Eastwood Academy

I consider Eastwood Academy the little "hidden jewel" of the East Side.  Everyone knows about Carnegie, Debakey, Lamar and Bellaire.  These are the schools EVERYONE wants to get their kids into.  You know what that means.... highly, highly competitive!  When I called and talked to the magnet coordinator for HISD she basically said it was super tough to get into one of those super popular schools.  I kind of sat there thinking, "damn.... wth am I going to do now???"  I want to live in the loop, I need to be close to all the things in downtown, I want my husband to have a very short drive to work that doesn't involve the Houston highways.... but what would I do if I couldn't get the school situation ironed out?

I almost gave up at this point.  Almost threw in the towel.  Almost considered Kingwood, the Woodlands, or maybe Clear Lake.  I mean, wasn't that what all the other engineers my husband worked with chose?  So, I looked at those burbs.  Well, all the schools looked okay.  No need to apply.  You just live in the right neighborhood in the burb and bam! .... your kid was set.  Well, that just didn't sit well with me.  I knew in my heart that the suburbs were NOT for me.  They NEVER have been for me.  But how was I going to make this school thing work?  This required more research.  Research beyond the recommendations I was getting.  This required thinking outside the box.

And then it happened.  I discovered Eastwood Academy.  Okay, maybe I didn't exactly discover it like know one knew a thing about it.... but as far as our family was concerned I had discovered it!  As I looked at the numbers I was totally blown away.  How could this amazing school be here smack dab in the neighborhood I wanted to live in and no one had really mentioned it?  Was it like the rest of the East Side? Was it looked at like the "ugly step sister" of Houston?  I called the school.  They had openings for this year in 9th grade!!!!  Thank goodness no one else really knows about this hidden gem!  Yes, it was predominantly a hispanic school with a rather high number of economically disadvantaged kids and we are white middle class people.  However, this may be a deterrent for other white, middle class families, but not for us.  We were totally stoked!  Then after our visit to the school, we were just blown away.  This was the perfect school for our kids.  Could it really be?  I had found a neighborhood with a strong sense of community, very close knit core group of people, 2 miles from downtown, 5 miles from hubby's work and GREAT schools???  Cha ching.... jackpot!

My son is currently typing out the necessary essay for admittance into the school.  Next he will answer all 10 questions on the application.  Finally he will ask one of his teachers to give him a recommendation.  If all this looks good along with attendance record, report cards and test scores, he will then have an interview.  Once this is completed, assuming all goes well, he is on his way to an excellent education.  I will keep you posted!

http://www.eastwoodacademy.org/

Really wish I had pics.... those will come soon!