Jasper vs Shepton vs Clark (Dallas, Plano: 2015, apartments, house)

[Dfw789]

I am moving from Allen to Plano after current school year and trying to focus on an area which feeds into best high school for my daughter. I have heard that currently Jasper is performing better but i'm thinking that Jasper will loose it's advantage after Rice feeding into Shepton, westside would provide her more academically challenging envoirnment.There is also an option to send her to Clark for IB so this is a difficult decision. My job is in downtown Dallas while my spouse works in Frisco so what would be the 'perfect' choice? Thank you for taking time to help.

[Big G]

What? No Vines or Williams?

I'm not sure where you're getting your information. but it's not correct.

Rice doesn't feed into Shepton - never has, never will. Rice will continue to feed to Jasper going forward. Schimelpfenig is the middle school no longer feeding to Jasper, but it is now going to Clark, not Shepton. Shepton has the same two middle schools it's had for the last decade - Renner and Frankford.

Now, the Rice area did see a change at the 11/12 level. Starting with the graduating class of 2015, those kids will attend Plano West instead of Plano Senior. Is that loss going to trash Plano Senior's academic level? I think that's overblown. Rice is being replaced at Senior by Hendrick, a school (drawing from parts of Allen, even) with a large Asian demographic that just came in 4th (behind Rice, Greenhill, and one of the Coppell MS campuses) at the latest MathCounts competition.

Having said all that, the Tiger Moms of Plano are heavily concentrated in the Rice area, so that's probably where you'll want to be.

[Dfw789]

Oh, so Rice would go to Jasper and then Plano West. My Tiger Wife always loved Park and Preston so probably that's where we will end up. Her crystal ball says that mysterious academic powers that blessed Plano Sr. are favoring Plano West now. It's not that Plano Sr. Is going down but West that is already doing well, is gaining an edge over the other schools. Let's see!

[Big G]

Eh, Park and Preston puts you at Shepton, a school I am a big non-fan of. You get the worst of both worlds there - significant numbers of very poor AND very rich kids. To go all exaggerated and stereotypical, you'll have rumbles in the cafeteria AND Jaguar-driving spoiled brats in the parking lot. IMO, you'd be far better off at Jasper - maybe in the Robinson area.

[ReppingDFW]

Jasper > Clark > Shepton

I graduated from Plano West (went to Jasper) several years ago and the Shepton kids lagged behind the Jasper kids pretty significantly. In my AP classes, almost half the kids were from Jasper, even though they made up around maybe 1/4 of the student body. Many of the Shepton kids seemed extreme, as Big G pointed out. You'd have some that were "thugged out" and others that were Trust Fund Kids. Jasper is a bit more uniform in terms of income and not too extreme either way (it's all Middle / Upper-Middle Class). Not to mention Shepton is only Academically Acceptable.

[Dfw789]

This is surprising because all my friends who have children going to Shepton are quite happy with it and would not consider living in Jasper area though they can buy a lot more for their money in that zip code and it is mostly a nice area. As far as extreme ends of wealth spectrum, this is part of life so that's not even a legit issue. By the way, where are these poor kids coming from? Even cheaper apartment there aren't that cheap. Aren't there any poor or rich areas feed into other Jasper? I hear that even Highland Park and Coppell have trailer parks feeding into their high schools. I know that Allen is not an ideal school district for academics but we have kids from all economical groups in our high school here and we do not have any out of the norm issues.

[Big G]

First, this all is just one person's opinion, not some carved-in-stone fact, and it's coming from someone with a built-in pro-Senior bias. Take it with a grain of salt.

But I agree with the poster above - Jasper > Clark > Shepton. For the full equation, I'd say Jasper > McMillen > Vines > Clark > Shepton > Williams (maybe with some = signs in there instead). For each senior high, there's a preferred related high school: Jasper for West, Vines for Senior, McMillen for East. That should be a good HSO for the PISD crowd.

Originally Posted by Dfw789

This is surprising because all my friends who have children going to Shepton are quite happy with it and would not consider living in Jasper area though they can buy a lot more for their money in that zip code and it is mostly a nice area.

I don't believe the value-for-money is much different between Jasper and Shepton. That is, a $300,000 house in Shepton will be similar to a $300,000 house in Jasper. Now, if you go to the $1 million range, the comparison becomes impossible, as there ARE (AFAIK) no $1 million homes in Jasper.

As far as extreme ends of wealth spectrum, this is part of life so that's not even a legit issue.

Why not? If your kid's education is affected negatively by "mean girls" using their parents' checkbooks as social weapons, or kids with extremely sketchy backgrounds regularly harassing students, I would think that's a legit issue. (Getting on-topic, I don't think it's THAT big a deal at Shepton, but it certainly exists to a greater degree than at Jasper.)

Another aspect of the "rich kid" demographic at Shepton: those kids who are both rich AND high-performing, well-behaved students are siphoned off to private schools in disproportionate numbers. Left behind are a surplus of Holden Caulfield types, with "disengaged" parents, to put it politely.

By the way, where are these poor kids coming from? Even cheaper apartment there aren't that cheap.

Well, the apartments along Preston and Ohio aren't cheap. But the ones along McCallum in Dallas sure are, as are some of the ones around Frankford and Tollway. Don't forget the DHA project at Hillcrest/PGBT. PISD dips into Dallas farther than most people are aware. Some of those places (like the lots that back up to White Rock Creek) are loaded with cash, but a lot aren't. As has been discussed here before, the myth of all-rich Plano West is just that - a myth.

Aren't there any poor or rich areas feed into other Jasper?

No, not really. I can't of any. Even the apartments feeding to Jasper are limited in number.

I hear that even Highland Park and Coppell have trailer parks feeding into their high schools.

I doubt that's true for HP, dunno about Coppell. It's certainly true for Plano - you can drive by them on the way to Costco.

I know that Allen is not an ideal school district for academics but we have kids from all economical groups in our high school here and we do not have any out of the norm issues.

To an extent, I'm having a bit of fun here. I'm sure you can get a fine education at Shepton, and there are plenty of Jasper kids that are far from angels.

[Dfw789]

I agree with some of the points but from what I hear from most parents and from school scores, it is a very good school. I doubt that Highland park has any poor kids at all but Coppell has two trailer parks in such a small town so probably they have sizable group of underprivileged students but million dollars homes are few so not a very high percentage of wealthy students there. I am not sure if this matters in a big school, could be an issue for small schools. Every one can find their niche and like minded friends in a big school.

[Big G]

Originally Posted by Dfw789

Every one can find their niche and like minded friends in a big school.

Right there, you've summed up the greatest advantage of the PISD (and Allen ISD) superschool system. Class sizes of 1200-1500 are a feature, not a defect. You don't have to worry about fitting in with the "In Crowd", because there IS no "In Crowd".

[Shayne_]

Where exactly is Jasper?