San Antonio schools

[Zero_G]

My Uncle Sam is transferring me to San Antonio this summer. I've got 2 kids in high school, wondering what recommendations I can get from the list. D is going to be a senior and is in orchestra, hockey, and interested in culinary school. My daughter will be a freshman and is into almost everything. I'll be at Brooks AFB (or what's left of it), so convenient commute to the south east side is a consideration.

And, of course, where to shoot in SAT :-)

[jmorris]

My Uncle Sam is transferring me to San Antonio this summer. I've got 2 kids in high school, wondering what recommendations I can get from the list. D is going to be a senior and is in orchestra, hockey, and interested in culinary school. My daughter will be a freshman and is into almost everything. I'll be at Brooks AFB (or what's left of it), so convenient commute to the south east side is a consideration.

And, of course, where to shoot in SAT :-)

Wow, someone's actually transferring into Brooks City-Base. You'll probably be the one to turn off the lights.

I don't know the schools on the south side so all I'll say is stay out of the Judson area (NE) unless sports are the only thing you care about. Although the commute from that area isn't bad, little traffic, interstate most of the way.

Anything from the northeast side (around I35) to the west side is a pain. Going up I37, I410 from the southwest to the north, I35 on the NE is a major pain in the butt.* Something else to consider is where you think you'll go in 2011 when Brooks closes. If you think you might get Randolph then I'd go Universal City/Schertz. From what I know that school district is pretty good. If Lackland is likely I'd look over in the Seaworld area. Lot's of people live on the N/NW side just inside 1604 or out but that commute can be over an hour at times. Although it's much better with the road upgrades in the last couple of years.

*This is where everyone chimes in "if you think SA is bad you should try []". Yeah, there are a lot worse places but it's still a pain.

[ELB]

I can't comment on schools since I don't have kids and never really paid attention to the ratings, but I can comment on commutes. I was stationed first at Brooks (pre-city-base), then at Randolph. I lived in the area of Potranco and 1604, which is basically on the opposite side of San Antonio. However, I found the commute pretty reasonable by my standards -- it was about 40-50 minutes from driveway to parking space at Brooks, and about 50 minutes from driveway to parking space at Randolph. I went down the 1604 on the west side, east on the 90, then either south on I-37 (for Brooks) or on across to the 1604 on the east side, going up to Randolph, and in the back gate. Very straight runs, traffic normally moved pretty well, especially prior to 0730.

On the other hand, traveling anywhere along the north side, either on 410 or 1604, was a zoo.

So what I am saying is depending on your commute time standards, don't necessarily rule out the far west side because it is on the other side of town -- the access across town was pretty good. ("Was" -- I am retired now and living in Seguin). They built some nice new schools out on the west side, and a ton of new houses, and I expect there are some pretty good deals if your credit is good and you deal with banks that didn't make absurd loans and are about to go under...

If you do live on the west side, the Bullet Hole Range is on Groesenbacher Lane?Drive?Street? in the vicinity of 1604 and Potranco. Also the National Shooting Complex is out on Culebra Rd outside the 1604 -- I've gone there for big hunting exhibits, never actually used it as a range...

"A Place to Shoot" is somewhere in San Antonio, I think that's the one on the southside off of the 410. Bracken Shooting range is in the NE area. Probably some more that I can't think of. I stopped paying attention since I moved out into the sticks near Seguin -- I just shoot in the backyard now.

[jmorris]

Opps, forgot the range. My most favorite is Bexar Community on the east side, even though it's primary purpose is skeet. It's not formal at all, when it's not crowded you can draw, shoot, move, use multiple targets. Not enclosed, just overhead cover. Costs $10. The downside, if that, is that a few CHL instructors use it for class and they have it exclusively. Call ahead to see what's going on.

[Zero_G]

Thanks for the info.
I'm only going to be there 2 years, so I'll be looking for rental property. I will indeed be locking the door and turning out the lights at Brooks, but the other part of my job will be to get us up and running in our new digs at Wright-Patterson AFB in summer 2011.
This is not my first stint at Brooks. Last time we lived just outside the gates of Randolph since the first year I was there I was at the medical center and the last 2 at Brooks. Randolph split the difference. The commute down 1604 on the east side was not a problem at all. The only problem with that area now is I don't think I want the kids in the Judson schools. Maybe a smaller high school out of Bexar county? We've got a short time for a lot of research!

[MTICop]

My kids still go to Randolph High School. Since the on-base housing was cut the RISD has taken people that live off-base as well as on-base housing residents. Since my kids were going to that school when I retired, they are allowed to finish. I like it because it is a good school at a location I know will be better controlled than the public schools off-base. I live on the NE side of SA and commute to Lackland everyday. I have to use I-35 through town to Hwy 90 as this is the fastest for me due to traffic. 410 is a parking lot most of the time and 1604 is way out of the way. Anyway, I can agree with the posters above that said keep them out of Judson. That place is huge and the student-to-teacher ratio is crazy right now. They can't keep up with the influx of students. I know the Maddison ISD, where I live, isn't any better right now. I'm glad I could keep my kids out of both of them.