Particularly the school situation. Looking at a house there and no kids at the moment, but probably in the next two years. Our realtor said the original plan was for Magnolia ISD to build an elementary school in the neighborhood but it has not materialized yet.

Any other thoughts on Magnolia ISD in general?

[This message has been edited by Coastalag (edited 6/24/2013 6:02a).]

I just bought in The Woodlands. I did not consider May Valley because of the school situation. I felt like the schools were too far from the neighborhood, and I did not hear any "good" feedback about them (take that with a grain of salt, though, because the comments I got were pretty vague). I also felt like May Valley was too far from everything (I also work in The Woodlands, so I wanted to minimize my commute).

Have you considered Creekside? That's where I wound up, since I couldn't find anything that I liked for the price I wanted to pay in The Woodlands proper. Creekside has 2 K-6 elementary schools that are within walking distance from the neighborhoods, and a bond measure just passed to build an intermediate/middle school. They are about to start building some brand new houses on the east side of the development that will be zoned to Timber Creek Elem (not sure what the price point is, though). There will be a shopping center with a drugstore and HEB within walking distance soon, too. We've been really happy here - can't say enough great things about it. And if I remember correctly, the pricing is about the same as May Valley.

We originally started looking in Creekside and ended up looking at one house in May Valley that we loved. Would be interested to hear from anyone with first hand experience at Smith Elementary. Most comments I have seen either way are vague.

It is helpful to look at the TEA data for this school.

57.5% Hispanic
67.7% Economically Disadvantaged
36% ESL

http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/aeis/2012/campus.srch.html

search for CEDRIC C SMITH

We have friends trying to move out of May Valley b/c of the schools. Other friends simply send their kids to private school to get around the situation.

We were looking at Creekside when we moved back, but instead decided on Jacob's Reserve. It is the much better option. Woodlands Schools (Conroe ISD), Montgomery County, lower tax rate, proximity to shopping and I-45, and just right there by 242 and 1488.

[This message has been edited by RightWingConspirator (edited 6/26/2013 7:56a).]

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We were looking at Creekside when we moved back, but instead decided on Jacob's Reserve. It is the much better option. Woodlands Schools (Conroe ISD), lower tax rate, proximity to shopping and I-45, and just right there by 242 and 1488.

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I agree. Are you zoned to Ride Elementary, RightWing?

Yes, we sure are.

We're contemplating moving since we're zoned to Lamar and have been looking at Jacob's Reserve

Linz,

We moved back to Houston from Bakersfield back in '11. We bought our place brand new. We've really enjoyed living here. We like the neighbors, the schools, and the development. They're now building $900,000 price point homes in Jacob's Reserve, which can only help the value of those in the $200-$500k range.

Let me know if you have any questions. It would be good to have another Aggie move in.

What do you want to know about the district?

That elementary school is still in the works and will surely be built by the time you have kids old enough to attend. There are several other high performing elementary campuses in the district as well.

If you have more specific questions, feel free to post them or email me (address in my profile).

Is Creekside zoned to Tomball ISD or at least the high school?

creekside is tomball isd. 2 elementary k-6 schools are in the nrighborhood, with a jr high coming in 16/17. I predict the 3rd high school in tomball will be built there a few years later.

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creekside is tomball isd. 2 elementary k-6 schools are in the nrighborhood, with a jr high coming in 16/17. I predict the 3rd high school in tomball will be built there a few years later.

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I sure hope you're right. I decided to buy in Creekside, but the two big negatives to me were the Harris Co location and the fact that the high school is so far away (and in the wrong direction from where I work). With two elementary schools (and a third to come) and a jr high, it seems like a high school would be a logical future addition.

[This message has been edited by TXTransplant (edited 6/26/2013 6:32a).]

Which elem school will yours go to tx transplant? Looking at how large creekside will be, I just can't imagine there not being a high school out there.

We are zoned to Timber Creek. My child Spent the last couple of months of this past school year there after transferring from another district. I was disappointed we weren't in Creekside, but it is full, and it looks like most of the new construction on Creekside is zoned to TC (except maybe the gated part). TC isn't full and it's not zoned exclusively to the Creekside development like Creekside Elem is, but it was my understanding that this last bond measure included the jr high and a third elem. I haven't heard any discussion or rumors about a HS (I guess Tomball just opened a new HS a few years ago?); it's just wishful thinking on my part.

I was reasonably pleased with TC, except for the fact that my child was retested for GT and didn't quite make the cut off . The feedback I got is that they are trying to scale back the GT program.

Tomball Memorial HS opened three years ago. This year's seniors will be their first graduating class.

We live in Sterling Ridge and have been in The Woodlands for over 10 years. We have friends who live in May Valley who moved there from inside The Woodlands (Alden Bridge).

The history of May Valley is kind of a "bait and switch" situation. There is a sign put up by The Woodlands Development that says there will be a Magnolia ISD elementary school built in May Valley. The truth is that there is no funding, no bonding, and no plans to build an elementary school on that site any time soon.

Originally the kids in May Valley were zoned to "Woodlands-esque" Ellisor Elementary and attended school there for 1 year. The next year when the population of May Valley was significantly greater, the entire neighborhood was rezoned to Cedric Smith Elementary. It has way poorer test scores, is economically disadvantaged, older, different population of people than what you would get from The Woodlands.

