far southwest Arlington, which is in Mansfield ISD.

Also be aware the quality of schools can depend on WHERE in the ISD you live. In Mansfield, Mansfield High, Lake Ridge and Legacy are fantastic high schools - Timberview and Summit are not quite as good.
Carlo4
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AG
What's the budget? Most places will have a home budget of $400k to over a million easy depending on it.

Southlake - $700k minimum. Guessing you will be mocked in that town for having the cheap home.
Colleyville - $500k minimum for a kept up home but $350k for a very old one.
Grapevine - $400k is probably fair for most places.
Trophy Club - $500k minimum
Aledo/Keller/Argyle - $350k minimum

Not sure about the rest.
CowtownEng
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Carlo4 said:

What's the budget? Most places will have a home budget of $400k to over a million easy depending on it.

Southlake - $700k minimum. Guessing you will be mocked in that town for having the cheap home.
Colleyville - $500k minimum for a kept up home but $350k for a very old one.
Grapevine - $400k is probably fair for most places.
Trophy Club - $500k minimum
Aledo/Keller/Argyle - $350k minimum

Not sure about the rest.


Budget is everything.

Inside the actual city of Fort Worth I would also suggest Mistletoe Heights, Berkeley Place, Park Hill and University Place. There are some great neighborhoods on the west side (76107), but much more of these families seem to go private compared to those neighborhoods that feed into Paschal.
ccard257
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AG
CowtownEng said:


Inside the actual city of Fort Worth I would also suggest Mistletoe Heights, Berkeley Place, Park Hill and University Place. There are some great neighborhoods on the west side (76107), but much more of these families seem to go private compared to those neighborhoods that feed into Paschal.
I'd expand that list to pick up more of 76109 - tanglewood/colonial/overton park/river hills
CowtownEng
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ccard257 said:

CowtownEng said:


Inside the actual city of Fort Worth I would also suggest Mistletoe Heights, Berkeley Place, Park Hill and University Place. There are some great neighborhoods on the west side (76107), but much more of these families seem to go private compared to those neighborhoods that feed into Paschal.
I'd expand that list to pick up more of 76109 - tanglewood/colonial/overton park/river hills


I don't disagree. All those neighborhoods are great options too. I was thinking in terms of elementary schools and Tanglewood had already been mentioned (I know Tanglewood just split but the neighborhoods feeding both schools are basically the same).
Matsui
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AG
All valid. Live in ftw. Kid goes to Overton park. Posts above cover it all
aglaohfour
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AG
If you're wanting public schools, definitely listen to the above about Tanglewood or Ridglea Hills. I'm in Ridglea North and absolutely love the neighborhood. Lots of beautiful homes, great neighbors, mature trees, very walkable, and convenient to just about everything. But we won't send our kids to the public schools (Philips/Monnig/Arlington Heights) and no one else in the neighborhood does either.
EOE
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Beware of the "mommy mafia" in Tanglewood/Overton Park. Both schools are great but there is definite caste system based on how much you donate/volunteer to the PTA.

mosdefn14
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AG
5 years ago, I'd drive through some neighborhoods that fed into Ridglea Hills. You'd see tons of RHE yard signs but no Monnig or Heights. In the last few years, I feel that's changed. Rumour is a group of moms basically said "dang it I'll keep my kids in public school after 5th if you will". RH and Monnig both have strong PTAs. And with "schools of choice", it's decently easy enough to transfer in middle/high anyway.
Carlo4
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AG
mosdefn14 said:

5 years ago, I'd drive through some neighborhoods that fed into Ridglea Hills. You'd see tons of RHE yard signs but no Monnig or Heights. In the last few years, I feel that's changed. Rumour is a group of moms basically said "dang it I'll keep my kids in public school after 5th if you will". RH and Monnig both have strong PTAs. And with "schools of choice", it's decently easy enough to transfer in middle/high anyway.


They chose to keep them in public school because they can't afford, or chose not to spend, the $15000+ a year for private school for each kid. Let's just be real. I have two good friends spending $25000 a year for the next ten years while their two kids go to private school at the same time. That's a second mortgage payment for almost everyone.

Maybe that money is being saved for College. I know two couples in these areas having serious debates about cutting dramatically back so they can send kids to private school.

aglaohfour
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AG
mosdefn14 said:

5 years ago, I'd drive through some neighborhoods that fed into Ridglea Hills. You'd see tons of RHE yard signs but no Monnig or Heights. In the last few years, I feel that's changed. Rumour is a group of moms basically said "dang it I'll keep my kids in public school after 5th if you will". RH and Monnig both have strong PTAs. And with "schools of choice", it's decently easy enough to transfer in middle/high anyway.


