It looks like I'll be moving to the Tyler area soon for a new job. I have two daughters, one entering 11th grade and one entering 3rd grade. So our first decision is going to be which school district(s) we should consider looking for a home in. I would prefer to be within a 30 minute drive from Tyler.

What school districts should we consider, and which ones should we avoid?

I think most people would recommend Whitehouse and maybe Bullard. Avoid Tyler.

Thanks for the input. Any opinions on Lindale?

jaborch99 said:

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Thanks for the input. Any opinions on Lindale?

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I have heard good things about lindale, Bullard, whitehouse. We have also heard Tyler ISD is good as far as larger school districts go. Their leadership seems to be very invested in developing the district and kids.

We just moved to area in January. Our kids go to St Gregory and hopefully ( funds willing) will continue through Bishop Gorman.

What about the charter school at UT Tyler?

Bullard and Lindale are probably the hot ones now. It's less Whitehouse which hit the size tipping point a few years ago when TISD pawned off areas near Shiloh. Lindales close to the tipping point in size as well. Bullard probably less so.

But Bullard might be outside your 30 minute range in the mornings.

I am realtor and retired from schools. Had two daughters so know what you are going through. I can help you find house, or if you have realtor I can talk with you and just give you my 2 cents just to help y'all out . No perfect schools out there, and sometimes depends on your kids personality or interests and who they run with. Nine oh 3 705 ate 4 niner niner. Good luck and welcome to Tyler.

Lindale is fine but then you would live in lindale. I would say Bullard and Whitehouse unless you want to send them to private school.

What's bringing you to Tyler anyways?

Thanks. I'm moving there for a job. I think you were kind of saying that in jest, but what's wrong with Lindale? (honest question... I know nothing!)

TEA accountability and performance reports, if you're data driven. Bunch more info if you do some digging:

https://rptsvr1.tea.texas.gov/perfreport/account/2018/srch.html?srch=D

https://rptsvr1.tea.texas.gov/perfreport/tapr/2018/srch.html?srch=D

nothing wrong with it really I just grew up in Tyler and it has never appealed to me. Small town with everyone in your business especially if your kids play sports. It, along with chapel hill and chandler would be on the bottom of my list.

What business are you in if you don't mind me asking?

I'm in healthcare. I'll be working for Christus Trinity Clinics.

I've talked to several people and would summarize their reviews as follows:

• Tyler ISD -- Universal message is to avoid John Tyler, but REL gets mixed reviews. Probably depends more on the kid.
• Bullard -- Good, but expensive to live there
• Whitehouse -- Good, but possibly declining due to surge of growth recently
• Chapel Hill -- Avoid
• Lindale -- Good, but may exceed my max driving distance (30 minutes)
• Charter Schools -- I still haven't gotten any real information from them, but I think they're probably full now anyway.
• Private schools -- Grace Community intrigues me, and possibly Brook Hill School. Any info on these?

Sound about right?

Lindale is a good school district but is on the north side of the Tyler "Metro" so 90% of your restaurants and shopping are 25-30 minutes away in south Tyler. Otherwise, it's a fine area.

Bullard is a really small feel and 10-15 minutes from most of the shopping and eating out that I referenced above. Good schools, still very "country-ish" in its smallness.

Whitehouse hasn't reached a size tipping point yet. It's one high school and has been the same 4A/5A classification since the 90's. The did build a new elementary school (to replace an old one) and new junior high (once again to replace an old one) in the last two years and they have larger capacity than the previous mentioned ones but they're not growing at some exponential rate. And TISD didn't pawn off district area to them...that has to be done at the state level. That area up to Shiloh has been part of their district for decades.

You nailed TISD. Avoid John Tyler and REL will depend on your kids. Good students that are involved in lots of activities? They'll likely be fine.

Chapel Hill is hemorrhaging good teachers and students right now. They've got some major adjustments to make in the next 5 years or they'll find themselves in a spot from which it's possible they'll never recover.

The charter schools got some buzz over the last 10 years but it's recently gotten out that you don't have to be certified to teach there and they've picked up a lot of teachers that fit this slot. At this point they're fine, but I wouldn't base my decision on the fact that "it's a charter school so it must be better". They just don't have any performance numbers to reflect that.

Know a ton of people at Brookhill, Grace, All Saints, Gorman, East Texas Christian, etc. They're all good private schools with different styles and feels. If I wanted to pay for private school the first three I listed would be the three I'd consider and the ultimate decider on the three would probably be where I live (all three are in different areas of town as Tyler goes).

Good luck on the move and let us know if there's any other help we can provide.

(Maybe superfly can stop by and tell us why he put his kids in one private school over the others)

jaborch99 said:

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I've talked to several people and would summarize their reviews as follows:

• Tyler ISD -- Universal message is to avoid John Tyler, but REL gets mixed reviews. Probably depends more on the kid.
• Bullard -- Good, but expensive to live there
• Whitehouse -- Good, but possibly declining due to surge of growth recently
• Chapel Hill -- Avoid
• Lindale -- Good, but may exceed my max driving distance (30 minutes)
• Charter Schools -- I still haven't gotten any real information from them, but I think they're probably full now anyway.
• Private schools -- Grace Community intrigues me, and possibly Brook Hill School. Any info on these?

