What about Longview? Tyler? Palestine?....relocating...HELP!!! (Houston, Dallas: neighborhoods, private schools)

[GoPadge]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

People persist to somehow believe Frisco's schools are the best in Texas even though Paschal and other schools in Dallas blow them away on NM Semifinalists and Scholars and Newsweek rankings.

I wouldn't say that having 10 semifinalist1 out of more than 39,000 students is exactly blowing away Frisco's 4 semifinalist2 out of 4200 students. (Not to mention another suburb that had 115 semifinalists out of 15,000 students.) But then, in the words of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation:

CAUTION: Any attempt to compare high schools on the basis of numbers of Merit
Scholarship winners will lead to erroneous and unsound conclusions. The National
Merit Program honors individual students who show exceptional academic ability
and potential for success in rigorous college studies. The program does not measure
the quality or effectiveness of education within a school, system, or state.

1
http://www.dallasisd.org/about/ (broken link)

2
http://www.friscoisd.org/news/fhs_natmerit_07feb.htm (broken link)
http://www.friscoisd.org/news/chs_natmerit_06oct.htm (broken link)

[Lakewooder]

I don't think Paschal has 39,000 students!

My DISD high school (Woodrow) has 2-4-6 every year and our senior class is only 250.

[TriumphOfTheSprint]

Here's an interesting list from the Paschal website link posted earlier:

http://www.paschalhs.org/acad/national_merit_semi.htm (broken link)

Apparently, by your logic, Carrollton-Hebron, Arlington-Martin, and a whole host of other suburban districts are better than the entire DISD. At least they have more NMS students than DISD as a whole. And that list doesn't include Plano, Garland and other Dallas county suburban school districts.

Can we just put the whole notion of rating a school and/or district by National Merit students to rest? Great, Woodrow has a proprotionately high number for the size of the school (but not as high as some other schools). The statistics don't tell us if that is because Woodrow has a great faculty, or just some really smart kids.

I'm not sure what any of this has to do with the focus of the thread anyway - maybe Tyler or Longview have some NMS students.

[hamiltonpl]

I think Lakewooder is just trying to disprove the theory that everything in the DISD sucks. One example is National Merit Finalists. It's certainly not the only criteria to look at. But it's one of many.

If a kid wants to succeed in the DISD, he can.

[TriumphOfTheSprint]

Originally Posted by hamiltonpl

If a kid wants to succeed in the DISD, he can.

I agree with this for sure - true almost anywhere.

[Lakewooder]

Hamilton I think this is a break-through -- I told you living in Lakewood would change you.

Yes, really what I am trying to say is that some DISD schools are better than some or most suburban schools.

If we can't agree on the National Merit criteria, then perhaps the AP/IB ratings used by Newsweek and D Magazine will do. For instance my alma mater, Woodrow, is ahead of about 50-60 suburban high schools on the D Magazine list.

But I still think when a school like RISD's Lake Highlands with a class of 650 has no semi-finalists, something is wrong.

[kwiley1221]

Originally Posted by loves2read

Athens is lovely as well--has more historical atmosphere than Tyler---
..

I agree. especially if by the original post, you are leaning toward East Texas. Athens is very nice...My uncle retired there 10 years ago after working his whole life in Austin) and wouldn't think of living anywhere else.

[TXSweetPea]

We moved to tyler a little less than a year ago, and have been very disappointed. I have two children under school age and I have already told my husband we need to move before they start school. The schools seem very dangerous and over crowded here. Traffic on the south side of town is horrible, and don't think about going into the north side of town. As for longview it is cute, but the crime rate is higher than Tyler. I do recommend if you had to move to east texas, Lindale is the better choice. The schools there are ok and it is typical small town texas. I found Whitehouse south of Tyler very trashy. There is limited $$$, and it is mostly right on the lake. Troup, well all I can say about troup is we don't stop or even slow down going through that town. Their whole police force was arrested, hmm not a good town.
A good note: I would recommend somewhere in the metroplex like, Southlake or Frisco ( very nice, lots of shopping lol)
good luck !

[destin04]

Frisco is growing so fast that they are starting to get some big city problems. We live about 3 miles from Frisco. I think the schools are good...but traffic is CRAZY! Also...they are starting to get a lot of forclosures due to people coming in on loans that are now coming due and they can't afford the new rates. It does have great shopping. If you have school age children it is very competitive with the parents....you know they brag about where their children go to school...who they play with...what sports they compete in...and where they shop.

[Lakewooder]

I can't understand what drives people to kill themselves with traffic for the frenetic, conformist Frisco, full of facades and fakery.