Best suburbs... (Dallas, Austin, Plano: 2011, to rent, health insurance)

[theloneranger]

Originally Posted by hillflan

Cedar Hill-Lakeridge
Or Southern Grand Prairie

At that income level she could get a more family friendly area and better schools than in Cedar Hill or SGP.

Those areas are the highlight of the southern suburbs but there are a bunch of suburbs in the north that are going to hold value better, be safer, and have a better family living experience. Those areas of the southern suburbs are excellent but the rest of the southern areas, including areas which feed into the same schools, are not as safe or nice.

I am not, if you have read my posts, a northern suburbs diehard by any means, so don't attack me just because I've pointed out some negatives about the southern suburbs, as many pro-southern sector people are prone to do.

Just a heads up.

[CravenClan]

Texas School Performance Maps

Someone gave me this in another post, and from the looks of the map, the better school areas are

W. Allen
Allen
Rockwall
McKinney
Richardson
Coppell
Carrollton
Flower Mound
Keller
Colleyville
Murphy

From what i can tell, now i will reserach their population/demographics and see if it looks like what we are looking for....

Does anyone know how or what they call each school district? Is it always going to be, MISD, AISD, RISD, etc, or are some of them lumped together, maybe if their population is not really big?? I am CLUELESS on this stuff, maybe that is why we have stayed put for so long, all this and change, sends my head spinning!!!!
Does anyone

[theloneranger]

Originally Posted by CravenClan

Texas School Performance Maps

Someone gave me this in another post, and from the looks of the map, the better school areas are

W. Allen
Allen
Rockwall
McKinney
Richardson
Coppell
Carrollton
Flower Mound
Keller
Colleyville
Murphy

From what i can tell, now i will reserach their population/demographics and see if it looks like what we are looking for....

Does anyone know how or what they call each school district? Is it always going to be, MISD, AISD, RISD, etc, or are some of them lumped together, maybe if their population is not really big?? I am CLUELESS on this stuff, maybe that is why we have stayed put for so long, all this and change, sends my head spinning!!!!
Does anyone

School districts are not based on municipal boundaries, but they're usually centered around the town listed in the district.

The first letter is usually the town and the other ones are Independent School District.

Kids who have Dallas addresses, for instance, can attend public schools in no less than eight public school districts. Dallas County has sixteen different school districts serving parts of the county.

The Dallas Independent School District, the largest in the area, covers most but not all of Dallas, the entire town of Cockerell Hill, and parts of thirteen other municipalities (all of which have a school district named after the town serving most of the residents) plus many unincorporated areas of Dallas County.

The city of Carrollton, which you listed, can have students attending schools in the Dallas, Carrollton-Farmers Branch, or Lewisville school districts. The Carrollton-Farmers Branch district serves most of Carrollton, most but not all of Farmers Branch, and parts of Addison, Coppell, Dallas and Irving.

Don't worry--it's confusing to residents here too. The only way to know is to look your address up on the boundary maps of the districts close to your house to see where it's assigned.

As for your list:
West Allen isn't a municipality, it's the western part of Allen. Most but not all of Allen is served by Allen ISD.

All of Rockwall is in Rockwall ISD except for the small parts in Dallas County which are in Garland ISD.

Most of McKinney is in McKinney ISD.

Most of southern Richardson is in Richardson ISD, and much of northern Richardson is in Plano ISD. Only around 30% of the Richardson ISD is in Richardson--the about 60% is in Dallas and 10% is in Plano.

Most of Coppell is in Coppell ISD but parts of it in the Valley Ranch area are in Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD, and some southern portions are in Irving ISD IIRC.

Carrollton was covered above.

Flower Mound has two high schools, both of which are in Lewisville ISD.

Keller is mostly in Keller ISd but I'm not positive--that's not really "Dallas," it's more Ft Worth.

Colleyville is in the Grapevine-Colleyville ISD but kids in Colleyville can attend either Grapevine High School or Colleyville Heritage High School. I believe that Colleyville Elementary actually attends the high school in Grapevine and not the one in Colleyville.

Murphy is split in two. The western half is served by Plano ISD. It's getting its own 9-10 high school, McMillen, and goes to Plano East High School. The eastern half attends Wylie public schools.

[CravenClan]

God help me,see why I get freaked out?? Why is it so confusing???