I was told this exact rumor when we moved into RN, and after a lot of agonizing over it, we sent our daughter to kindergarten at Philips. In her class of 23 (!) we were the only family who lived in the neighborhood. As we got to know people living around us, we found that everyone's kids were at FWCD. It's been two years now and I haven't met anyone in the neighborhood whose kids are in the public schools. After our time in kinder, I understand why anyone with the option would choose private. The teachers really were lovely, but extremely overworked, and the behavior issues with the other kids made it very difficult for my daughter to get any individual attention. The only way I would put her back into public would be if we moved into the Tanglewood/Overton pyramid.
Buford Tannen
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AG
What about RHE and Lily B? Any sense of the environment there?
CowtownEng
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Lily B is great. The environment is a little different from Tanglewood, but definitely supported (and heavily attended) by the local neighborhoods. Many LBC students transition to private in Junior High, but there are also quite a few that continue on through Paschal.
TexAggee05
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AG
We're in Meadows West/Belleaire Park North which feeds Ridglea Hills/Monnig/Heights but we're right next to Trinity Valley, St Peters, Southwest Christian, and FWCD; so we have options for our 4 year old.
Older neighborhood but many homes are being updated.
Buford Tannen
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AG
Just trying to get a sense of the current environment. I've always thought Tanglewood/Overton, Lily B, and Ridglea were about the only viable elementary options. We are currently at SCS but as some have already said that private school tuition is basically a second mortgage.
Teacher_Ag
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AG
My wife and I relocated to DFW summer of 2019 and landed jobs in Birdville ISD schools. We were optimistic and liked living in the area but the behavior at the junior high I was at was atrocious. It was all I could do to get through the year without walking out. Made me feel really bad for the 1/3rd of the kids who were well-behaved and deserved better. Moved up to McKinney due to how bad that was.
agcrock2005
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AG
Did OP ever define "in and around Ft. Worth"? We are building in Northlake (30 miles north of downtown FW) to get into Argyle schools. We considered Southlake but didn't want to spend $650K on a 30 year old house that we'd have to remodel. It was worth the extra driving to get to build our own house and be in a good school district.

FYI: You probably already know this if you're really in the market, but t's a horrible time to be buying a house. We signed for our house in November and the same house if I signed up today would be over $100K more...in 5 months. Crazy.
agcrock2005
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AG
Teacher_Ag said:

My wife and I relocated to DFW summer of 2019 and landed jobs in Birdville ISD schools. We were optimistic and liked living in the area but the behavior at the junior high I was at was atrocious. It was all I could do to get through the year without walking out. Made me feel really bad for the 1/3rd of the kids who were well-behaved and deserved better. Moved up to McKinney due to how bad that was.
Curious as to what school you were at in Birdville. I grew up there and parents still live in the area (in process of leaving) and I've noticed the demographics changing drastically over the last decade or so. I went to North Richland Middle School.
Teacher_Ag
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AG
I was at your alma mater. Guessing it isn't what you remember it being. My wife taught across the street at Snow Heights and loved it, and all my best students were Snow Heights kids, but so many of the others were extremely disrespectful, lazy, and talked about extremely x-rated stuff (as 6th graders). Couldn't possibly stay and have our kids go through that school. Shame, lots of great teachers and people there.
agcrock2005
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AG
Have a neighbor that taught there a couple years ago for a few years and he said the same thing. Said a lot of the kids that went there were shipped in from other areas though and that was the issue. Not sure if true. It's definitely changed since I went there.

I'll stop derailing thread now.
Dallas10
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Thanks for the responses!

Does anyone know anything about stone creek farms in aledo?
mosdefn14
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AG
If you're used to being in the city, and are considering Tanglewood/OPE/RHE areas, that's way the heck out there. In my circle, Aledo was the promised land circa 2013-2014, and many still came to FW to do life. Stone Creek is on the far side of town, so you're probably going to do most everything in Weatherford vs. FW - but there's an HEB, so that's cool. If everyone ever goes back to the office full time, that commute could get old, especially as west of the loop continues to build out.
EOE
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Houses in Stone creek fly off market. We just got outbid on one that didn't really hit market. Listed on a Wednesday and had multiple offers from friends within 12 hours. It's crazy everywhere but every house we have looked at has gone under contract within 3 days in Aledo. We have walked away from two houses we really liked because I just couldn't make myself pay that much over asking
Dallas10
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What street was that on?
EOE
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Saratoga Ln.
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