My friends were livid that they moved there thinking that they would get "The Woodlands experience" they were accustomed to when now their kids are forced to go to a poor performing school with severely economically and socially disadvantaged kids. They fought The Woodlands Development Corp to take the sign down since it's clearly false advertising.

Long story short, no elementary school will ever be built in May Valley for Magnolia ISD.

Creekside is Tomball ISD and already has actual elementary schools inside the neighborhood.

They shouldn't have fought the signs, left them, and sold their houses.

Sucks that they were misled like that. Pretty scummy thing to do.

Not trying to pick a fight, but I've heard from folks in the district that the ES in May Valley is still very much in the plans and these people have no reason to mislead me. It may not happen this year or next, but it still is in the districts future plans.

They have never had a bond election and no plans in the future to build a school there. My friend ended up being on some advisory committee for Magnolia ISD as a result of the drama with the schools in May Valley and has assured me there are zero plans to build a school there.

Even if it is "in the plans" doesn't a bond measure still have to pass via popular vote? Recent initiatives in Tomball ISD have taken about three years from the time the bond passes to the time the school opens.

Sorry, I think the previous comment must have posted while I was typing.

[This message has been edited by TXTransplant (edited 6/26/2013 7:32p).]

TxTransplant: My point exactly. There has been no bond election and there are no bond elections planned for that ES.
May Valley is a lovely neighborhood with great houses and if you don't care about schools or can afford private, then by all means - move there.
I'm just giving information so that someone who is making a financial decision to buy a house in a certain area based on schools knows what they are getting into.
As much as we like living in The Woodlands, the development company would lie to their own mother if it meant they would sell houses and increase their property tax base.

All of the "politics" is very interesting to someone who just moved here. We love it, but some days I think I might have sold my soul (not sure to the devil, but maybe something close).

Did you see that recent post about the guy, his flower beds, and the HOA? I was so relieved to see that was Cinco Ranch and not The Woodlands!

You are correct about the bond election being needed to fund schools. There isn't one officially scheduled, but there are people working to put together the proposals for when the election actually takes place.

Magnolia ISD has no plans to submit a bond proposal to build an elementary school in May Valley. Never have had any plans and have no plans to do so in the future.

Here's the explanation on why Magnolia ISD will never build a ES school in May Valley:
All the "Woodlands" kids from May Valley now attend Cedric Smith which was a severely underperforming, economically disadvantaged school. Since the addition of the May Valley kids, the test scores have gone up and they have achieved a Recognized TEA status this year. And things are now looking up for Cedric Smith.
Magnolia ISD isn't about to redirect all those high achieving Woodlands kids back to a secluded ES in May Valley and have Cedric Smith go back to being an underachieving, under populated school. The population for the area that goes to Cedric Smith (other than May Valley) is stagnant with no room for growth.
Magnolia ISD is smart and know what it's doing. They knew what the plans for May Valley and Cedric Smith Elementary were way before the first house was sold. And The Woodlands Develoment Company was complicit in the false advertising of an elementary school in May Valley to help sell houses.
So this is the explanation on why there will never be a Magnolia ISD elementary school built in May Valley in case someone still wants to believe that an elementary school is still in the works.

Like I said earlier, not trying to start a fight, just passing on info. Have a great night.

Just passing along info as well. It's just a touchy subject since it directly negatively affected my friend and her family.

Now you can see why I recommend Jacob's Reserve. We were well aware of the May Valley issue even back in January of '11 when we first moved back. Couldn't for the life of us figure out why some of the homes in May Valley were so cheap. Then we got to digging and realized the school issue and the fact that our kids would have to attend a school where ~60 percent of the kids spoke English as a second language. No way we were going to do that.

I would definitely continue looking if you want to be in The Woodlands and zoned to a good elementary. There are plenty to choose from:
Buckalew
Tough
David
Deretchin
Bush
Ride

The Woodlands has been a tough market for at least a good 6 months now. I started looking back before Christmas, and I never un-subscribed from the daily alert that HAR sends out. I can probably count on one hand the number of houses that have come on the market in the last 6-7 months that were zoned for Tough and Bush. And I was looking for houses up to about $400k. There was a good selection of homes zoned to Lamar, and we probably would have wound up there had I not found the house in Creekside. Even Jacob's Reserve had very limited inventory when I was looking - only three houses were available, and two were about 3000 sq ft, which is just too big for my son and me. They weren't anticipating having open lots available until Aug, which would not have worked for us.

The lure of new construction is pretty strong, too. If the OP wants that, it might be worth it to expand the search south into Klein ISD. A lot of the same builders from Creekside are building the same houses there, but for less money.

[This message has been edited by TXTransplant (edited 6/27/2013 11:49a).]

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A lot of the same builders from Creekside are building the same houses there, but for less money.

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My house was about 80k less in Auburn Lakes than it would have been in Creekside.

We're zoned to Lamar in Grogan's Forest and have been passively looking for something in one of the above referenced school zones and the pickens are definitely slim. We've got 2 years before my daughter starts Kinder, but I anticipate demand to be even greater by then.

Jacobs Reserve is zoned to Sally K. Ride? That seems odd as there are probably 3 or 4 elementary schools closer.

[This message has been edited by tommyjohn (edited 6/27/2013 2:51p).]