Only one negative About AISD, FISD, PISD (Plano, Allen: high school, college)

[mikeh19468]

Originally Posted by mumof1

2006-2007 and 2011 were the drought years in dfw and homes built during these years are having foundation issues more than others

That's probably more a function of where they were built and whether or not the owners watered the foundation. I'd be more concerned with houses built from less reputable builders during the boom of 2002-2007, when a lot of inexperienced crews had to be used because of demand. A lot of shoddy workmanship was the result...

[barnabasc]

One negative is that they are in Oklahoma.

[Keepforgettingpw]

Now there is no shortage of workers but builders are cutting corners in material and wages.

[Grainraiser]

The UIL just set the districts for sports and here is the 5A list with enrollment numbers. Take into account that the UIL also include 9th and 10th grade centers when compiling the numbers. Take a look at the top 4 schools.

Plano East 6015.5
Allen 5388
Plano 5314.5
Plano West 4944.5
Galena Park North Shore 4601
Dallas Skyline 4326
Klein Oak 4137.5
Conroe The Woodlands 4126.5
Alief Elsik 4032.5
Duncanville 4008
Laredo United 3945
Alief Hastings 3938
Deer Park 3917
Converse Judson 3848
Odessa 3774
Lewisville 3687
El Paso El Dorado 3675
Katy Seven Lakes 3675
Aldine MacArthur 3670
Pasadena Dobie 3604
Klein Forest 3557
Houston Bellaire 3523
Spring 3493
Cypress Lakes 3414
Cypress Falls 3398
Klein Collins 3390
Houston Lamar 3388.5
Cypress-Fairbanks 3368
Cypress Creek 3340
Arlington Martin 3333
South Grand Prairie 3324
Spring Westfield 3305.5
San Antonio Madison 3284
Houston Jersey Village 3272
Pearland 3263.5
Coppell 3253.5
Flower Mound 3247
Euless Trinity 3212
Conroe 3210
Flower Mound Marcus 3196
Irving MacArthur 3193.5
Donna 3175.5
San Antonio Southwest 3170
Katy Morton Ranch 3161
Arlington Sam Houston 3149
Klein 3139.5
Houston Aldine High 3130
Odessa Permian 3125
Northside SA O'Connor 3117
Irving Nimitz 3108
Conroe Oak Ridge 3095
Arlington Bowie 3082
San Antonio Churchhill 3067.5
Round Rock Cedar Ridge 3065.65
Katy Cinco Ranch 3050.5
Langham Creek 3049
Brownsville Hanna 3041.5
Mission Sharyland 3040.5
Humble Atascocita 3027
Cypress Ridge 3027
El Paso Franklin 3023
Lewisville Hebron 3019
Houston Westside 3012
Irving 2991
Northside SA Jay 2984.5
Midland Lee 2963
Arlington Lamar 2911
Houston Chavez 2908
San Benito 2904
McKinney Boyd 2900
Austin Bowie 2888.5
Arlington 2886
San Antonio Roosevelt 2882
San Antonio Lee 2879
El Paso Montwood 2871
Laredo United South 2853
Alief Taylor 2845.5
San Antonio Reagan 2845
Northside SA Warren 2838
De Soto 2832.5
Harlingen 2826
Los Fresnos 2825
Houston Clear Lake 2818
Cypress Woods 2811
Mesquite 2811
Katy 2810.5
Aldine Eisenhower 2810
Hurst L.D. Bell 2803
Midland 2802
Laredo Alexander 2800
Aldine Nimitz 2790
Spring DeKaney 2784.5
El Paso Coronado 2779
Del Rio 2771.5
Mansfield Timberview 2770
Pasadena Memorial 2764
Katy Taylor 2764
De Valle 2741
El Paso Socorro 2733
Austin Akins 2730.5
Friendswood Clear Brook 2722.5
Northside SA Clark 2721.5
San Antonio East Central 2705
Grand Prairie 2702
Pasadena Rayburn 2698
Edinburg North 2698
San Antonio MacArthur 2693
Katy Mayde Creek 2693
Garland 2686
Humble Kingwood 2681.5
Northside SA Holmes 2677.5
Houston Math & Science Tech 2662.5
San Angelo Central 2661
Fort Bend Clements 2659
Richardson Berkner 2654
Keller 2647
Pasadena South Sam Houston 2643
