Single mom moving to Plano (Dallas, West: apartment complex, crime, school district)

[thatysmom]

Hi everyone!
I'm a single mom, moving from Hawaii to Dallas. I really want my daughter to go to good school, and after much research I feel the Plano School district would be a good fit for us. Can anyone suggest any apartment complexes in the district that are clean, and safe; or any to avoid? These online ratings don't seem to have much merit, and I'm pretty torn. I have my eye on the Verandas at Timberglen, but want to compare before I put down a deposit. Thanks in advance!

[spikelike]

I would suggest living west of Custer Rd. Anywhere in Plano west of that would put you eventually into Plano or Plano West senior high schools, depending on how old your daughter is.

The Plano PD site points to a crime reports site that you might find helpful in researching complexes: Crime Reports

[UTDGraduate]

Check out some nice apartments between Lagacy road and Chase Oaks Blvd (near Wal-mart store and the LA fitness).

[Big G]

That apartment complex feeds into Mitchell/Frankford/Shepton/Plano West.

Those schools are OK. I think there are better schools to be found in the Plano ISD. But if the apartment and the location work for you, then go for it.

If you can tell us what grade your daughter is in, and if she has any particular talents or special needs, we can give you more relevant information about the schools.

[thatysmom]

Thanks for all the information everyone! My daughter is in the second grade. She loves sports, math, reading and pretty much anything social. We'll be in Texas in November, and will be able to look around a bit more then. But I'm hoping to settle on a place before then, since it is just us, our pets and all our stuff. One of the main reason for this move is the better schools, Hawaii is just awful. Though I'm sure any school there would be an improvement to here, I'd love to hear pro's and cons. Have any of you reviewed greatschools.net ?? I've found it very helpful.

[DaveG99]

Moving from Hawaii to Dallas????

[Big G]

Mitchell Elementary should suit your needs just fine.

It is one of the larger elementaries in the district. You can find schools in Plano ISD with fewer than 400 kids in K-5. In my opinion, the smaller the better, at least for that age group. YOu can find all the needed information on greatschools.net.

Also, you might think about locating in the city of Plano itself. There are a huge variety of complexes in Plano. Some (actually, most) of the ones on the east side are sketchy, but most of the complexes in the central and west parts of town get generally positive reviews.

[kaykay]

Undoubtedly some schools in Plano are better than others, but frankly, I doubt you could go too far wrong with the academic program at most any of them. We lived in east Plano when my son was in school (which is older and less of a good rep than other parts) but the schools my son attended were fine IMO. Some parts of East Plano I would probably avoid, however. Hope you find something that meets your needs. Welcome to Plano.

[Big G]

Originally Posted by DaveG99

Moving from Hawaii to Dallas????

Hawaii's fun to visit, but there are a lot of negatives to living there. Sky-high cost of living, limited job opportunities, and weak schools are three that come to mind off the top of my head.

[thatysmom]

and that is exactly why we're moving. And if the schools weren't bad enough already, due to budget cut backs, they have 3.5 days of school a week at most (every Friday off, every wednesday 1/2 day). They plan on cutting more days for the next school year as well, +26 the last I heard. There is just a huge lack of common sense in the school system here.