Plano ISD Schools vs Allen/Frisco ISD Schools (Jasper, Murphy: real estate, 2014)

[Falafelosophy]

Clark may not hold same reputation as Shepton or Jasper but their International Bacculaurate program is really awesome. PISD only offers this at Clark, Williams and Plano East Senior. Top students from all over PISD (including ones who can attend Shepton, Jasper or Plano West Senior) choose to go to Clark/ Plano East senior for this program. People call it a little exclusive private school within a public school. I've heard nothing but praise for this.

[Big G]

A school that hasn't yet been specifically mentioned is Otto MS, which opened just a few years ago. This is the school that many of the Richardson neighborhoods east of 75 feed to. It has a noticably high concentration of Indians from tech-type families attending, and turns out more than its share of math/science/etc. award winners. From there, the feeder system is Williams (which also has the IB program) and PESH.

[DitsyD]

I would be totally shocked to discover that there were no drugs at Plano West. Drugs are in most if not all high schools in this country, even Highland Park.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by whenks

Thanks Turtlecreek, falafelosophy and kazhuveri.

I am still looking in North plano in the plano west school system as of now. I would have loved to have looked at Plano Senior as well, but Clark's reputation is what has got me concerned (compared to a Jasper / Shepton) for i heard drugs/gangs on that part of town, not sure how true it is. Any light would be helpful

Can't speak to gangs, but can 110% ASSURE you that if a kid is seeking out drugs, they will find them in every HS in the country, including elite schools, religious schools, etc. The only difference is the type of drug (ie, lower income kids doing cheap hits of "cheese" vs more affluent kids doing coke or heroin).

You need to have a more realistic outlook on drugs so you won't be shocked to find out your kid knows people doing/dealing or is doing it themselves (ie, prep your kids from a young age about the dangers of drugs whether you *THINK* drugs are at their school or not).

[Big G]

From PISD's Web site:

Violent and Criminal Incidents on Secondary Campuses 2010-2011:

Clark: 1 Assault, 1 Weapons, 1 Criminal Mischief, 1 Theft, 5 Contraband
Jasper: 1 Assault, 2 Fight, 4 Threat, 2 Theft, 3 Contraband
Shepton: 5 Assault, 8 Fight, 5 Threat, 1 Criminal Mischief, 1 Harassment, 3 Contraband
Vines: 1 Threat, 1 Harassment
Williams: 1 Assault, 3 Fight, 1 Threat, 1 Weapons, 4 Contraband

From this data, the Plano Senior schools - Vines and Clark - actually look quite a bit safer than Jasper and (especially) Shepton. Perception is NOT reality???

Really though, this is all splitting hairs. PISD has very little tolerance for misbehavior of any kind. They can and do boot kids to their alternative school when called for. If your kid specifically goes looking for trouble, he can find it - just like at any other school in America, as TurtleCreek80 points out. Aside from that, it's unlikely trouble will find him in any of the PISD schools.

[Falafelosophy]

Many parents try to get approval for transfer from Williams to Clark because things are much better there for regular stream as well as IB stream.

[Big G]

I don't think that flies anymore. With Schimelpfenig now also feeding to Clark, Clark is no longer open to transfers (other than PWSH and PSHS area IB kids). PESH area IB kids (McMillen and Williams) are REQUIRED to do so at Williams, rather than Clark.

Another popular exit path from Williams is the central cluster. In the past, a fair number of Richardson-area PISD kids zoned to Mendenhall transferred to Aldridge for elementary school, then continued along that system - Wilson, Vines, PSHS.

[ReppingDFW]

Originally Posted by whenks

Thanks Turtlecreek, falafelosophy and kazhuveri.

I am still looking in North plano in the plano west school system as of now. I would have loved to have looked at Plano Senior as well, but Clark's reputation is what has got me concerned (compared to a Jasper / Shepton) for i heard drugs/gangs on that part of town, not sure how true it is. Any light would be helpful

I'd have to say Shepton is the second worst HS in Plano ISD after Williams.

[PISDstudent]

Originally Posted by Big G

From PISD's Web site:



From this data, the Plano Senior schools - Vines and Clark - actually look quite a bit safer than Jasper and (especially) Shepton. Perception is NOT reality???

Really though, this is all splitting hairs. PISD has very little tolerance for misbehavior of any kind. They can and do boot kids to their alternative school when called for. If your kid specifically goes looking for trouble, he can find it - just like at any other school in America, as TurtleCreek80 points out. Aside from that, it's unlikely trouble will find him in any of the PISD schools.

In defense of shepton, I was there that year (10-11), and it was something never seen before at that school. All of the fights recorded were in the span of a month, and all of the offenders were quickly shipped off to alternative school. Surprise surprise, after that there were no more fights. As mentioned, PISD has little tolerance for those incidents, and doesn't subscribe to the "everyone's a winner-even if you get in a fight" philosophy.

Shepton gets slammed on this board a lot, and it's not a perfect school, but it's not really as bad as people like to portray it as. Besides Jasper, I think it is the only high school that can justify offering Honors Precal based on demand for that class. The AP program has exploded in growth the last few years, and enrollment in classes like AP Euro, from my impressions, far surpassed all 9-10 schools besides Jasper.

As far as drugs at Plano West, I can only wish there weren't any. The culture there among students is pretty liberal/accepting, which provides for tolerance but also contributes to a sizable marijuana problem. At least it's not heroin anymore....

Also, I think Clark will be losing IB in a few years, but I might be mistaken.

[Falafelosophy]

PISD is starting a 4 year IB Academy at PESH for 9-12 to replace current method of 9-10 pre-IB at Clark/Williams and IB 11-12 at PESH. It is going to attract significant numbers of top students from all over the district to PESH and improve their average scores closer to Plano West and Plano Sr.