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Top Elementary Schools in Houston Area

The Houston-based nonprofit Children at Risk ranked 3,126 public elementary schools in Texas based on the following criteria:

1- Percentage of fifth-graders scoring at the commended level on the TAKS reading, math and science and the percentage of the 4h graders reaching that level on TAKS reading.

2- Percentage of 5th graders scoring commended on all sections of TAKS.

3- Overall student attendance rate for the school year.

4- Average class size in grades 1-3.

5- Retention rates for 4th and 5th grades.

6- Percentage of students who qualify for free or reduced price lunch and are economically disadvantaged.

Based on these criteria here are the top 5 elementary schools in Houston area which are all rated exemplary.

1- T H Rogers Elementary ( Houston ISD at 5840 SAN FELIPE ST, HOUSTON , 77057 )
2- Barbara Bush Elementary (Houston ISD at 13800 WESTERLOCH DR, HOUSTON , 77077)
3- Walker Station Elementary (Fort Bend ISD at 6200 HOMEWARD WAY BLVD, SUGAR LAND , 77479 )
4- Henderson J Elementary ( Houston ISD at 1800 DISMUKE, HOUSTON , 77023 )
5- Hamilton Elementary (CyFair ISD at 12050 KLUGE, CYPRESS , 77429 )

Spring Is In the Air For Houston Housing Market

Here are the promising March figures for Houston housing market:


•Single-family home sales rose 10.8 percent;

•Total property sales increased 14.5 percent;

•The average price of a single-family home appreciated for a sixth straight month by 10.2 percent to $212,403 — the highest pricing level for a March in Houston;

•The median price of a single-family home rose for the 11th consecutive month, by 6.4 percent, to $154,250 — the highest dollar figure for a March in Houston;

•6.7 months inventory of single-family homes compares favorably to the national average of 8.6 months;

•Townhouse/condominium sales increased 30.4 percent;

•Total dollar volume climbed 24.2 percent, reaching $1.2 billion.

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TEXAS CITIES BEST PLACES FOR JOBS

Aren't you glad and proud to be Texan? For the second year in a row, Texas cities took half of the top ten spots in Newgeography.com's annual ranking of the best cities in the nation in which to find a job.

Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos ranked first (ironically Round Rock also ranks high on number of foreclosed properties), San Antonio–New Braunfels second, our own Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown third, Dallas-Plano-Irving fifth and Fort Worth–Arlington seventh. I think this is some amazing statistics!

Among the medium-sized cities that Newgeography.com ranked, El Paso was fifth, McAllen-Mission-Edinburg was sixth and Corpus Christi was seventh.

College Station–Bryan was the third best smallest city in which to find a job. Killeen–Temple–Fort Hood was fourth.

The rankings are based on three-month rolling averages of monthly employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics from November 1999 to January 2010. For more information you can visit the website.

Garden Oaks Home Tour

I was able to spare the past Sunday for Garden Oaks Home Tour 2010. Garden Oaks is a neighborhood with lots of history. It was established in 1937 by Edward L.Crain just north of Houston Heights. Comprised of 5 sections, all sections have seen an abundance of renovations and newly constructed homes built on over-sized yards.

Yesterday's home tour comprised of 6 wonderful homes of which five were renovated homes and one was a new construction home built faithful to the Garden Oaks architecture. The new construction home at 802 W.31st was unique not only because of the homeowners' dedication to conservation of the "old" but also because it offered something truly new. This wonderful home has a wine cellar in the basement (yes a basement in Houston!) where you feel like you have taken a quick trip to Tuscany.

Another home worth mentioning was 1075 Lamonte Ln. Nestled on a quiet alley the home was tastefully renovated and decorated by it's local celebrity owners photographer Ralph Smith (culinary photographer) and author of romantic novels Barbara Smith (a.k.a Olivia Drake). The home was full of with Mr. Smith's beautiful photography taken at the couples' trips. Their cheerful garden is also worth mentioning where herbs and vegetables were generously used everywhere in the landscaping.

Another favorite was 1023 W.43rd St. Homeowner and interior designer Blake Woods created a playful, cozy, modern living space, and has not even moved one wall in this home built in the 1940's. The custom furniture Mr. Woods designed for the kitchen were fantastic small space solutions. His bold color choices, his lamp and glass collections and of course his whimsical art displays made this home a true Garden Oaks gem.

My favorite home of the tour was 1019 W. 43.rd. Artistic and creative homeowners Mr. and Mrs. Hoye used the 1008 sq.ft so successfully, as a realtor I was impressed by the utilization of the space. The creativity of the homeowners are visible throughout the house from the materials they used to build some decorative furniture, the art work and the garden oasis they created. Homeowner Mr. Hoye, a landscape designer truly is a local talent. The unique design which incorporated containers and flower beds, the playful accessory selection (some self-made I suppose) and even the technical solution (rain chimes!) he introduced instead of plain boring rain gutters made this home special. One of my favorite touches was the Ella Fitzgerald playing in the background. Sound is a dimension often ignored in design and what design is complete without the sound of music?

I fell in love with Garden Oaks all over again...such a wonderful community and the home and garden designs were so refreshing. If you visit the area, also check out the home design shop named Cavallini's on N. Shepherd at the corner of Garden Oaks Blvd. They sell some really neat items and the shop owner is very friendly.