Halletsville Schools - Feedback

[MDemel]

I'm talking walkin belts and neckties and boots for rodeo,
They don't run too fast, don't waste much gas.....

[JES]

You put an offer in yet?

No, did put in a question to our management about me be able to stay on rotation for the rest of my career, they basically told me I would never need to be stationed in the home office again...I guess there is two ways to take that!

Having a realtor come to the house when I am home in March to give me an assessment of our house. That will be part of the decision process.

[JES]

They pay 2.50 down in Hallettsville, three dollars...maybe more.

My family (sans Michaela) moved to Hallettsville in 2015 and it was a great move for us. My girls were welcomed in right off the bat and love(d) going to school here. A few people told us folks could be a little cliquish toward "transplants", but we have experienced quite the opposite. My wife was able to get a job at the public middle school and we feel like part of the community.

As with a lot of small towns, HS sports are well supported throughout the community. Emphasis is put on baseball/softball, but the football and basketball programs have been strong, as well. Courtney played Volleyball and they were a playoff team, but it definitely takes a backseat to the other sports for the girls. There is pretty good support for Ag programs, as well.

I feel like my girls were able to get a good education from the public school. Smaller schools don't offer the variety of programs and extracurriculars as larger schools, of course, but I believe most of the teachers and administrators put emphasis on education and, importantly, receive support from parents and the community. My girls thrived in a small school environment with fewer "distractions" that can come with bigger, suburban schools. I don't get a sense that there is any significant drug problem in the town/schools, but drinking beer is definitely a pastime!

One thing we've had some difficulty with is finding a good church home, as Hallettsville is largely a Catholic community. There are Baptist, Methodist and a couple of small non-denoms. If your family is Catholic, it won't be a problem.

As far as finishing the school year and then moving, I'll urge you to consider the opposite. We let the girls finish the school year before moving to Paris in 2007 and then spent 3 months during the summer trying to entertain our kids because they didn't have any friends or know anybody in town! We started considering (on a whim) a move to Hallettsville in March 2015 and once we made the decision I wanted to get the girls moved ASAP - BEFORE the end of the school year. We moved in late April so the girls would have a month at the local school to make friends and get acclimated before the summer. That worked out really well!

Holler if you have any other questions or let me know when you're in town and maybe we can meet up and I can show you the local haunts!

Thanks for the feedback and advice. I'm not sure how soon I could pull the trigger on the move, a lot of moving parts and career decisions that would be impacted if we did move.