Plano ISD/ Lovejoy/ Allen/ Prosper ratings on Greatschools, US News, Newsweek..all different???? (Dallas: houses, employment)

[GetOutOfMinnesota]

Hello,

We are currently in Minnesota(this winter has been pretty bad..had snow yesterday!!), planning to move to Dallas due to weather and better education for kids.

I will be posting different threads that address different inputs from all you experts! (dont want to cram too many questions in the same posting)

Some info about us, wife and I have jobs in technology sector, we have 2 kids a 4 year old and an 18 month old.

Schools are very very important to us, willing to downsize on home for schools.

So, doing some research on greatschools.org found that Lovejoy has a rating of 10, Allen /Prosper 9 and Plano is 8. Reading all the posts on this forum I had the impression that Plano ISD is just superior/at a different level than Lovejoy/Allen and Prosper.

Greatschools Lovejoy
http://www.greatschools.org/texas/al...hool-District/

Greatschools Plano
http://www.greatschools.org/texas/pl...hool-District/

US News ranking of high schools has Love Joy High ranked at # 315, Plano West Senior High at # 363 nationally.

http://www.usnews.com/education/best...texas/rankings

Newsweek /Dailybeast report has Plano West at # 63, Plano Senior # 108, Love Joy # 230

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newswee...h-schools.html

Could someone please help me digest these discrepancies? How come these ratings are so different?

Thanks for all your inputs!
-- K

[EDS_]

I'm a private school buyer with no skin in the Lovejoy v Plano game.


Assuming we are talking about a top 50% or better performer - throw that survey in the trash and send your child to PISD.

[robmab]

The discrepancy is they all use different criteria and take a different number of years of "history" into account.

Great Schools is pretty lame in terms of their ranking system -- seems pretty subjective and is never updated from year to year. However, some of the parent reviews (if they aren't 5 years old) can be informative.

US News and Newsweek use more objective data, but no amount of data can really give you the true picture of the school. You need to talk to neighbors, alumni, parents of kids currently in the school, etc., to know what it's really like and if it will be a fit for your family.

You are a LONG way from high school. Don't worry so much about the high schools right now and focus more on the parts of town you like and where you will be happiest. It may be West Plano, and then again, it may not. There are other good schools for good students in the metroplex, despite what the rankings and the C-D posters preach.

[synchronicity]

Originally Posted by GetOutOfMinnesota

Hello,

We are currently in Minnesota(this winter has been pretty bad..had snow yesterday!!), planning to move to Dallas due to weather and better education for kids.

I will be posting different threads that address different inputs from all you experts! (dont want to cram too many questions in the same posting)

Some info about us, wife and I have jobs in technology sector, we have 2 kids a 4 year old and an 18 month old.

Schools are very very important to us, willing to downsize on home for schools.

So, doing some research on greatschools.org found that Lovejoy has a rating of 10, Allen /Prosper 9 and Plano is 8. Reading all the posts on this forum I had the impression that Plano ISD is just superior/at a different level than Lovejoy/Allen and Prosper.

Greatschools Lovejoy
Lovejoy Independent School District in Allen, TX | GreatSchools

Greatschools Plano
Plano Independent School District (PISD) in Plano, TX | GreatSchools

US News ranking of high schools has Love Joy High ranked at # 315, Plano West Senior High at # 363 nationally.

Search Texas High Schools | US News

Newsweek /Dailybeast report has Plano West at # 63, Plano Senior # 108, Love Joy # 230

America

Could someone please help me digest these discrepancies? How come these ratings are so different?

Thanks for all your inputs!
-- K

Choose a metric you prefer and run with it. Looking at high schools, Plano's have the best SAT/ACT scores, although the other schools aren't slouches either. The US News ratings put more emphasis on AP tests, I believe. Greatschools looked at TAKS results, IIRC, and applies some type of formula to get their 1-10 rating, but I'm not totally clear on that.

Of course, your kids are awfully young and who knows, things could change over the next decade (although per a recent post by TC80, the top schools in DFW have remained awfully consistent over the last 15 years)

A better question would be "where are you going to be working?" Lovejoy is somewhat off in the hinterlands to the Northeast and a rough commute to many places, Prosper is a ways North with long commutes. Allen is a little closer than Lovejoy but not much. Plano is a huge burb and you could be much closer to downtown Dallas or other parts of the metroplex in some parts of it, or bordering Allen if you're way out NE. Plano has a bunch more corp HQ's than the other places listed. Right now that will likely be a bigger concern than the schools given those possible areas.

Of course, if you wind up with a job further west, then none of those may make sense and you can post to get arguments about Coppell vs. Carroll vs. Grapevine-Colleyville vs. Flower Mound.