Our problem is we have no address, we do not even know where we would be!! Also we would be renting somewhere, BUT i want to be in the same area as we would be able to or want to buy in, so my kids would not have to switch schools, believe me this will be rough enough, especially for my son, he is shy and not great with change (like his mama).

We are going to have to do some serious searching, when we get there, ugh....

[momof2dfw]

Okay, every single district has bad schools and great schools. Even Plano, Frisco, Allen & McKinney have crappy schools (my sis teaches in one of those districts ). It depends on YOUR family and YOUR children.

Originally Posted by CravenClan

Texas School Performance Maps

Someone gave me this in another post, and from the looks of the map, the better school areas are

W. Allen - There is no "West Allen". Only "Allen". And only 1 school district for all of it.
Allen - Was talking to a guy yesterday who lives in Allen and his 3 kids went to Allen High School. He brought it up and even said if your kids are not in the AP classes, sports or well known they are just a number lost amongst the masses as it is a HUGE school. There are no plans to build another high school. If you go to school here and you live on the "east side" of Allen your kids might get looked down on even if they live in a much more expensive and elaborate home than the kids looking down their noses that live on the west side. Sad, but true.
Rockwall - I've helped chaperone a friends kids party that goes to RHS. GREAT KIDS! Very respectful, courteous and all. Even when they know that no alcohol is allowed and such. Even when they leave and we "check them out", lol. Nice community spirit even if your kids are not in high school families still go to the football games on Friday nights. Homecoming parade, family movie nights in the park, concerts in the park, etc. Right at the lake and all. Most of Rockwall attends the Rockwall ISD. There are two high schools w/ a nice friendly rivalrey, Rockwall HS and Rockwall-Heath HS.
McKinney - You could live in McKinney and be in the Frisco ISD. A lot more "transient" than some other districts and areas as you do have a lot of families that move here and then move on a few years later. Real estate has slowed down in this area and it has seen more than its fair share of developments getting hit with investors and investor schemes.
Richardson - Older suburb w/ some GREAT very upscale older custom homes all the way to the older ranches to the brand new houses on the far east side. Taking my daughter to a friends house in Richardson that goes to Pearce HS and lives over off Coit/Campbell there are a PLENTY of families w/ school aged kids in the older areas as the schools are good and the neighborhoods have retained their values and homes don't go on the market often. Richardson & Garland are two of the area suburbs where more of the people that grew up here went off to college, got married and came back here to settle down and raise their own family. Still has a great family area to raise one. Part of the city limits of Dallas are in the Richardson ISD.
Coppell - Man, I remember when Coppell was OUT there in the woods. It has changed DRASTICALLY. Too much growth for me now compared to what I'm used to and what this area used to be. Schools have always been good.
Carrollton - In your budget, skip, please. I grew up here. You would be at the high end of your budget to stay in Carrollton and be in the Carrollotn-Farmers Branch ISD.
Flower Mound - Watched this one grow like crazy. Can be a pain to get to and out of due to traffic congestion. Schools have always been good but you do have the "keeping up w/ the Jones" going on here. They have had more than their fair share of parties getting busted w/ parents serving alcohol or girls getting raped or beat up at parties w/ parents present along w/ alcohol. Not that all people in FM are like this at all, it has just seen more than it really should of this behavior.
Keller - Used to be the "boonies" and a small town. Grown a lot over the years. Still a good area and good schools.
Colleyville - Could be on the low end of housing on your budget and the "keeping up with the Jones" is prevelant in this area w/ Southlake. Nice area and good schools but do you want to deal w/ the rest of it.
Murphy- Murphy does not have their own school district. Most of the kids are in the Plano ISD. I think a good number of people would be surprised to see the high dollar areas on this side of town. New schools, new football stadium and seems a bit more "down to earth" w/ a good mix of people. A lot less congested than the areas to the west. More trees, open areas and rolling terrain but still super convienent to everything in the area. New stores and shopping centers in the area as well.

From what i can tell, now i will reserach their population/demographics and see if it looks like what we are looking for....

Does anyone know how or what they call each school district? Is it always going to be, MISD, AISD, RISD, etc, or are some of them lumped together, maybe if their population is not really big?? I am CLUELESS on this stuff, maybe that is why we have stayed put for so long, all this and change, sends my head spinning!!!!
Does anyone

It will always be an "Independent School District" but two cities can share a district. Carrollton - Farmers Branch share a district. Rowlett is part of the Garland ISD except for the small portion of it that is in Rockwall County that is the Rockwall ISD. There is a portion of Garland that is in the Richardson ISD (SpringPark, which is VERY NICE and family friendly area ) and a part of the Richardson ISD has a section that is within the city limits of Dallas. Then you have a portion of the city limits of Richardson that is in the Plano ISD (any part of Richardson that lies IN Collin County is the Plano ISD).

