Lamar High School vs Katy High School

[ParaguaneroSwag]

A family member of mine is inquiring about possibly going to either of these. I know very little of about the high schools. I know HISD is trash and KISD is reputable. But I’m not sure about Lamar specifically and how these 2 stack up against each other

If anyone has some good pros and cons of each, I would appreciate it.

[Mr. Clutch]

I don't know much about Katy High, but I went to Lamar and still know folks that work there. It's a very good, diverse high school with good academic standards. They have IB and magnet tracks and the IB tracks have historically been very challenging. The school sends quite a few students to highly ranked colleges, including Ivy League schools and public Ivies as well. It's one of the best high schools in HISD and probably overall a top 15%ish school in the state.

It's an urban school though, and so there are probably more urban school issues (fights, disruptive students, etc.) than somewhere like Katy HS. My opinion is that a typical student may do better at Katy, but a high achiever would do well at either, and Lamar could have an edge there.

With that said, that's an interesting choice as these schools are like 30 miles apart. I assume that the family member isn't established in the city yet, as there's not too many places they could live where both of these schools would be an option.

[SanJac]

Lamar = baseball
Katy = football

Academics is likely a wash…

[WRM20]

Lamar is in HISD and is one of the premier schools in the district, and is currently as good as any high school in the state. However, Mike Miles, the Superintendent installed by the TEA when the State took over the district, is doing his utmost to destroy every school, presumably as an excuse to convert all HISD schools to charter schools. At this point I would not recommend anyone put their kid in HISD and am very glad our kid graduated several years ago.

[NigerianNightmare]

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

A family member of mine is inquiring about possibly going to either of these. I know very little of about the high schools. I know HISD is trash and KISD is reputable. But I’m not sure about Lamar specifically and how these 2 stack up against each other

If anyone has some good pros and cons of each, I would appreciate it.

I was a friend/acquaintance with several Lamar HS students in College and knew a bunch of kids in Katy High School when growing up there.

From what I understand culturally it’s very different. Lamar is probably the closest Houston has to a proper large city-school that isn’t just poor. So the kids there seem to me as a total suburban a lot more artsy than suburban Highschoolers as well as edgy (insane stories from the few people I know at Lamar but I went to a charter so it’s not like Katy Schools with 3,000+ kids don’t have similar stories).

Katy High School is a little country compare to the other Katy schools and is the whitest school in the district. It’s also the most middle of the road school in the district. Katy High School is probably better for the average student But if you go to Lamar and are smart you’re hanging around some really wealthy inner loopers, which is unique experience even compared to Suburban wealth. From what I understood Lamar was like a split Highschool on the inside, which makes sense considering the extreme wealth gap vs. Katy High School which is much more universally middle class. But even then the AP Class system probably causes some division between the students that do well and general population.

I don’t know much about the actual schooling itself. Just generally the kids that went there. If you’re looking for negatives. I did here that some Lamar students did get shot on and off Campus which is much rarer in Katy. But it’s not like the school isn’t in West U.

[atmcclel]

Lamar overall is on par with a school like Katy High School easily, if not better when you consider the IB tracks and possible connections with some wealthy inner-loopers compared to Katy. I went to college and was fraternity brothers with many Lamar and Bellaire grads. They've been much more helpful to me in my career and network than anyone who went to Katy, Cinco, Clements, etc. While high school is a long way off for my wife and I, our first is due in December, we both decided we'd much rather send our kids to Lamar or Bellaire than one of the suburban schools.

[gwarnecke]

Is your friend buying or renting?

If buying, I would recommend against Katy High School, unless your friend can get a really good deal. The far, far, far-out location of the zoned KHS area + KHS's middling ratings compared with the south-of-I10 Katy high schools limit appreciation potential, since most suburban home buyers prioritize school ratings. To be clear - I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with KHS in particular, just pointing out that its ratings trail those of many other Katy high schools, and school perceived quality is historically correlated with the long-term desirability and appreciation potential of suburban neighborhoods.

Having said all of that - my in-laws just bought a house zoned to KHS at a very good price (they'll be retiring soon, so school quality / commute distance aren't relevant for them - they just wanted a relatively new and spacious house for their $).

