Jeff and Jeri Norus have become experts at moving, changing states three times in four years. Their latest stop: The Woodlands.

House-hunting last year, they came across one of the newer areas, the Village of Creekside Park. Jeri said she worried it wasn’t being developed as carefully as other developments in the master-planned community. The neighborhood is zoned to Tomball ISD.

“People kept saying, ‘That’s not The Woodlands High School,’ ” she said.

The Noruses had been set on sending their children to schools in The Woodlands, as part of Conroe ISD. They were used to good public schools in northern Virginia’s Loudoun County, where Jeri taught elementary school. Their friends with kids also praised The Woodlands’ schools, so they worked with Realtors Cathy Cole and Jo Anne Johnson to narrow their search.

Their daughter, Kami, is an eighth-grader at Conroe ISD’s McCullough Junior High, ranked No. 16 with a grade of A+ from Children at Risk. She eventually will go to The Woodlands High School, No. 21 on the list with an A+ grade. (Tomball High ranked No. 46 with an A- grade.)

Kami, getting ready for cheerleading practice on a recent night, said the schoolwork at McCullough is tougher than at her school in Virginia. click here for complete story