During the Homecoming parade, I noticed several new private schools. Has something happened in the last few years in Waco Public Schools to drive enough demand that new schools could open?

Yes

Waco public schools are not well thought of. And the reason Midway, China Springs, Lorena as well as many private schools have done so well.

Congratulations to your wife! I admire the sacrifice that she and your whole family have to make to 1) be in a difficult environment and 2) deserve the award.

My OP was really about a sudden change a few years ago. Just a single data point but it seems like the number of private options doubled recently. Something would have had to have driven a significant demand a few years ago to result in the presence of so many new private options at once.

Or my observation could be way off and they have they always been there. But they all just figured out that their target market is lined up along the parade route?

I don't think the number of private schools in Waco has doubled but I do think their enrollment is growing more quickly. As I think through the list, most of these schools have been around for at least 15 years (many closer to 20-30) but have grown in presence and offerings. This is what comes to mind...


Eagle Christian (PK-12)
Live Oak Classical (PK-12)
Parkview Christian Academy (1-12)
Waco Montessori (PK-6)
St Paul's (PK-6)
Woodway Christian (PK-8)
St. Louis (PK-8)
Vanguard (7-12)
Reicher Catholic (9-12)

pitchman said:

---

My wife just got named Teacher of the Year this week at one of the five at-risk schools at an
Inner city district. Her school displayed the biggest turn around this past year, and she is super pumped about the concept of not giving up in schools that are simply underperforming due to the poverty of their students home environments.

Let's be honest that China spring and midway kids will have books exposed to them at home by college educated parents in many cases. We will not find many educated parents at JH Hines or brook avenue(for example), so that school has a higher rate of low scores. Does not mean the instruction is poor. Again, just because the advantaged schools have better scores does NOT mean they ARE better schools. Let's not equate things to that don't equate.
.

---

China Spring is a wild card. It can be pretty extreme at both ends of the spectrum.

SoonerFrogs said:

---

springs?

---

Good catch, everyone knows there's only one spring in China.

China Spring

MrGolfguy said:

---

SoonerFrogs said:

---

springs?

---

Good catch, everyone knows there's only one spring in China.

China Spring

---

reminds me of a conversation years ago... my friends mom told him that they were going to HEBs... he asked her how many they were going to?

CTbruin said:

---

Yes

Waco public schools are not well thought of. And the reason Midway, China Springs, Lorena as well as many private schools have done so well.

---

Doesn't help that the previous superintendent was a pot smoker. And for those that have no issue with a public school superintendent smoking pot (not sure how that's possible), he was an incompetent idiot before he got caught with the wacky weed.

jbbear said:

---

CTbruin said:

---

Yes

Waco public schools are not well thought of. And the reason Midway, China Springs, Lorena as well as many private schools have done so well.

---

Doesn't help that the previous superintendent was a pot smoker. And for those that have no issue with a public school superintendent smoking pot (not sure how that's possible), he was an incompetent idiot before he got caught with the wacky weed.

---

Wow

pitchman said:

---

My wife just got named Teacher of the Year this week at one of the five at-risk schools at an
Inner city district. Her school displayed the biggest turn around this past year, and she is super pumped about the concept of not giving up in schools that are simply underperforming due to the poverty of their students home environments.

Let's be honest that China spring and midway kids will have books exposed to them at home by college educated parents in many cases. We will not find many educated parents at JH Hines or brook avenue(for example), so that school has a higher rate of low scores. Does not mean the instruction is poor. Again, just because the advantaged schools have better scores does NOT mean they ARE better schools. Let's not equate things to that don't equate.
.

---

There's a special place in heaven for your wife, that's a great attitude to have.

Re the private school thing, I think that's a national trend. GenX and Millennial parents, who are now putting their kids in school, are much less trusting of traditional institutions than our predecessors, and I think the growth in private school / alternative forms of schooling is a testament to that.

Waco ISD had four large high schools in the 1980s. Now they are at two high schools. White flight happened long ago and theyre never to return. Anyone new to the area avoids WISD like the plague.

Those Richfield-Midway games/brawls were quite entertaining.

pitchman said:

---

My wife just got named Teacher of the Year this week at one of the five at-risk schools at an
Inner city district. Her school displayed the biggest turn around this past year, and she is super pumped about the concept of not giving up in schools that are simply underperforming due to the poverty of their students home environments.