[theloneranger]

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

Okay, every single district has bad schools and great schools. Even Plano, Frisco, Allen & McKinney have crappy schools (my sis teaches in one of those districts ). It depends on YOUR family and YOUR children.





It will always be an "Independent School District" but two cities can share a district. Carrollton - Farmers Branch share a district. Rowlett is part of the Garland ISD except for the small portion of it that is in Rockwall County that is the Rockwall ISD. There is a portion of Garland that is in the Richardson ISD (SpringPark, which is VERY NICE and family friendly area ) and a part of the Richardson ISD has a section that is within the city limits of Dallas. Then you have a portion of the city limits of Richardson that is in the Plano ISD (any part of Richardson that lies IN Collin County is the Plano ISD).

CFB isn't terrible on the edges. Southern FB is pretty much identical to North Dallas along the border, and there are some really nice areas surrounding the country club, which is a steal at $4k initiation even though it's pretty crowded and not at all exclusive.

Carrollton near the FB border is sketchy at best now but as you get north it gets better. The Creekview area and the areas on the Lewisville border and in Hebron are very nice/upscale and the OP might be on the low range of housing there.

CFB and Richardson are very similar, with the exception that a lot of families that would send their kids to Pearce and LH in RISD just send their kids to the North Dallas private schoosl.

It's all really relative, though given the other info she's given I wouldn't really stay in FB.

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by theloneranger

CFB and Richardson are very similar, with the exception that a lot of families that would send their kids to Pearce and LH in RISD just send their kids to the North Dallas private schoosl..

Uh, I would not even compare Richardson and Carrollton at all. They are no where even close in terms of the city itself and the schools. The city of Richardson has held up a lot better over the years and actually enforces codes and ups them to keep the city looking good. My parents finally moved out of Carrollton 2 years ago. They do NOT enforce codes at all over there and it is more nothing but Fox & Jacobs tract homes till you get to Rosemeade than anything else. HUGE difference from Richardson. And no, most people in the Richardson zones do NOT send their kids to private schools. We go to church in Richardson and most of them are in the public schools in Richardson.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by theloneranger

Here's a thought for the OP. It may be just a little pricey though. Marcus is a fine high school, even if I can't stand their sports fans.

Now be nice, my granddaughters went to Marcus!!! I do know what you mean, but if you want to see really off the wall sports fans, go to a swim meet that involves Plano, I feel sorry for the kids of those parents. Ok, I am sure some are really wonderful, but there were a handful that gave the entire area a horrible reputation. If they were that bad with swimming I would guess they were the same with all sports.

[theloneranger]

Originally Posted by nmnita

Now be nice, my granddaughters went to Marcus!!! I do know what you mean, but if you want to see really off the wall sports fans, go to a swim meet that involves Plano, I feel sorry for the kids of those parents. Ok, I am sure some are really wonderful, but there were a handful that gave the entire area a horrible reputation. If they were that bad with swimming I would guess they were the same with all sports.

We swam Plano every year. I cannot stand the "It's great to be a Plano Wildcat" dance they do after they win.

We beat them my sophomore year and it was awesome. The next couple years they were top 3 in the state.

But they have an excellent swim team on top of all of their other teams.

[theloneranger]

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

Uh, I would not even compare Richardson and Carrollton at all. They are no where even close in terms of the city itself and the schools. The city of Richardson has held up a lot better over the years and actually enforces codes and ups them to keep the city looking good. My parents finally moved out of Carrollton 2 years ago. They do NOT enforce codes at all over there and it is more nothing but Fox & Jacobs tract homes till you get to Rosemeade than anything else. HUGE difference from Richardson. And no, most people in the Richardson zones do NOT send their kids to private schools. We go to church in Richardson and most of them are in the public schools in Richardson.

I know--I was saying that people who are economically and culturally similar to those in Ricahrdson but live in Carrollton send their kids to private school, rather than schools like Pearce and LH.

Richardson has some run down areas now as well--definitely less so than Carrollton but Carrollton is absolutely not a complete cesspool, it's just expanded north to where there weren't any people before.