School District (Dallas, Plano, Garland: homes, neighborhood, college)

[jacob]

I heard from friends that school district matters only for high school, not for elementary because most elementary schools are just about the same. Is this true ?

[socketz]

This is somewhat true if the Elementary was built by the builder to serve the community and the community is safe/affluent/desirable. This is typically how it is done. However, as you go south into Dallas, all bets are off. You need to look at each individually (www.greatschools.net)

Where the trick comes in is that these schools then feed into common middle and high schools. So you could be in a nice little Elementary School in Mckinney in a new area then get fed into a common middle school that serves the bad side of Mckinney to the east as well as the good side in Stonebridge. Even if your kids are not Middle School age, this will hurt resale.

The saving grace is that TX dumps tons of dough on schools and if you are commuting more than 4 miles to one of these feeder schools, chances are they may build another closer to you. But....you can't expect it....for instance, Plano is mammouth and it only has 2 HSs. Allen only has the one.

Not sure why TX chose to do it this way. This is what breeds so much destructive competition in DFW schools. Kids have been and were always competitive, but once you put them in a school with over 3k kids, what are the chances of finishing in the top 10 percent ? It's a numbers game. I have friends here that describe college as "a nice break from high school".

[GoPadge]

Originally Posted by jacob

I heard from friends that school district matters only for high school, not for elementary because most elementary schools are just about the same. Is this true ?

Yes and no. From my unofficial looks at state ratings, I have found that far more elementary schools by percentage are rated Exemplary or Academically Acceptable than middle or high schools. Part of this may be because more money is being spent on those levels right now, or part of it may be that the elementary curriculum is too easy, or that elementary kids are easier to teach.

It is not uncommon to find a district where the elementary schools are all Exemplary or Academically Acceptable, and yet the middle and high schools are merely Academically Acceptable or worse, Academically Unacceptable. I seriously doubt you will find the reverse, where the elementary schools are having issues where the middle or high schools are not.

Having said that even a high school with a good rating, does not guarantee that the elementary schools, or one in particular does not have it's own issues.

[momof2dfw]

You have to remember that most elem schools feed just the neighborhood they are in. You have MANY more elem schools than at any other level. Then the jr highs/middle schools, several of the elem schools feed into 1 jr high/middle school. Since you know have kids coming from more different backgrounds it is going to drop. Then high school, again less high schools than jr highs/middle schools. High schools have an even wider gap in the students that attend that school. So it is only natural that the ratings are going to drop. The kids in high school are going to come from every economic background out there. While your neighborhood elem school had all English speaking students and none on reduced or free lunch your high schools are going to have students that speak many different langauges, moved here from other areas and may not be on par, wider range of economic background, etc.

[Vicman]

Also, be sure to use school district zone locator/school finder/school zone search tools and boundary maps to determine the zoned schools of your residence and/or the prospective homes.

For instance:

Here are some tools from a FEW of the DFW area districts

School zone search tools:
* Allen ISD - http://www.allenisd.org/aisdweb.nsf/LocatorStreet?OpenPage (broken link)
* Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD - http://schoolfinder.cfbisd.edu/searc...TOKEN=95623883
* Dallas ISD - http://www.dallasisd.org/demo/FindSchools.cfm (broken link)
* Duncanville ISD - http://www3.duncanvilleisd.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=194&Item id=389 (broken link)
* Irving ISD - http://www.irvingisd.net/schools/schoolfinder.asp
* Mesquite ISD - http://schoolfinder.mesquiteisd.org/...TOKEN=69090840
* Plano ISD - http://schoolfinder.pisd.edu/schoolfinder.asp
* Richardson ISD - http://schoolfinder.risd.org/search....TOKEN=14310893
* Wylie ISD - http://www.wylieisd.net/attendancezone.aspx (broken link)

