Looking for a Place to Live with Good Schools Looking from Grapevine to Argyle

We just moved to Keller, We love it here. I have three kid, all school age. I have not had any problems with schools. My youngest goes to school at Friendship and he really loves going there.

C., Keller TX

You need to look at Keller, the houses are great and the schools are excellent....you are close to Southlake but the houses are cheaper! We love it!

We are in Keller and absolutely love it!! The schools are great and the property isn't as expensive. Here's a website you might find helpful, too....http://www.cindyruppert.com/
you can look at properties from keller, colleyville, grapevine, westlake and trophy club.

OH, my husband works in Arlington and on a good day can be at work in 20 minutes.

We moved to Keller (after living in Bedford and Arlington) specifically for the school district. We loved living near Boys Ranch park in Bedford, but the homes were too pricey, and space is limited. Since we knew we could not afford private school for our kids, we decided to choose the best school district when buying a home. Keller ISD had the consistently best ratings on www.greatschools.net and with the Texas Education Agency. Specifically, the elementary school we have for the Summerfields subdivision in zip code 76137 is Parkview, and it has had a state exemplary rating for the last 8 years in a row. My kids love it, and I feel really good about the teachers, administrators, and other parents there. Nothing but good experiences for us at Parkview. And, while our home was built in 1987, it was renovated by the previous owner (a real estate agent) with all the keystones today's buyers are looking for, i.e. faux finishes, custom trim & molding, hardwood floors, new tile in baths and new berber carpet in bedrooms, etc. There are lots of cul de sacs in local neighborhoods, like ours, and that definitely make a difference when raising elementary-age kids. My husband works in downtown Fort Worth, and it usually takes him 20-30 minutes to travel those 10 miles in the morning (southbound.) I work in the Alliance Corridor and cover those 8 miles in 10 minutes (northbound.) We are pleased with our choice.
There are certainly nice neighborhoods and schools in Grapevine, Colleyville, Southlake, Trophy Club, and Roanoke with much fancier houses; but, Keller is second in the state only to Dallas's ritziest Highland in consistently excellent school ratings. Definitely check out www.greatschools.net before you decide. And you can look on www.realtor.com for the 76248 zip code with your specifics. That is the main Keller zip code, and you will find lots of great houses there. Pay particular attention to the Heritage addition. It has beautiful homes in this excellent school district and fabulous community pools, playgrounds, etc. At this point, if I could upgrade, it would be to anywhere in the Heritage area (between (I-35 & 377 and North Tarrant Pkwy and Golden Triangle Blvd.)
Good luck, and welcome home!

N. Fort Worth is reasonable and in Keller ISD, which are great schools.

D.,
We live in Watauga and love it. Birdville ISD is great. I have a 6th grader in resource classes, a 3rd grader w/ ADD, and a pre-schooler. Just about any area within the city area has bad traffic. I know that Hwys-114, 121 are always bumper to bumper during rush hours (Grapvine and Trophy Club). It just depends on the time you and your husband need to travel to work. Honestly, unless you are out in the country, there will always be traffic on all the major hwys during rush hour in the Dallas/Ft Worth counties. Good example, where I live-820 always stays bumper to bumper all times of day except at night because it is only 2 lanes. I don't know where Argyle is. I would check that one out. However, school wise-Grapevine(grapevine-colleyville), Birdville(watauga-haltom city-N richland hills), HEB (hurst-euless-bedford) districts are all excellent school districts when it comes to academics. Keller ISD is excellent too!!!!
Hope this helps!!!
~S. from Watauga

Love Flower Mound. We moved here 14 years ago and our realtor who was from Colleyville kept telling us Flower Mound. We followed several co -workers to Texas, who had kids at the time and researched the schools. We knew they would be picky so we trusted their judgement. We now have kids at Donald Elementary and Forestwood Middle schools and they are both wonderful schools. Best of luck to you.

I've seen the other responses and I must agree 100% with a few mentioning Flower Mound. Flower Mound is a great place to live, work and commute from. Everything is very accessible, convenient (you don't have to drive far to find anything!) and the communities are awesome. We recently moved to Towne View Estates (near intersection of FM2499 and FM3040)and I love it here! Schools are recognized and the FM High School is awesome!
Good Luck on your home search!
D.

With a special needs kid, I would steer FAR clear of Keller. Shoot for the north eastern part of North Richland Hills- in Birdville ISD & you'll do well. Even into Hurst. Keller "looks good on paper", but they are only so great if you're kid is a "middle of the road" learner- with no great needs AP or Special needs. We pulled my AP/ADHD-ish daughter out of KISD after less than one year in first grade. I now have a business specifically to send her to private school in Colleyville (Barbara Gordon Montessori)- where they assist & appreciate kids who learn differently. Sadly, there are MANY, many parents out there with similar stories. Save your tax money!

