"Urban" inner areas of Dallas with good schools? (Highland Park: apartment, neighborhood)

[aggie972]

Originally Posted by bencronin04

If it was a better environment for them over all, yes. Outside and peer influence plays a much large roll in performance of a student at the k-12 level as opposed to the collegiate level. "Everyone" goes to grade school, a select few go to prestigious 4 year universities.

The scenario you're referring to, DISD already does, they just don't keep the students at the normal high schools. They pull them and put them in magnet programs. Why? More resources and a better social environment. The kids aren't worried about getting beat up because of some stupid gang initiation, they are there to learn and excel like all the other classmates in their school.

And yes, you shouldn't focus solely on SAT scores to select what school would be best for your family. But when you could move into say JJ Pearce or WT White feeder zone (same housing prices and within 10 minute drive of each other), I think a difference of 359 SAT points should have a significant factor on your decision.

Yeah, that's be another important consideration, the temperament and social abilities of my kid. Someone likely to be bullied would at least be safer in a suburban school.

[bencronin04]

Originally Posted by aggie972

Yeah, that's be another important consideration, the temperament and social abilities of my kid. Someone likely to be bullied would at least be safer in a suburban school.

Absolutely. I think socialization plays a very large role in someones life, more so than what they made on the SAT or what college they graduated from. It's one of the main reasons we will not home school, though it may be the best education we could provide for our children.

[Lakewooder]

Woodrow is not there yet on NMSF yet. You have to remember though, that the senior class is around 300 and only a certain percentage of those students would even have a shot at making the score. I'm confident we are coming along nicely. Much of the info on Woodrow bandied about on this board is out of date. The principal has only been there a few years and has made major changes in the faculty (and continues to do so). Same story at J. L. Long Middle School where the majority of the faculty has been replaced. Some of that is recruiting IB-trained teachers. Woodrow's first IB class graduated last spring and it was also the first year that all students graduated under four years in the academy system (academies are Business, Creative and Performing Arts, STEM and IB). In addition to IB, over 1,000 AP tests were administered in 2014 (remember senior class is around 300 students).

Incidentally, the "white" SAT score at Woodrow is 1609. Most of the whites are not economically disadvantaged, whereas many if not most of the minority students are.

[MenardMQ]

Originally Posted by ravensix

Because lobbing a vaguely bigot- or snob-related allegation towards the Park Cities is a guaranteed currency for attention trolls.

What you're describing is something very serious. I would think that producing something would be easy. A text, an email, neighbors' names or addresses. You know...anything.

I'll just leave this here:

2003: Watson Has Stayed For a While | Park Cities People

[Wittgenstein's Ghost]

SAT scores track too closely with things like IQ for them to be useful in comparing the quality of education in two schools. The SAT doesn't cover very much advanced material -- it is a test that is designed to take content that every student should know and test it in ways that require advanced critical thinking and reasoning. The SAT math, for example, is primarily Algebra 1 and lower, with a little Algebra 2 mixed in. Many of the hardest SAT math problems don't use any actual advanced math concepts -- they are simply tests of critical reasoning using easy concepts. The same is true for the other two sections as well.

SAT scores are probably a good indicator of the type of students who go to a school, but they aren't a good indicator of the quality of education.

[M.abus]

The problem you are going to have evaluating DISD SAT scores is that now that the district pays for anyone to take the tests, there are a lot of students taking them who are not prepared. So it lowers the averages. The high schools with a critical mass of students taking AP - W.T. White, Hillcrest and Woodrow Wilson (also IB) would be your best bets.

[nothermom]

Here's another option if you want urban. How old are your kids? Perhaps they could test into one of the magnet schools.

Public School Choice / Elementary Schools

Travis Elementary for instance is in Uptown in Dallas.

You could rent to start while school is sorted out, then find the $350k rancher (that would be tough to get close to an urban, highly rated school; so you might have to drive...)

[hbdwihdh378y9]

Originally Posted by jgn2013

Whites want to be around Asians because they think that the values are the same. My experience is that Asians that are proud of their culture and not self-hating don't feel this connection that whites feel. I think it's one-sided. Perhaps it stems from a desire to associate oneself with success.

You're out of your mind. Which way does the immigration arrow point? Asians move to countries built by Whites, not the other way around.

[hbdwihdh378y9]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

For relatively close-in neighborhoods, I'd recommend 3 high school feeder zones in Richardson ISD. Richardson is the closest in suburb to the city of Dallas and RISD covers neighborhoods in the city of Dallas and Richardson. Check out homes zoned to Lake Highlands Jr High & HS (city of Dallas, inside the northest corner of 635), Richardson HS (mostly city of Dallas, just north of 635 and west of 75), and JJ Pearce HS (mostly city of Richardson, best academics of the 3, furthest north). $350k is a decent budget for these areas (low for Lake Highlands but there should be some small ranch options there)

Yes, I would suggest looking seriously at Lake Highlands.

[hbdwihdh378y9]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

I 100% agree with your "in town taste in a suburban budget" comment - it's extremely expensive to live within the 635 loop if you want great K-12 schools, public or private.

But I disagre with the strident attitude comment. OP was unfairly attacked by multiple posters for asking a pretty basic question- "hey, I'm looking at $350k+ homes zoned to WT White schools and noticing the neighborhood demographics skew affluent and more white than other races....what am I missing because it seems like the houses around the schools aren't using the schools, leaving the school demographics to not mirror the neighborhood's". Other posters are projecting their own racial issues or identity struggles onto an innocent question.

It's an honest question and one that is pretty easy to wonder about given the extreme affluence of North Dallad and the extreme poverty in the majority of North Dallas schools. I wouldn't expect someone researching a relo from 1400 miles away to understand that affluent families - of ANY color (the new JCPenney CEO is black, chose Preston Hollow for a home and a PH private school for his child) - choose to live there because of close proximity to private schools and that 90%+ of the affluent families have never set foot inside their neighborhood public school.

Heck, there is a DISD elementary school less than 100 yards fom former President Bush's home. The home behind Bush's is for sale for $100,000,000.

Hicks, not Phillips, right?

I think the people who live in that part of town choose that location because it is close to where the action is, and it's close to friends, family, and business connections in the Park Cities, but you aren't limited to the typical 11,200-square-foot lot you get in UP, and you aren't paying the huge HPISD premium. You can get 15-20 acres (if you can afford it) like Gene Phillips and Tom Hicks. Or you can get a normal-sized lot (like my friends on Calculus) and stay in the game if you're priced out of the Park Cities, with the hope that you can bump up your income enough to afford private schools by the time your kids get to school age.