Garland Sachse 2640
Round Rock 2639
Northside SA Stevens 2631.5
Garland Rowlett 2631
Corpus Christi King 2622
Tyler Lee 2621
Ft Worth Paschal 2617
San Antonio Johnson 2591
Southlake Carroll 2588
Cypress Ranch 2583
A&M Consolidated 2577
Woodlands College Park 2575
Northside SA Marshall 2569
Austin Westlake 2569
Edinburg Economedes 2568
Northside SA Taft 2551
Laredo Johnson 2550
Weslaco 2544.5
Belton 2538
Mansfield 2532
Keller Central 2529
Richardson High 2525
Cypress Springs 2522
Haltom City Haltom 2522
Round Rock Westwood 2515
Killeen Ellison 2512
El Paso Americas 2510
Round Rock Stony Point 2510
Brownsville Veterans Memorial 2495
North Mesquite 2493
La Joya High 2488.5
Garland Naaman Forest 2485
League City Clear Springs 2481
Alivn 2477
Clute Brazoswood 2474.5
Houston Memorial 2465
Edinburg High 2455
Northside SA Brandeis 2451
Garland Lakeview Centennial 2442
Killeen Harker Heights 2440.5
Baytown Sterling 2440
Round Rock McNeil 2433
Fort Bend Kempner 2428
PSJA North 2423
Dallas White 2422
Fort Bend Austin 2422
League City Clear Falls 2417.94
San Antonio Wagner 2412
Bryan 2400.5
Pharr-San Juan-Alamo 2398
Corpus Christi Carroll 2381
Pasadena 2381
Midloathian 2355.5
McAllen Memorial 2354
Fort Bend Hightower 2334
New Braunfels 2332
Justin Northwest 2331
Channelview 2331
Brownsville Lopez 2328
Beaumont West Brook 2327
Fort Bend Travis 2323
South San Antonio 2321
North Crowley 2317
Dickinson 2309.5
Killeen Shoemaker 2307
Pflugerville 2303
La Joya Palmview 2302.5
Colleyville Heritage 2290.5
PSJA Memorial 2278
Pflugerville Hendrickson 2276
McAllen High 2274
Port Arthur Memorial 2270
Brownsville Rivera 2268
Amarillo Tascosa 2265
North Richland Hills Richland 2264
Austin 2258
Edinburg Vela 2257
McAllen Rowe 2251
Houston Westbury 2247.5
Cibolo Steele 2232
Richardson Lake Highlands 2229.08
Eagle Pass 2226.5
Weatherford 2224.5
League City Clear Creek 2223.5
Brownsville Porter 2219
Mesquite Horn 2219
Austin Lake Travis 2218
Rockwall 2212
Dallas Sunset 2206
El Paso Bel Air 2205
Brownsville Pace 2202
Keller Timber Creek 2199.5
Harlingen South 2193
Killeen 2192.5
Keller Fossil Ridge 2191
Manvel 2189
Lubbock Coronado 2187
La Porte 2185
Copperas Cove 2174.5
Grapevine 2170
Longview 2167
Spring Branch Smithson Valley 2165
Fort Bend Dulles 2160
San Marcos 2159.5
Abilene 2156.5
El Paso Eastwood 2151
Cedar Hill 2145
Temple 2144.5
Rockwall Heath 2144
Dallas Jesuit 2142
Weslaco East 2140.5
La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 2134.5
Carrollton Turner 2132
Richardson Pearce 2130
Abilene Cooper 2127.5
Lufkin 2127
Waco Hewitt Midway 2127
Denton Ryan 2125
McKinney 2121
Fort Bend Bush 2114
North Garland 2105
New Braunfels Canyon 2101
Austin Anderson 2046.5
Houston Madison 2042.5
South Garland 2028
Fort Bend Elkins 2020
Eagle Pass Winn 1991.5
Houston Strake Jesuit 1802

[Big G]

Playing "Fun with Numbers" here:

Allen has a separate 9th grade center.

The Plano figures incorporate an 11-12 campus and two 9-10 campuses per senior high. (The boundaries are in transition from the old lines to the new lines right now, but let's simplify and assume everything splits exactly evenly between grades and campuses.)

Frisco purposely builds schools to keep their high schools at 4A size. From this list, that's right around the 2000 student mark. (Houston Jesuit doesn't count - as a private, to be in UIL, they are required to play in 5A regardless of actual size.) HP+1, isn't it?