You might consider looking in Keller. We live in Hidden Lakes which is very close to the Southlake/Keller border and we love it. I think you will find that it has great schools and that the real estate is less expensive than Southlake - but you are close enough to Southlake to be able to enjoy the ammenities they have there (shopping etc). Hidden Lakes is a large master planned community that is built around SkyCreek Golf Course. A lot of nice walking trails and ammenitiess such as community pools, playgrounds, and soccer fields, an active homeowners association with a variety of activities etc - and also good schools. Hidden Lakes Elementary is built within the community and it is very nice. (If you are trying to find Hidden Lakes: if you are coming from from Southlake, take 1709/Southlake Blvd towards Keller and hang a left on Davis Blvd. Two lights down you will find main entrance by stone towers at corner of Davis Blvd and Bear Creek Parkway.)

You can find more info about our community on our HOA website at www.HLHOA.com.

In regards to special needs, my son who is 3 is in a special program via Keller ISD (PPD-NOS) and we have been SOOO pleased with his teaches and the program he is in.

Best wishes on your house hunt. Feel free to contact me directly if you have additional questions.

Hi D.,
We live in 'North Fort Worth' which actually has a Keller zip code and attends Keller schools. My son is currently in 3rd grade and has attended Keller schools since kinder. I was a teacher for five years and still work in the education field, and I am pleased overall with the schools. In a recent school board meeting, a parent of an ADHD child spoke very passionately about her child's positive experience in one of the schools. They are building like crazy in our area (Villages of Woodland Springs subdivision) so houses are very well-priced right now.

Keller is more of a bedroom community, but of course the shopping in nearby Southlake is great! I would recommend the area to anyone needing to relocate this direction.

The River Trails neighborhood in NE Fort Worth is an excellent place. I live in the River Trails Neighborhood. My DH works in Downtown Fort worth and I work in Uptown Dallas. Our school is in the HEB School District and is a Recognized school. Read its reviews on Great Schools dot com. The area is affordable and centrally located to Hurst, North Richland Hills, Fort worth, Arlington, Euless, Bedford and is only 20 minutes away from Grapevine. I've lived here for 13 years.

We live in Lantana and love it. We moved here from NC and wanted a community that you could get as involved or not involved in as you want. I have one daughter in 1st grade, one going to kindergarten in the fall, and a boy in high school. They have community wide activites, spring fling, music on the green, monster mile at Halloween, etc. There is a Lantana Ladies League that supports local charities and the schools. There is a new Elementary and Middle school opening up in August. The teachers are wonderful at the school. They have all the necessary resources for whatever comes up. Parents are involved, which really helps. It is not completely true that if you need to get down 407 there is only one way in and out. They are widening 407 and there are back roads. If you are looking for an existing house you will get an excellent deal since there is still new construction. Check it out on the web www.lantanatexas.com

Flower Mound has one of the best school districts... LISD... in Texas. That's my number one choice. Just 12 minutes north of the airport and close to lots of freeways.

Then Argyle is my 2nd choice over Lantana. You can get more for your money in Argyle and the schools are good. And Argyle is close to the 35W.

Highland Village is in LISD too and a very nice community. A little further to drive... but close to the 35E.

we live in Hurst and we love our school Hurst Hills elementary. it is great the teachers and staff are so nice.

Flower Mound has everything you are looking for! The schools are good and traffic is not too bad.
My husband sells primarily in Flower Mound and one of the biggest things people like about the area is the schools.
I personally do like Lantana however but traffic is a bit intense since there's one basic way out and the schools are with Denton. The biggest issue with Lantana , according to my husband, is the fact that if you need to sell your home, you are competing against builders that give upgrades away like candy.
Argyle is a good choice too but I am not sure it has the community feel of Flower Mound.
Feel free to message me if you'd like to know more about Flower Mound or Lantana.

We're in Keller, and it might fit what you're looking for.

You should consider Flower Mound. Great schools and if you live on the south end of town, a quick jump to 121 and 114. We bought here because it felt more central. At the time my husband was working in Southlake & we couldn't afford the houses there either. The woman whose house I bought here "moved up" to Lantana and doesn't like it as much as being in town. It's still a bit of a drive to basics like grocery shopping, etc. That may be something to consider if your kids get involved in things outside of school.

When we were looking a year ago, we seriously considered Trophy Club. D magazine rated it in the top 10 cities in the Metroplex because it is a smaller community with schools that have a low student to teacher ratio. The only thing we didn't like was that many of the houses in our price range were older 1970's. You may not be so limited by your price range.