Sound about right?

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Grace Community is a good school. Its mother church is Grace Community Church - a non-denom. So its Christian teaching may be the most "evangelical" of the private schools.

I've heard brook hill is a good school too, and very good with academics, but I don't have any experience with that school.

All Saints

The private schools have different approaches. Mine are in a small one to avoid siloing them with an age cohort (they see kids of all ages at the same campus), for a different teaching model (classical), and for smaller class size so teachers can focus on character and not just academics.

Tipping point has as much to do with class size as anything else. When you have 20+ kids it's harder to manage, let alone 30+. Some of the privates are bumping up against this now too.

Beware that TISD is 'mainstreaming' kids in elementary with disciplinary problems.

AGC said:

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Beware that TISD is 'mainstreaming' kids in elementary with disciplinary problems.

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What does this mean?

jaborch99 said:

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AGC said:

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Beware that TISD is 'mainstreaming' kids in elementary with disciplinary problems.

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What does this mean?

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Keeping them in class but just rotating them through all the grade level classes for the year as they have problems. The response I got was that they don't have anywhere to send them. My kids aren't public so I'm hearing this from friends rather than admin. There's probably a different explanation but that's the practical application that my friends have seen.

I have a friend who pulled their kid from Jack because she was getting hit constantly by a kid being 'mainstreamed'.

Once they're in middle school they pull them out.

Whitehouse doesn't have a single elementary classroom with 30 plus kids. Average floats around 20-22 depending on the time of the year, move-ins/move-outs, etc. and that's about normal across the state.


Class size discussions are funny to me. I had 30+ for several years in my elementary school growing up (one class per grade level). It can be a factor but it's only one of many: strong teacher, one or two knuckleheads in class, parent involvement at home, age of the kid (Sept b-day or July?), genetics, etc. When most school districts see the average enrollment begin to trend up, they begin looking for more teachers to keep the ratio in the low 20's. Plano doesn't have larger average elementary classes than, say, Bullard and they graduate around 2,000 from each of their high schools each year.

Stive said:

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Whitehouse doesn't have a single elementary classroom with 30 plus kids. Average floats around 20-22 depending on the time of the year, move-ins/move-outs, etc. and that's about normal across the state.

Class size discussions are funny to me. I had 30+ for several years in my elementary school growing up (one class per grade level). It can be a factor but it's only one of many: strong teacher, one or two knuckleheads in class, parent involvement at home, age of the kid (Sept b-day or July?), genetics, etc. When most school districts see the average enrollment begin to trend up, they begin looking for more teachers to keep the ratio in the low 20's. Plano doesn't have larger average elementary classes than, say, Bullard and they graduate around 2,000 from each of their high schools each year.

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I do believe OP has one in HS and elem. Hence there are two discussions running. I'm not treating both the same but perhaps that wasn't clear.

jaborch99 said:

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I've talked to several people and would summarize their reviews as follows:

• Tyler ISD -- Universal message is to avoid John Tyler, but REL gets mixed reviews. Probably depends more on the kid.
• Bullard -- Good, but expensive to live there
• Whitehouse -- Good, but possibly declining due to surge of growth recently
• Chapel Hill -- Avoid
• Lindale -- Good, but may exceed my max driving distance (30 minutes)
• Charter Schools -- I still haven't gotten any real information from them, but I think they're probably full now anyway.
• Private schools -- Grace Community intrigues me, and possibly Brook Hill School. Any info on these?

Sound about right?

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I grew up in Tyler and now live in Bullard. If you are working at the main hospital, you can get there in 20 minutes, depending on time of day. Week day traffic will take longer than 30 minutes. If you are working in the either the clinic on Rieck Rd or the out patient facility on Cumberland, than you should be able to get to those in under 30 minutes in the mornings.

Pretty much nailed the public school districts. Tyler did pass a bond to start updating the schools (REL under construction right now). Traditionally, most of the board for TISD have sent their kids to private school if that tells you anything.

If you want to live in Tyler and can afford to send your kids to Private schools, it is probably worth it.

• I have cousins that go to Grace, but have never been a big fan of the school. It doesn't seem to have progressed much since I was in high school.
• Brook Hill has an emphasis on the high school, and athletics. We toured Brook Hill when choosing a school for our oldest. Its a good school, but the only difference between the elementary school and public elementary is smaller class sizes and a Christian environment.
• I am a product of All Saints, and have my older son there. They have made several changes over the years. In my opinion the traditional education is as good if not better than the rest, but the difference is the emphasis on a well rounded education (STEM programs, learning farm, and other technologies available to the students).

Thanks everyone for the input. We decided to put our older daughter in Grace Community School and our younger one at Rice Elementary.

jaborch99 said:

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Thanks everyone for the input. We decided to put our older daughter in Grace Community School and our younger one at Rice Elementary.

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To my tipping point comments earlier, it looks like at least some courses at Grace will have smaller class sizes with added sections this year. I consider that a positive and hope your daughter benefits.

My daughter graduated from Grace in 2014. She started as a junior after moving over from public school. It was a difficult transition academically for her, but she is glad she did it.