Dallas Here We Come! Now, where should we live?? (Plano: work, medical)

[bookworm2768]

Our family is over the moon to be moving to Dallas/FW soon. Of course we have lot of decisions to make about buying our next home and I hope I can get some advice from this forum. Like most parents moving house the facts we need to consider are :

1. Education : My 7yo is gifted to the extent where he NEEDS a good gifted program if he is not to go insane. I think that the Carrollton district is farly good?? Any other advice about gifted programs in public schools? I know there are other programs and Magnet schools esp inside Dallas but it seems like the areas north of 635 are more 'desirable'?

2. Commute time : DH will be working near the international Airport and, from what I'm seeing online, it seems that the drive from Addison or Richardson would be a bad thing to face every morning. Is this true? Would being in Carrollton actually make a huge difference on commute time when compared to Richardson?

I'm leaning towards Carrollton as a place where the education would be good, the commute tolerable and area not too congested. We'd be looking for something in the 200-225K range and that seems to be a possibility.

I've only come up with this from what I've seen online so I hope no one will be up in arms that I'm dissing their area Looking forward to all the helpful advice. . . .

[FarNorthDallas]

Hi. I don't know anything about the Carrollton-Farmers Branch school district, sorry. I don't know anyone who uses it or works in it.

Yes, being in Carrollton would be closer than Richardson. Richardson has magnet schools but they are more about relieving overcrowding in certain areas and attacting white to majority minority schools. They have nothing to do with being gifted, so you are not missing anything there.

Most of Addison is in Dallas ISD. I think part of it feeds into the C-FB district. I don't know what the boundary is though.

Have you considered Southlake, Westlake, Keller - the other side of the airport?

[Lakewooder]

I personally think the best gifted progams inside Dallas are in my alma mater's cluster, Woodrow Wilson High School - our top grads this year are going to Yale and Princeton. See So, tell me about Lakewood for more info or PM me.

The closest outstanding DISD high school cluster to DFW would be W.T. White and its feeders. White always makes the Newsweek top schools issue and I think it was 138 out of 1,000 this year. I don't know much about the elementaries in that area, however. The top two high schools on the Newsweek list are DISD magnets, coming in number 1 and 2 in the country.

Check Schools-Areas you can click on attendance zones on the left.

[bookworm2768]

Originally Posted by FarNorthDallas

Yes, being in Carrollton would be closer than Richardson. Richardson has magnet schools but they are more about relieving overcrowding in certain areas and attacting white to majority minority schools. They have nothing to do with being gifted, so you are not missing anything there.

Most of Addison is in Dallas ISD. I think part of it feeds into the C-FB district. I don't know what the boundary is though.

Have you considered Southlake, Westlake, Keller - the other side of the airport?

Thanks for your response. No I haven't really looked anywhere beyond north of Dallas. I'll look into those. I'm guessing they'd be considered suburbs of FW?

[FarNorthDallas]

Yeah, I guess so. Northeast Tarrant County. I read in the newspaper last week that Westlake has its own charter school that apparently is quite good. You automatically get in if you live in Westlake, and they have 1,000 non-resident kids on a waiting list.

I was thinking if you were on that side there would be less traffic congestion and a shorter commute to DFW airport.

Originally Posted by bookworm2768

Thanks for your response. No I haven't really looked anywhere beyond north of Dallas. I'll look into those. I'm guessing they'd be considered suburbs of FW?

[FarNorthDallas]

Looks like over on the Ft. Worth board there is a thread about Westlake Academy (the charter school in Westlake). It has the IB program which might be good for your gifted child.

[hamiltonpl]

The DISD's TAG magnet school has been listed as the #1 high school in the United States for the last two years by Newsweek Magazine. And #2 is Dallas' Science and Math Magnet. The DISD's WT White high school (which is just a regular high school) beat out McKinney, Carrollton, and Plano by a long shot. I'd live in North Dallas around the "story book" streets if I were in your shoes. (The streets have names like Pinocchio and Snow White.)

[FarNorthDallas]

Where do gifted elementary school kids in DISD go? Aren't all these schools like the two at Town View and WT White - aren't they all just high schools? This original poster's child is 7 years old.

[hamiltonpl]

Well, if she was really talented, that seven year old would already be in college or medical school!

Actually, what I meant to say was, WHOOPS.

[Lakewooder]

I believe this is one near White: George Bannerman Dealey Montessori Academy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

click on others for more info. Texas Monthly named about a dozen DISD elementaries "Best in Texas" several months ago, now I can't find that story on line. I know we had four in East Dallas/Lakewood.

Also just check for exemplary and recognized schools - you may not have to use a magnet but will be able to use a neighborhood school so that your child will have the same friends all the way through...