Let's be honest that China spring and midway kids will have books exposed to them at home by college educated parents in many cases. We will not find many educated parents at JH Hines or brook avenue(for example), so that school has a higher rate of low scores. Does not mean the instruction is poor. Again, just because the advantaged schools have better scores does NOT mean they ARE better schools. Let's not equate things to that don't equate.
.

---

Mrs. Crash got teacher of the year as well. Ask him about it he is very proud.

I have taught at two of the private high schools here in town, my wife is a longtime educator in both WISD and Midway, my mother taught in WISD, and I even taught one year in WISD working on state certification , so I think I have a pretty good perspective on the local education scene. I too noticed at the homecoming parade several schools I have never heard of. The students are not coming from WISD because the people who were going to make that choice already made it starting in the 70s and really finished their exit in the 1990s and early 2000's. Those who are still there are true believers in public education and want to make a social difference. WISD does a phenomenal job with what it is given. No one should criticize the district unless they have been in those schools and classrooms and seen the adversity the teachers and administrators face dealing with the consequences of growing up in poverty. These consequences are well laid out in the book Framework for Understanding Poverty by Ruby Payne. The mark of a good school is how far they bring the kids and many of the students are years behind in their learning.

The growth is coming from people leaving the outlying school districts and the natural growth Waco has experienced in the last couple of years. Midway is really two different school districts now with about 1/3 at-risk students as defined by the state and Woodgate Intermediate is about 55 percent. That means Hewitt, Spring Valley, and Castleman Creek Elementaries also probably have close to those numbers as well. My private school has received in the last several years numerous students who transferred out of Midway, as well as multiple other districts in the county because they wanted more individualized instruction, smaller environment and personal attention, and frankly stronger academics. My wife having taught at both Midway and WISD says there was little difference between the districts in the challenges teaching classes of regular students Who were not pre-AP or AP. She said it was just as challenging at Midway with that type of student. I have many students in my private school that came from those type of classes in multiple suburban districts, but wanted out because they did not want to take all pre-AP or AP classes but could not stand the environment in the regular classes. Also, outside of Midway the top level classes and AP style classes are also not near as strong and schools like Vanguard, Live Oak, and Reicher are very strong in those areas.

Jackson Bear said:

---

I have taught at two of the private high schools here in town, my wife is a longtime educator in both WISD and Midway, my mother taught in WISD, and I even taught one year in WISD working on state certification , so I think I have a pretty good perspective on the local education scene. I too noticed at the homecoming parade several schools I have never heard of. The students are not coming from WISD because the people who were going to make that choice already made it starting in the 70s and really finished their exit in the 1990s and early 2000's. Those who are still there are true believers in public education and want to make a social difference. WISD does a phenomenal job with what it is given. No one should criticize the district unless they have been in those schools and classrooms and seen the adversity the teachers and administrators face dealing with the consequences of growing up in poverty. These consequences are well laid out in the book Framework for Understanding Poverty by Ruby Payne. The mark of a good school is how far they bring the kids and many of the students are years behind in their learning.

The growth is coming from people leaving the outlying school districts and the natural growth Waco has experienced in the last couple of years. Midway is really two different school districts now with about 1/3 at-risk students as defined by the state and Woodgate Intermediate is about 55 percent. That means Hewitt, Spring Valley, and Castleman Creek Elementaries also probably have close to those numbers as well. My private school has received in the last several years numerous students who transferred out of Midway, as well as multiple other districts in the county because they wanted more individualized instruction, smaller environment and personal attention, and frankly stronger academics. My wife having taught at both Midway and WISD says there was little difference between the districts in the challenges teaching classes of regular students Who were not pre-AP or AP. She said it was just as challenging at Midway with that type of student. I have many students in my private school that came from those type of classes in multiple suburban districts, but wanted out because they did not want to take all pre-AP or AP classes but could not stand the environment in the regular classes. Also, outside of Midway the top level classes and AP style classes are also not near as strong and schools like Vanguard, Live Oak, and Reicher are very strong in those areas.