Lamar High School is about as good as inner-loop high schools get in Houston, and even if it weren't, it probably wouldn't affect the appreciation of zoned properties since so many wealthy inner-loopers go private anyways.

So between these two I'd recommend Lamar, but I'd be curious why your friend isn't considering options located between them - either stronger close-in high schools like Memorial HS or Stratford HS (zoned areas are generally pricey, but less pricey $/sq ft than those zoned to Lamar HS) or highly-rated Katy high schools like Cinco Ranch, Seven Lakes, and to a lesser extent, Taylor.

[ParaguaneroSwag]

They have properties in Montrose and Katy of which they plan moving into one of them. They’re currently out of state working but plan on being back in the area before their child begins HS.

Originally Posted by Mr. Clutch

I don't know much about Katy High, but I went to Lamar and still know folks that work there. It's a very good, diverse high school with good academic standards. They have IB and magnet tracks and the IB tracks have historically been very challenging. The school sends quite a few students to highly ranked colleges, including Ivy League schools and public Ivies as well. It's one of the best high schools in HISD and probably overall a top 15%ish school in the state.

It's an urban school though, and so there are probably more urban school issues (fights, disruptive students, etc.) than somewhere like Katy HS. My opinion is that a typical student may do better at Katy, but a high achiever would do well at either, and Lamar could have an edge there.

With that said, that's an interesting choice as these schools are like 30 miles apart. I assume that the family member isn't established in the city yet, as there's not too many places they could live where both of these schools would be an option.

Originally Posted by gwarnecke

Is your friend buying or renting?

If buying, I would recommend against Katy High School, unless your friend can get a really good deal. The far, far, far-out location of the zoned KHS area + KHS's middling ratings compared with the south-of-I10 Katy high schools limit appreciation potential, since most suburban home buyers prioritize school ratings. To be clear - I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with KHS in particular, just pointing out that its ratings trail those of many other Katy high schools, and school perceived quality is historically correlated with the long-term desirability and appreciation potential of suburban neighborhoods.

Having said all of that - my in-laws just bought a house zoned to KHS at a very good price (they'll be retiring soon, so school quality / commute distance aren't relevant for them - they just wanted a relatively new and spacious house for their $).

Lamar High School is about as good as inner-loop high schools get in Houston, and even if it weren't, it probably wouldn't affect the appreciation of zoned properties since so many wealthy inner-loopers go private anyways.

So between these two I'd recommend Lamar, but I'd be curious why your friend isn't considering options located between them - either stronger close-in high schools like Memorial HS or Stratford HS (zoned areas are generally pricey, but less pricey $/sq ft than those zoned to Lamar HS) or highly-rated Katy high schools like Cinco Ranch, Seven Lakes, and to a lesser extent, Taylor.

[hbcu]

if they desire post HS opportunities - just by being in HISD alone will move them to the head of the line - giving aid to urban districts looks better for the press release

[bu2]

Originally Posted by Mr. Clutch

I don't know much about Katy High, but I went to Lamar and still know folks that work there. It's a very good, diverse high school with good academic standards. They have IB and magnet tracks and the IB tracks have historically been very challenging. The school sends quite a few students to highly ranked colleges, including Ivy League schools and public Ivies as well. It's one of the best high schools in HISD and probably overall a top 15%ish school in the state.

It's an urban school though, and so there are probably more urban school issues (fights, disruptive students, etc.) than somewhere like Katy HS. My opinion is that a typical student may do better at Katy, but a high achiever would do well at either, and Lamar could have an edge there.

With that said, that's an interesting choice as these schools are like 30 miles apart. I assume that the family member isn't established in the city yet, as there's not too many places they could live where both of these schools would be an option.

This is important. If you have an average or just a little above average student and aren't in the IB track, definitely pick Katy. High achievers can do well in either because Lamar does have that IB track with a lot of smart kids.

We had friends in West U. that chose Lamar and were happy. But we also had friends who definitely preferred the private route to Lamar.

They will likely have a higher class rank at Lamar if getting into UT or A&M is a concern.