We considered Grapevine too, but our problem was there was a lot of registered sex offenders in the neighborhoods we were considering. That was a real turn off.

K. C.

We moved to Argyle this year for the schools. I have a third grader with Asperger's, a sixth grader with ADHD, and a first grader. It has been a terrific year. Everyone at the school seems so knowledgable about how to deal with special needs kiddos and are willing to go the extra mile for them. It has been such a special time to watch my kids that had struggled with acceptance just blossom this year. I don't think I can possibly say enough nice things about the schools out here.

Hello! I am a Realtor and I really think the north tarrant area is really great. Northwest ISD, Argyle ISD, are wonderful, Argyle can be very pricey too. NW ISD is building the new Byron Nelson HS soon and it will be awesome! NW ISD has a new Kay Granger Elem that is getting great reviews from clients. I do have to agree though that Grapevine Colleyville (especially Heritage Elem.) have some of the best schools in the area per D Magazines ratings a few months ago. And also Keller's Hidden Lakes elementry was top notch too. Good Luck!

We live in north Fort Worth in the Keller ISD. We are very pleased with our neighborhood...Park Glen. My husband offices out of downtown FTW but travels to Flower Mound, Arlington, Burleson and even Dallas sometimes. We love the school district...a big reason we moved to this area from south Arlington. Feel free to contact me at ____@____.com if you'd like more information.
D. :-)

We lived in Dallas when our daughter was born. When she was 8 years old, she came home and told us she didn’t want to go to school anymore! This immediately started the search for a better school district for our daughter. In 1998, we moved to Justin and into the Northwest ISD and have never regretted it! The teachers are caring, the administration folks are great and we even got to know the Superintendent of education programs (met him at the Starbucks in Southlake and saw him there often). He always remembered us and would ask how our daughter was doing. Northwest ISD changed her attitude toward school and she graduated in the top 10% of her class in 2007. We HIGHLY recommend the schools in the Northwest ISD!

Northwest High School is located in Justin, TX - Denton County. For reference, the closest Highway intersection is Hwy 114 and I35W. The major landmark there is Texas Motor Speedway. There is close access to both I35W and Hwy 114. We are neighbors to both Southlake and Trophy Club, but the costs are MUCH lower in and around Justin. There are several new housing subdivisions in and around the Justin area. The crime rate is low and folks really do seem to care about each other. I hope this input helps you. Good luck to you in your search. =)

We live in North Richland Hills, close to Keller, Southlake, & Grapevine. We moved here last summer from Oklahoma City and really like it here. We were also hoping to find something around Southlake, but since it's so pricey found NRH & Keller to be good options. The school district here is Birdville ISD, my daughter goes to Green Valley, one of the best schools in Texas. Good luck in your decision! (I will also have a child starting Kindergarten next year)

I've lived in Trophy Club for almost 8 years and I love it here. It is a nice community (despite all of the political B.S.) with good schools and great proximity to the airport and most major shopping (except for department stores like Dillards, etc...) There is a wide range of housing prices, age of citizens and nice parks with soccer and baseball leagues for girls and boys. Argyle is very nice also, but is getting a bit pricey and not as convenient for your husband's commute around the metroplex. THe schools there are really great I hear. I wish you the best of luck.

Hello,

My husband, two year old son, and myself live in Keller on the west side of Southlake. It is a fantastic growing area with what I hear are great schools! We live off of Tarrant County Parkway which is all homes 5 years old or newer. There are homes starting at 120,000 going up to 450,000 depending on what you are looking for.

They are building ton of shopping within a few miles and all the schools are close too!

We love Flower Mound. We have lived here for 11 years. I live in the southern most part so it is easy access to Hwy 121 and LBJ. I-35 is just a short distance away. All our schools are recognized. It is a great community. I highly reccommend Old Settler's Elementary and Shadow Ridge Middle School!

I have lived in Arlington almost all of my life. I have taught at Key Elementary for 29 years, and I think it is the perfect school! It is nestled in Dalworthington Gardens which is a little community surrounded by Arlington. You can still have horses, etc. There are wonderful families that come to Key. We are the smallest elementary in Arlington, and you will not find more devoted teachers. There are all levels of housing available in our district. We are off of Bowen Road not too far from 20 which makes it easy to get to all parts of the metroplex. You can also hook around on 820 to get to I30, 183 and all other major highways. To me it is the perfect location. The taxes are still reasonable keeping the housing a good value. I believe Arlington is in the rebirth stages with the new stadium coming, and I love our town!