---

Great and interesting post. And the highlighted sentence makes a lot of sense. If you're a high academic achiever, you can carve out a great education and social scene in most public schools. But if you're just average, the classes you might find yourself in can be pretty challenging from a peer-group perspective.

Edmond Bear said:

---

Congratulations to your wife! I admire the sacrifice that she and your whole family have to make to 1) be in a difficult environment and 2) deserve the award.

My OP was really about a sudden change a few years ago. Just a single data point but it seems like the number of private options doubled recently. Something would have had to have driven a significant demand a few years ago to result in the presence of so many new private options at once.

Or my observation could be way off and they have they always been there. But they all just figured out that their target market is lined up along the parade route?

---

There really are too many. Some of the older ones have declined has new competition has come in. They can't exist on WISD because that market is already tapped out. The people who would leave for private school have already left. The only way to grow that market is for private school tuition vouchers for poorer families.

BaylorGuy314 said:

---

I don't think the number of private schools in Waco has doubled but I do think their enrollment is growing more quickly. As I think through the list, most of these schools have been around for at least 15 years (many closer to 20-30) but have grown in presence and offerings. This is what comes to mind...


Eagle Christian (PK-12)
Live Oak Classical (PK-12)
Parkview Christian Academy (1-12)
Waco Montessori (PK-6)
St Paul's (PK-6)
Woodway Christian (PK-8)
St. Louis (PK-8)
Vanguard (7-12)
Reicher Catholic (9-12)

---

It is just another way to divide the "have's" from the "have nots"

As the differences in income become wider, those in the upper tiers can pay for private school while the working class can't. ain't going away.

Midway sucks. Did we cover that already?

SoonerFrogs said:

---

Midway sucks. Did we cover that already?

---

Midway is great. That's where my kid goes. You just have to make sure your kids are in pre-AP and AP classes. They are now even doing classes just for kids who qualify as gifted.

SoonerFrogs said:

---

Waco ISD had four large high schools in the 1980s. Now they are at two high schools. White flight happened long ago and theyre never to return. Anyone new to the area avoids WISD like the plague.

Those Richfield-Midway games/brawls were quite entertaining.

---

They consolidated to improve the football team.

TrapIt4Life said:

---

I taught in WISD for a few years (University High School) before eventually switching to Midway, and am also the parent of two younger kids.

You could not *pay* me to send my kids to Waco ISD. I can't speak to their elementary schools, but at least at the high school level, it was an absolute s*&t show. The inability to level any discipline whatsoever hamstrings any chance to employ some semblance of classroom management.

I would routinely have kids who would threaten me physically, throw supplies, hit other students, swear at me like a sailor with Tourettes, and when I would call down to the office, basically the refrain I would get was, "yeah, office is full, you're just going to have to deal with it". They would refuse to suspend them (that's what the student wants to happen anyway, woo-hoo, no school), they wouldn't expel them, because they need the funding per enrolled students, and the alternative school was always full.

On multiple occasions I was told to give the QB of the football team, who did not show up from about September 4th until late November, "somewhere in the high B to low A range" on all his missed assignments. I refused to give someone grades they hadn't earned, and was called in to meet with the principal at the time and a WISD board member suggesting that I give him those grades if I wanted to continue working there. I refused, and fortunately found a great landing spot at MHS, and the difference was night and day.

Anyone who tells you that WISD is sunshine and roses and an equally great academic atmosphere to MHS or these other charters is deluding themselves. There is zero accountability, and while many of the teachers are well-meaning and have patience for bulls*&^ beyond what I could handle, until they devise a system to deal with the bad apples, and/or start to engage parents into actually caring about their own kids, it would be a cold, cold day in hell before I ever let me kids walk through their doors.

---

What a sad story that is and not hard to believe at all. I had a couple of church friends that were in the AP courses at Waco High and they did well and were prepared for college. My gf did the whole AP route at University, but she felt she had to supplement at home more than the Waco High AP kids did. If I had a kid that wasn't in AP courses though then I'd rather them end up at University than Waco. Of course our kids won't be going to WISD anyway so....

IASIP Rocks said:

---

pitchman said:

---

My wife just got named Teacher of the Year this week at one of the five at-risk schools at an
Inner city district. Her school displayed the biggest turn around this past year, and she is super pumped about the concept of not giving up in schools that are simply underperforming due to the poverty of their students home environments.

