good high schools within a 15 mile radius of Denton (Dallas: transfer, school district)

[pkmanu]

Hello
We will be moving to Denton this summer and i am looking for good high schools within reasonable (approx. 20 mins) driving distance of UNT. Any suggestions? I am looking for affordable private / catholic schools or very good public schools for grades 10 - 12. Would there be a distinct advantage in attending private or catholic schools as opposed to public schools?

[GHJohn]

Liberty Christian comes to mind

[loves2read]

I don't think Liberty Christian can provide the quality that a public hs can for science labs and rigorous AP courses
do you want a quality high school or a "select" environment?

this chart shows the schools ranked by the % of free lunch students (think low socio-economic groups) vs their TX TAKS by district avg--

http://www.city-data.com/forum/dalla...-averages.html
Highland Park in Dallas has no free-lunch kids which is guess not not a surprose
second is Carroll/Southlake with 1%
Northwest is #20 with a TAKS avg of 88.333
frankly I think it should be better because there are schools with higher % of free lunch students who score higher overall--Lewisville being one of them...
it is not broken out by schools which could be more telling since all districts have more elementary schools than high schools--Southlake Carroll HS is the closest one to UNT that has an EXEMPLARY TAKS rating
Liberty Christian since it is a private school does not have to take the TAKS...
and I can't find any SAT scores for the school posted...
It is possible to live in the Southlake Carroll ISD--consistently top rated in TX--and be about 20-30 min from UNT--depending on where you live but more like 40 probably

Northwest is getting a lot of press but I don't think their HS is really top-notch
You might consider Lewisville ISD--
this link is to the SAT scores for Lewisville ISD with the hs's individual averages for 2007 test--the first one with the writing sample required--
which means it is more difficult than the 06--

Lewisville Independent School District
Flower Mound HS has highest ratings--
the high school is on Cross Timbers--you can either go W to I-35 W or E to I 35E then north to UNT or you can try going north on FM 1830

are you teaching there or finishing a degree and have a high school student?

if your son or daughter is truly giften in math or science and was going to be a 10 grader you might could have tried for the TX Academy for Math and Science--which is a residency program housed at UNT itself...but don't think that programs allows transfers at senior level...
TAMS Home, University of North Texas

most people think TX property taxes are high and much of your individual homeowner's taxes are for the ISD you live so paying for the higher tuition cost for private hs tuition is something many people think twice about
Frankly if your child is expecting to apply for scholarship or grants for college tuition, I think a church school can be risky because frankly most admission boards don't think they are as competitive/rigorous as a 4A hs in a well-regarded ISD--there are good public schools in this part of TX

this linkis to TEA region 11 web site--click public and get map of public isd--click on name to go to web site
and the private schools in region 11 area you can search by clicking that link to aother website

Education Service Center Region XI

[ChristieP]

Liberty Christian isn't Catholic. The only Catholic high school even remotely close to Denton is John Paul II in Plano, and that is a LONG way away!

Look at Southlake and Flower Mound. Both have excellent public schools and are easily within 20 minutes of Denton. Honestly, the public schools have just as good, if not better, environment than private schools here.

[FarNorthDallas]

I've heard nothing but good about Liberty Christian school in Argyle.
Liberty Christian School.

You might also look at the high schools in Flower Mound - Flower Mound High and Marcus. Not sure if that is within your 15 mile radius though.

[honu1]

Guyer High is the newest High School in Denton. There are a couple of websites where you can check out TAKS score averages...google should help you get that info. You can also look at the schools website to learn more about school activities: Guyer High School

[UNT_Eagle]

To add to the previous post, Ryan High School is another good public school in the city of Denton. I have a good friend who teaches/coaches there, and even though it's not as new as Guyer High School, still comes in high regard.

[loves2read]

the OP did not specifically request only a Catholic hs--

[pkmanu]

Thank you so much for all your responses. I have looked at some of the public high school ratings and looks like Plano, Argyle, Coppell, South Lake, Flower Mound all have well rated high schools. I realize that Plano is too far to commute to UNT. I will be teaching at UNT and my son is good in academics. We will be moving from Toronto where he currently attends a private Christian school. So, I was looking for something similar, mainly to ensure that he stays motivated and has a positive experience during his last 3 years of high school. I thought TAMS is for grade 11 and 1. He still ahs grade 10 to finish. Any opinions on Selwyn school?

[stargazer]

I agree that Liberty might not be good for upper grades due to science and math.. They use Abeka which is weak in science and has hard math. I had to take my daughter out of a private school in Florida and put her in public due to the Abeka math... she had come from a background of doing Saxon Math in Texas.

Abeka is very good if your child starts using it when they are in pre school and kindergarten, then it isn't such a struggle. The issue I have with Abeka with math is that it has no strong repetition which to me is a strong foundation builder in learning how to add, subtract, multiplication and division. I believe that if they just supplemented and gave it in addition in schools, it would be good but solely math it isn't going to click for some students. Now if you ever talked to a teacher who is teaching this, they will say it is repetitious... but from what I have seen brought home, no and I have had other parents agree with me... another issue, how fast it moves instead of concentrating on a problem.

My youngest is in a school that has A Beka but also supplements with other materials but over all it is A Beka. There is going to be a move towards putting more science and math materials in later that aren't A Beka from what I have understood and feel as he gets older( going to 1st grade) if he needs more, we will access where he will be... ( also too we could be moving and that would take care of if we are staying there or not) He is doing great and has a math mind so it isn't a struggle... just like his dad who is a accountant...

What I would encourage you to do, all the schools your eyeing, I would ask them for a course syllabus for each subject and compare it with other schools in the area to see what they will be teaching. When we chose to put our oldest in public, what they were learning was really on par with what we she was doing in Texas. So in other words, private isn't going to be always the best choice, you have to look at each school individually.. Good luck.