Are any of the High Schools in Conroe/Woodlands Trauma Safe Schools?

You have family in College Station, and you want to live on a farm? I would check out that area, then. Have you visited that area? It's conservative, like you want, but Texas A & M is there, so there's more to do, if you choose to leave the farm :). Yeah, I'd check out the area from College Station to Brennan. Lots of nice farms and ranches, where small town life and conservative values rule; yet, close enough to big cities (this area sits between Houston and Austin, with both cities being only an hour-and-a-half to two hours away) to escape or have a change of pace. Another area you might want to check out that is near the Conroe area is Huntsville. It's a small town with beautiful farms on the outskirts of it. Of course, the prison is there, and it's one of the major employers. The other major employer is Sam Houston State University, so there are things to do. Again, Huntsville is in the general area you are discussing.

Good luck in your search.

I am originally from the south. I grew up in Louisiana, and spent a few years in Houston after I divorced. My husband is originally from Mass, as is my daughter. However, we have chosen to raise our daughter with many of the values I was raised with, hence I believe may be one of our biggest problems. My daughter was diagnosed with Attachment Disorder due to the number of years she was in foster care and the number of placements she had. We have worked VERY hard to establish a bond and level of trust with her over the last 6 years. I had a school psych tell me this year at the high school that our daughter should NOT be allowed to call me or my husband when she was in a moment of crisis. I am tired of school faculty trying to tell me how to raise my child and having no basic understanding of what it is we are trying to accomplish with her. Now I know that I am not going to get this in other schools in different areas, but at least I know there is a certain level of respect for being a parent in other parts of the country. My daughter was sexually assaulted at school by another student whose mother also happened to be a teacher there. We were strongly encourage to not press criminal charges because it was a "he said, she said" scenario, even though the kid admitted to everything! At minimum it was sexual harassment and should have resulted in disciplinary action, and yet nothing was done. This is just one small example of what we have had to deal with in our school system. Frustrating to say the least. Anyway, all of my family is in Texas (Corpus and College Station) and I want to be near them. My husband is actually the one who chose Conroe because he is ready for something different as well. He wants small town, my daughter wants a farm. (grin) We know that we have a lot of challenges ahead of us, but have met them and won before. The information you have given us about all of the towns helps tremendously and at least lets me know that we were heading in the right direction as far as areas go. The town we currently live in is considered wealthy and is very snooty and not very welcoming. We are not wealthy and not snooty in the least. Unfortunately due to finances at the moment we do not have the luxury of spending any time down there before moving. Luckily our house is worth more than what we bought it for and will make moving to TX financially possible when it sells. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you again for all of your information. It will definitely help tremendously.

O.K. I'm going to be really nosy here...Why are you looking in the area of Texas you are looking in? Is this because of employment? Family? Either you or your husband has lived in this area before? Honestly, you're leaving one of the most politically liberal states in the country to move to the Caney Creek or Conroe, Texas area? Talk about a culture shock! I could DEFINITELY see your moving to certain areas of Austin, Houston, and Dallas, but small town Texas? Really, I've traveled throughout Mass., and small town Mass. is nothing like small town Texas. That's not to say you won't like it. Maybe, you will, but it's going to be a whole new world.

Now, The Woodlands is a planned suburb, so that might be an area you would enjoy more. There will be more people from other areas of the country there. Also, there are some oil companies in that area, so you do get a bit of an international crowd. Not a big one, but some. Oak Ridge is right across the highway from The Woodlands. It's an older community and less expensive than The Woodlands, for the most part. I've heard Oak Ridge jokingly called, "The Friendly Woodlands," because The Woodlands is thought to be a bit snooty, by some people. Knowing people in both areas, I won't agree with that, but I'm telling you because there is kind of that attitude in the areas you're discussing.

The areas you are discussing are quite different economically, with Caney Creek being the poorest (I've made home visits there, and I was shocked at the level of poverty in some areas of Caney Creek, but that's not to say the whole area is this way, for it most certainly isn't), Conroe being next (though there is every range of wealth in Conroe), Oak Ridge being next (very middle class), and The Woodlands being next (for the most part, the people who live in The Woodlands are middle class to extremely wealthy, with a number of multi-million dollar homes in the area).

I don't know you or anything about you, but if you haven't been to the area of Texas you are discussing, I strongly suggest going there and spending a couple weeks traveling around, eating in the restaurants, talking to people, etc., and basing which area you move into on which area you like and would be the most comfortable living in. That, of course, should include which school you would like your daughter to attend, but I wouldn't make that the #1 reason for picking between the four areas mentioned because they are so very different economically, socially, and culturally.

We haven't really decided what area we would like to be in yet. Alot of it depends on upon which school we feel would better fit our daughter. We are concerned about the size of the High Schools in TX. Our daughter currently attends a high school with approx. 2000 students. We have been looking at information on Caney Creek and Oak Ridge. I believe Oak Ridge showed approx. 1700 students, so we were trying to get more information about that school. Because it's going to be so culturally different than what she is accustomed to, we really want to try and make the best decision possible from clear across the country. Part of the reason we have chosen to relocate is due to the issues we've encountered in our current town. Our daughter was adopted through foster care at a much older age and most of her classmates are aware of this and unfortunately use this as a means of targeting her for being different. We did not know what the town was like socially when we bought our house because we had NO kids at that time. In the past 6 years we have dealt with so much prejudice and judgment that we all just want a fresh start. We feel that if we aren't successful in getting her into the right school, where she can thrive and succeed, we may just be setting her up to fail. No pressure right? If you have any information that point us in the right direction for getting answers to our questions, I would very much appreciate it. Thanks for responding...I figure the best answers come from the parents already there.