FISD - how bad are the non top tier areas? (Frisco: to buy, high schools)

[frenzyrider]

Originally Posted by Bloomfielding

Bottom line, class size are similar in all districts as required by the state. It's just that you have to spread your resources thin because more buildings mean more money, more maintanance, more utilities, more employees and more administrative chaos. It is going to cost tax payers once builders leave.

Nobody is saying that other districts are perfect but that they are not spending bond money like there is no tomorrow and yet producing better results with less or similar demographics.

Frisco grew from 35K in 2000 (when Plano was 225K) to 145K in 2015 with more growth in the families with kids. Please suggest a source of capital that can keep up with that... Also, debt service in Frisco comes substantially from business and not residence so thanks for your concern but I think we will be A-okay.
As far as your comment on demographics go, it has changed substantially in the last 10 years and will continue to change. Liberty High school is showing you progress, so will Independence high and Heritage in future. The kids who are going to do it are still getting into middle school and most in elementary. We and many of my neighbors have such education that will put is in top 1% even in Plano so don't worry we will make it happen.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by FriscoTex

Are you familiar with the Texas Automatic Admission Law?
College For All Texans: Top 10% Rule
To summarize if you are in the top 10% of your graduating class in high school you are automatically
accepted to any public university in Texas. The exception is UT Austin, which automatically
accepts the top 7% or 8%.

If it is more competitive at Liberty HS than at Lone Star HS to get into the top 10%, then what
do you gain by going to Liberty if the curriculum is the same? Do you think the admissions offices
are impressed by Liberty HS vs. another school in Frisco or just Frisco ISD in general?

I would consider moving to a neighborhood that is safe, isn't going to depreciate as it ages,
close to work commute, etc. Spend money to go to college prep classes and other activities that
will enhance your child's college application.

FYI, if you are looking for high end neighborhoods ($800K+) zoned for Liberty there are none that I know
of.

I'm pretty sure you understand this but an automatic admissions kid who has middling ACT/SAT scores isn't going to be admitted into engineering/computer science/pre-med/bio etc. at UT or TAMU or TT for that matter as a freshman.

Although the theory is sound I'm not a fan of going to a lesser school to gain an auto-admit.

[Bloomfielding]

Originally Posted by frenzyrider

Frisco grew from 35K in 2000 (when Plano was 225K) to 145K in 2015 with more growth in the families with kids. Please suggest a source of capital that can keep up with that... Also, debt service in Frisco comes substantially from business and not residence so thanks for your concern but I think we will be A-okay.
As far as your comment on demographics go, it has changed substantially in the last 10 years and will continue to change. Liberty High school is showing you progress, so will Independence high and Heritage in future. The kids who are going to do it are still getting into middle school and most in elementary. We and many of my neighbors have such education that will put is in top 1% even in Plano so don't worry we will make it happen.

I'm glad that everything is awesome and everyone is cool.

[Wittgenstein's Ghost]

I used to work in the test prep and college admissions industry, and IME, a major factor that many parents don't consider is that increased school competitiveness means lower class rank. That often likely translates to a more tangible admission factor than something like high school prestige, particularly when discussing a public school.

I always wonder how so many people on this board feel comfortable ranking districts based on performances like state or standardized tests without adjusting for underlying demographics. Schools in wealthy areas are almost always going to perform better than schools in middle-class or poor areas. That doesn't mean that a given student would do better or get into more college if he or she attends the wealthy school.

OP: You're asking us where the "best" and "smartest" place to raise a child is. That's a question we can't answer. Some people have raised great kids in Highland Park, and some have raised great kids in South Oak Cliff. I don't think it's possible to identify specific areas of Frisco as being better or worse for raising children.

[unknown00]

thanks for the many replies. seems like the consensus is that no one knows since schools are so new and most people don't think there is a "major" difference. i guess i might have to gamble by going with one of the newer, far away, high schools rather than an established centennial or liberty

[Saintmarks]

Originally Posted by frenzyrider

Frisco grew from 35K in 2000 (when Plano was 225K) to 145K in 2015 with more growth in the families with kids. Please suggest a source of capital that can keep up with that... Also, debt service in Frisco comes substantially from business and not residence so thanks for your concern but I think we will be A-okay.
As far as your comment on demographics go, it has changed substantially in the last 10 years and will continue to change. Liberty High school is showing you progress, so will Independence high and Heritage in future. The kids who are going to do it are still getting into middle school and most in elementary. We and many of my neighbors have such education that will put is in top 1% even in Plano so don't worry we will make it happen.

This needs to be pointed out, but the Frisco ISD is much larger than the actual city of Frisco itself. A large chunk of North Plano is zoned for Frisco ISD, as well as a huge chunk of western McKinney and a large slice of Little Elm. Inversely there are some parts of Frisco that are in other ISDs (Stonebriar Country Club area is in Lewisville ISD and the northern border along 380 is in Prosper ISD) but these areas are much smaller in comparison

[Bloomfielding]

Originally Posted by unknown00

thanks for the many replies. seems like the consensus is that no one knows since schools are so new and most people don't think there is a "major" difference. i guess i might have to gamble by going with one of the newer, far away, high schools rather than an established centennial or liberty

It's your call. Frisco's projected population is 370K+, things are not going to settle for 5-10 years. If economy tanks then it may take longer.

[mila01]

Originally Posted by Bloomfielding

Sadly construction in Frisco is a multibillion business and smaller school/auto admit/making sports team story sounds so sweet with new and affordable homes that people convince themselves that they are dying and going to heaven. Once they buy then personal pride, town patriotism and home value deflation requires them to keep singing the hymns.

I see lotsssssssssssssss of Indian families from Rice MS Area moving out to buy home in Richwoods which feeds to Independence. Given the fact that these kids are from Rice,is there a possibility that Independence High can excel may be in 10 yrs? I do understand it's not just a bunch of students.. school curriculum, method of instruction, Semester Exams(Which is SADLY missing totally in Frisco) prepare the students in which the school can take a pride in!

[biafra4life]

I wonder if Frisco's small school approach has been tried anywhere else, and if so, did it succeed in providing a quality education? This school on every corner approach seems crazy to me. While most Frisco schools are too new to have any sort of verifiable track record, It's interesting to note that the oldest of Frisco's high schools, Frisco High, is not considered to be one of the elite schools in Frisco ISD, in fact, it might be nearer the bottom of the pile. Nothing to write home about whatsoever. You would think that the one school with the most exposure to the "Frisco Method" would have better results. Given that there is no ghetto in Frisco to skew results, this doesn't portend well for the rest of the ISD.

[Telegan]

With the rezoning and the new high schools coming in Frisco, there's no telling where some kids will end up by the time their school careers are over. Reedy High is opening up this fall, Lebanon Trail is opening next year, Memorial will open in 2017, and another one will open in 2019 to bring the total at that time to 11 high schools.