Attendance zone maps:
* Allen ISD - http://www.allenisd.org/web/About/boundarymaps.html (broken link)
* Coppell ISD - http://coppellisd.com/docs/map.pdf (broken link)
* Dallas ISD - http://www.dallasisd.org/demo/indexzones.htm (broken link)
* Duncanville ISD - http://www3.duncanvilleisd.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=195&Item id=390 (broken link)
* Frisco ISD - http://www.friscoisd.org/students/map.htm (broken link)
* Irving ISD - http://www.irvingisd.net/schools/Irving_ISD_Map.htm (broken link)
* Lewisville ISD - http://www.lisd.net/lisdschools/boundarymap.html (broken link)
** The boundaries will change in 2007, when the district plans to open a new middle school: http://www.lisd.net/communications/news/WEBkillianboundaryletter.pdf (broken link)
* Lovejoy ISD - http://sm.lovejoyisd.net/MP.cfm?P=631
* McKinney ISD - http://www.mckinneyisd.net/departments/communications/attendance_zones/zones.htm (broken link)
* Mesquite ISD - http://www.mesquiteisd.org/maps/AttendZones0607.pdf
* Rockwall ISD - http://rockwallisd.com/PARENTINFO/attendancezones.asp (broken link)
* Wylie ISD - http://www.wylieisd.net/attendancezone.aspx (broken link)
** Intermediate/junior high attendance zones - http://www.wylieisd.net/documents/backtoschool/0506/proposed%20cooper%20junior%20high%20attendance%20z ones.wspx (broken link)
** Proposed new elementary attendance zones for 2007-2008 - http://www.wylieisd.net/news/2006/december/0708proposedelemzones.wspx (broken link)

Keep in mind that Garland ISD does NOT assign specific addresses to specific schools. The district uses a free choice system.

[momof2dfw]

"Keep in mind that Garland ISD does NOT assign specific addresses to specific schools. The district uses a free choice system."

True, Garland ISD does have the "choice of school" BUT it does go by neighborhood. If you pick a school that is not your neighborhood school to attend you will be put at the bottom of the list as those that live closest get first dibs.

[Vicman]

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

"Keep in mind that Garland ISD does NOT assign specific addresses to specific schools. The district uses a free choice system."

True, Garland ISD does have the "choice of school" BUT it does go by neighborhood. If you pick a school that is not your neighborhood school to attend you will be put at the bottom of the list as those that live closest get first dibs.

http://www.garlandisd.net/departments/student_services/choiceofschool_process.asp (broken link)

According to this, while people who live the closest do get first dibs, the schools do not have actual "attendance zones."

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by Vicman

http://www.garlandisd.net/departments/student_services/choiceofschool_process.asp (broken link)

According to this, while people who live the closest do get first dibs, the schools do not have actual "attendance zones."

Well, I'm a parent in the GISD and we do have "neighborhood schools" and "attendance zones". They just have the choice of schools. If you put a school that is not your neighborhood school or in your "attendance zone" for transportation you may not get it at all and if you do you will not get bus service.

[skyblu]

Ask some elementary teacher if all elementary schools are pretty much the same from district to district. I don't think they will agree.

[Vicman]

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

Well, I'm a parent in the GISD and we do have "neighborhood schools" and "attendance zones". They just have the choice of schools. If you put a school that is not your neighborhood school or in your "attendance zone" for transportation you may not get it at all and if you do you will not get bus service.

I would ask GISD to update its site, as it explicitly states that there are no attendance boundaries.

The district site explicitly states: "There are no “attendance zones” for any campus in the district. Instead, parents are given the opportunity to make a 1st and 2nd school choice which the district tries to honor. Denial of school choice occurs when there is overcrowding in the selected school and/or the enrollment would adversely affect the ethnic ratios at the school."

The City of Sachse states this on its GISD section: http://www.cityofsachse.com/education/garland.asp (broken link)

"Sachse residents who live in Dallas County attend Garland schools. The Garland School District has open enrollment campuses. A student may attend any Garland school of their choice as long as they have transportation to that facility. If they depend on school bus transportation, they must attend the school whose bus route they reside in. Following is a list of schools closest in proximity to Sachse:"