You should definitely look into Flower Mound if you haven't already. Great schools and the location sounds just about right. Wellington is a really nice community with a wide variety of housing price points and the schools it feeds into are Blue Ribbon.

Good luck and happy hunting !
N.

Hi D., NRH is nice especially towards keller and colleyville. The schools are top notch and the neighborhoods are a mixture of 500k-250K. It is close to southlake on the border of colleyville, keller, hurst. Bedford is near by and Grapevine is about 10 miles look around N tarrant and Davis Blvd. I think If I were you I would avoid the birdville Isd. (thats what my realtor advised) Good luck!!!

We lived in Argyle in the Settler's Point subdivision off 377 for a few years before moving to Flower Mound. We love both locations. The houses in Settler's Point are pretty reasonably priced for Argyle ISD. We now live in West Flower Mound which is a little closer to civilization which we like too. This whole area is pretty easy to commute to both Dallas and Ft. Worth so you really can't go wrong if you find a house that you love and can afford. Good luck!

I live in Roanoke. In the Chadwick Farms subd. just off 114 & Cleveland-Gibbs Rd. It is located between 35W and 377. I love my neighborhood. We have monthly activities for everyone. Easy access to hwys. This is a fairly new subd so are plenty of lots available and even have some homes for sale b/c of families being relocated due to jobs. Come on out: http://www.chadwickfarms.neighborhoodlife.us/

D.,

Flower Mound is great. Donald Elementary has gotten a lot of educational awards. My kids aren't in school yet, but I do hear how much other mothers love Donald.

We live in Villages of Cross Timbers, which is off of Morriss and Firewheel. It is such a great neighborhood. We'd love to move to a bigger house, but won't leave our neighbors.

John Kinser found us our house in FM - www.johnkinser.com

Good luck!

A.

Hello,
We have wanted to move North for a couple of years and wasn't quite sure where and the timing was never good. A year and a half ago, we looked at Southlake, but like you just could not quite afford it. My husbands parents moved to Flower Mound and after researching around other areas, found it to be a great city. (schools, community, sports, easy commuting, etc.)
We love it and timing worked out as well. It must of been the right move. We have a Sophomore @FMHS,a 4th grader and 3rd grader @ Old Settlers Elem. They are great schools and we love the area. Good Luck!!
S.

It looks like Keller and Flower Mound are well-represented in the responses thus far. Not surprisingly, I haven't seen where I live which is Bedford. I say "not surprisingly" because I think this wonderful neighborhood and terrific school system are misperceived. HEB ISD has fantastic programs that receive statewide and even national attention, not to mention the consistent excellence of the sports teams. We live in River Forest neighborhood and watch the kids walk to Meadowbrook Elementary every day. We intend to enroll our daughter in the Spanish immersion program that HEB ISD offers on some campuses, including Meadowbrook and are delighted that she'll be in such a progressive school district. They even offer Hindi and Mandarin to middle school aged kids! Of course, different people want different things for their kids. The demographics of this school system are far more diverse and not nearly as homogenic as some districts closeby. This is an advantage to our way of seeing things, but we know others who do not care for it. As far as convenience within the Metroplex, you can't beat it - we live within a couple of miles of 157, 360, 183, Hwy 10 & 121 and can get to DFW in about 10 minutes, BUT are not in any of the flight paths! Downtown FW is just a 20 minute drive away as is Arlington. The entire Metroplex is reachable within 45-60 minutes' drive of here. Also our taxes are much less than many neighboring towns. Check it out!

I live in Keller. I love the school district and area. Friendship Elementary is a wonderful school. It goes from Preschool-4th. It is a fairly new school as well.
I hope this helps you alittle. =)

Hghgland Village is great! My oldest is in 2nd grade and has just been diagnosed with ADHD. The school has been very sensitive to his needs and they are doing everything they can to accomadate him with his learning. The principal is awesome. The school is McAuliffe Elementary. We moved here from the Keller area and it has been such a wonderful move for us. Highland Village has also been rated the #1 Safest community in North Texas. Unfortunately we are moving this summer and we are soo sad to leave. Good luck in whatever choice you make!

hi there! i'm currently living in Roanoke which is just next door to trophy club. i will sing the praises of trophy club all day long. they are in Northwest ISD which i have loved. i have twin boys in the 3rd grade (one with extreme problems with dyslexia) and the school district has been AMAZING. it's nice and quiet, and beautiful out here. the company i work for is just opening up a new subdivision in trophy club so i am there a lot and deal with the city daily. they ensure that the town of trohpy club stays well maintained, pretty, and not over-run with traffic and too much retail. anyway, just thought i'd put in my two cents! good luck with your move. :)