[sunball]

What I learned from this forum was West Plano is way better than all the rest of school districts you just mentioned. Don't know your budget, but definitely southlake and HP/UP also have strong program. We initially were debating between west Plano and west Allen, ended with west Allen. Because with similar budget, you will get a much newer, bigger house. The school is not as good but will definitely not bad, or I have to say Allen is booming. Our kids are still young as yours, you never know if you will settle here all the way till their high school.

[GripeWater]

Schools are much better in Plano, there are no two ways about it, that's the main reason people pick Plano over other suburbs that you mentioned. Everyone knows that you can get cheaper houses elsewhere but education is a priority for many families and of course location is better as well. I can easily sell my house and buy a bigger and newer one somewhere else but I choose not to. If I ever moved, probably it would be to a smaller and older home in Park Cities.

[CREW747]

Originally Posted by synchronicity

Choose a metric you prefer and run with it. Looking at high schools, Plano's have the best SAT/ACT scores, although the other schools aren't slouches either. The US News ratings put more emphasis on AP tests, I believe. Greatschools looked at TAKS results, IIRC, and applies some type of formula to get their 1-10 rating, but I'm not totally clear on that.

Of course, your kids are awfully young and who knows, things could change over the next decade (although per a recent post by TC80, the top schools in DFW have remained awfully consistent over the last 15 years)

A better question would be "where are you going to be working?" Lovejoy is somewhat off in the hinterlands to the Northeast and a rough commute to many places, Prosper is a ways North with long commutes. Allen is a little closer than Lovejoy but not much. Plano is a huge burb and you could be much closer to downtown Dallas or other parts of the metroplex in some parts of it, or bordering Allen if you're way out NE. Plano has a bunch more corp HQ's than the other places listed. Right now that will likely be a bigger concern than the schools given those possible areas.

Of course, if you wind up with a job further west, then none of those may make sense and you can post to get arguments about Coppell vs. Carroll vs. Grapevine-Colleyville vs. Flower Mound.

Prosper and Fairview (Love Joy ISD) offer short work commutes for many residents.Commuting to North Dallas or Plano is not far for residents in Prosper and Fairview.I do not know many people who work in Downtown Dallas.Plano,Frisco,Lewisville,Mc Kinney,Denton and Allen all offer employment areas (hospitals,schools,offices etc) not just single family neighborhoods.

[CREW747]

Originally Posted by GripeWater

Schools are much better in Plano, there are no two ways about it, that's the main reason people pick Plano over other suburbs that you mentioned. Everyone knows that you can get cheaper houses elsewhere but education is a priority for many families and of course location is better as well. I can easily sell my house and buy a bigger and newer one somewhere else but I choose not to. If I ever moved, probably it would be to a smaller and older home in Park Cities.

When we were house hunting we realized early on that Plano would never be an option for us.Coming from Greenwich,CT Plano did not feel like home to us.
We did not like the housing stock in our price range in Plano (under $500,000) the yard sizes or back alley way neighborhoods.Not enough hills for us.We could not sacrifice everything else we wanted for a slight bump in schools at the High School level.The difference between Plano and Prosper schools for elementary and middle school is little to none.The only difference is diversity,Plano has it Prosper does not.I understand why many parents favor diversity.

Our oldest has years before High School.By that time I strongly believe the gap in Frisco ISD and Prosper ISD will be alot smaller at the High School level when compared to Plano ISD.

My spouse and I value education.I would up my price range for Carroll ISD the future if I was not satisfied with Prosper at the High School level. Southlake like Prosper has no back alley way neighborhoods or small lots. Rollng hills and trees,not flat everywhere.I would not have to give up ambiance that we favor.I would not consider Plano.Plano has alot to offer.Everyone has different needs and preferences.

[synchronicity]

Originally Posted by CREW747

Prosper and Fairview (Love Joy ISD) offer short work commutes for many residents.Commuting to North Dallas or Plano is not far for residents in Prosper and Fairview.I do not know many people who work in Downtown Dallas.Plano,Frisco,Lewisville,Mc Kinney,Denton and Allen all offer employment areas (hospitals,schools,offices etc) not just single family neighborhoods.

Ture, but knowing nothing else, I'd be leery of aiming for areas that are off on the fringes of the Metroplex. Sure, Prosper or areas in Lovejoy ISD work if one will be working in Frisco or Plano, say, but downtown Dallas or somewhere close to Ft. Worth?

Just trying to get the OP to realize that "school quality" is certainly a major focus, but "where will you be working?" is often just as big if not a bigger factor. Often home searches can be boiled down to "near Location X, good schools". The "good schools" are scattered around much of DFW, so the "near X" becomes the main variable. After that come all the other factors people value (diversity, trees, shopping, whatever)

[chipper21]

what happened to MJ popcorn GIF?