Let's be honest that China spring and midway kids will have books exposed to them at home by college educated parents in many cases. We will not find many educated parents at JH Hines or brook avenue(for example), so that school has a higher rate of low scores. Does not mean the instruction is poor. Again, just because the advantaged schools have better scores does NOT mean they ARE better schools. Let's not equate things to that don't equate.
.

---

There's a special place in heaven for your wife, that's a great attitude to have.

Re the private school thing, I think that's a national trend. GenX and Millennial parents, who are now putting their kids in school, are much less trusting of traditional institutions than our predecessors, and I think the growth in private school / alternative forms of schooling is a testament to that.

---

Yep.

Most of my generation (people who are now in their 30's with kids) went to public high schools growing up.

And most of us did not have a positive experience in terms of education.

So a lot of my generation is looking for something/anything different......private schools/homeschooling/alter-type education you name it.

bearsocal said:

---

pitchman said:

---

My wife just got named Teacher of the Year this week at one of the five at-risk schools at an
Inner city district. Her school displayed the biggest turn around this past year, and she is super pumped about the concept of not giving up in schools that are simply underperforming due to the poverty of their students home environments.

Let's be honest that China spring and midway kids will have books exposed to them at home by college educated parents in many cases. We will not find many educated parents at JH Hines or brook avenue(for example), so that school has a higher rate of low scores. Does not mean the instruction is poor. Again, just because the advantaged schools have better scores does NOT mean they ARE better schools. Let's not equate things to that don't equate.
.

---

Mrs. Crash got teacher of the year as well. Ask him about it he is very proud.

---

She did! And yes, I'm very proud.

Congrats to pitchman's wife as well. SE365 wives representing!

And for the record, I'd home school my kids before I ever sent them to Midway. I know a lot of people that sent their kids to Midway and were very pleased with it, but I wouldn't feel comfortable sending my kids there.

MrGolfguy said:

---

SoonerFrogs said:

---

springs?

---

Good catch, everyone knows there's only one spring in China.

China Spring

---

Not necessarily.

Before you correct the man, do your history.

The area indeed started out as "Chinaberry Springs".

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hlc28

Yogi said:

---

MrGolfguy said:

---

SoonerFrogs said:

---

springs?

---

Good catch, everyone knows there's only one spring in China.

China Spring

---

Not necessarily.

Before you correct the man, do your history.

The area indeed started out as "Chinaberry Springs".

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hlc28

---

That was before the railroad

Yogi said:

---

MrGolfguy said:

---

SoonerFrogs said:

---

springs?

---

Good catch, everyone knows there's only one spring in China.

China Spring

---

Not necessarily.

Before you correct the man, do your history.

The area indeed started out as "Chinaberry Springs".

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hlc28

---

What's the name of the city now? China Springs or China Spring? Exactly. Now back off Mr BigTime.

I can assure you that growing up in "Midway " in the 60s, it was China SPRINGS. And traveling over there to play basketball was like going to Dallas. Took about as long.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Spring,_Texas

MrGolfguy said:

---

Yogi said:

---

MrGolfguy said:

---

SoonerFrogs said:

---

springs?

---

Good catch, everyone knows there's only one spring in China.

China Spring

---

Not necessarily.

Before you correct the man, do your history.

The area indeed started out as "Chinaberry Springs".

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hlc28

---

What's the name of the city now? China Springs or China Spring? Exactly. Now back off Mr BigTime.It is

---

It is not a city, only a school district. The homes south of China Spring Highway are in Waco city limits (I think it was annexed 30 or more years ago). Everything else is unincorporated.

BaylorGuy314 said:

---

I don't think the number of private schools in Waco has doubled but I do think their enrollment is growing more quickly. As I think through the list, most of these schools have been around for at least 15 years (many closer to 20-30) but have grown in presence and offerings. This is what comes to mind...


Eagle Christian (PK-12)
Live Oak Classical (PK-12)
Parkview Christian Academy (1-12)
Waco Montessori (PK-6)
St Paul's (PK-6)
Woodway Christian (PK-8)
St. Louis (PK-8)
Vanguard (7-12)
Reicher Catholic (9-12)

---

And don't forget Harmony, a charter school.