Estimated Class and Campus Size (off UIL numbers):

Allen:
9th grade: Class Size and Campus Size 1350
10th-12th grade: Class Size 1350, Campus Size 4050

Plano East:
9th/10th grade: Class Size 750, Campus Size 1500
11th/12th grade: Class Size 1500, Campus Size 3000
Plano Senior:
9th/10th grade: Class Size 675, Campus Size 1350
11th/12th grade: Class Size 1350, Campus Size 2700
Plano West:
9th/10th grade: Class Size 625, Campus Size 1250
11th/12th grade: Class Size 1250, Campus Size 2500

Frisco High Schools (roughly):
9th-12th grade: Class Size 450, Campus Size 1800

---

My (admittedly self-serving) point:

Allen and Frisco 9th graders walk into a school that is, on average, just as big as (in the case of Frisco, bigger than) the schools Plano 9th graders walk into.

To stack them up grade-by-grade:

9th Grade Class Size: Allen >> Plano > Frisco
9th Grade School Size: Frisco > Allen = Plano

10th Grade Class Size: Allen >> Plano > Frisco
10th Grade School Size: Allen >> Frisco > Plano

11th/12th Grade Class Size: Plano = Allen >> Frisco
11th/12th Grade School Size: Allen >> Plano >> Frisco

[Grainraiser]

I don't think the overall number of students at a high schools really means that much. It's the average students per class that is more important. It does matter when you consider sports or other school programs because the competition is greater. Some kids thrive in this environment while others struggle.

[Souleiado]

But Big G, it doesn 't feel that way for the 9th graders, they actually get to know most of the students . It has been great in band , they let all 9th graders try out for marching band, since many of them made it , they let about 70 freshmen walk this year ,they just added them , nobody took the place of somebody else . The seniors got to help the freshmen , it was great for everybody. The teachers get to know the kids longer , and form a better relationship with them. In my son's school they also created one more band because of the need , they have 2 football teams devoted only to 9th grader , same for all activities . As a parent , I get to know the people and the others parents for the next 4 years . Again nobody is taking the place of somebody else , they have also 3 others football team , including 2 varsities . That's the avantage of a 4 years smaller school . Actually the complaint comes from some teachers , that the kids have too many opportunities and try out sometimes too many things , in bigger schools , only the best ones get to be on a team .Parents on the other hand , usually prefer that concept.
If they were is something missing in one school , like a language course or for some college courses , the kids go to the CTE center , few people here speak about that center , but it does offer a large variety of different subjects and careers .Many other towns , including Plano are very interested in the concept of a similar center .

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by Grainraiser

I don't think the overall number of students at a high schools really means that much. It's the average students per class that is more important. It does matter when you consider sports or other school programs because the competition is greater. Some kids thrive in this environment while others struggle.

I agree with this. Simply put, the chance of being #1 grad (or newspaper editor or football quarterback or student council president or anything else there's only 1 of) is:

1/450 @ avg Frisco schools
1/1350 @ Allen
1/1250-1/1500 @ Plano schools

The odds are basically 3X better at a Frisco (or other similar sized 4A high school).


I'm a graduate of a 4A high school so obviously that clouds my judgement but I don't see the benefit of a college-sized high school class. The difference between 4A & 5A as far as additional programs / teams/ classes is far outweighed by the massive class (grade) size. The bigger programming "leap" occurs between 3A and 4A schools.

I also don't like Plano and Allen moving the kids around so much. I personally prefer the traditional 9-12 environment.

[PISDstudent]

From a student's perspective:
It really depends on who you are, however, as my class size has gotten progressively larger (Plano MS---> HS ---> Sr. High) I have progressively gotten happier. I like having more people around me, becuase that way I don't have to know everyone in my grade, and quite honestly, no matter where I am, there are some people I would rather not know . The class sizes of Plano coupled with the nature of the student body (ie. 30+ national merit scholar semifinalists per year) allow me to be around many very, very smart peers, and provide me with choices socially I wouldn't have elsewhere. In Plano, I don't have to be the only student that would rather listen to Stravinsky than pop music.

That being said, large schools aren't for everyone. When choosing schools, you really have to decide what type of person you are.

[barnabasc]

Above 300 or 400 students per class it ceases to be a school and becomes a factory.