RISD school tranfers? (Richardson, Howe: real estate market, lease, house)

[pepper131]

Have you thought about applying to Hamilton Park?
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[dfwagogo]

Originally Posted by pepper131

Have you thought about applying to Hamilton Park?
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I would send my kids to Prestonwood before I would send them to Hamilton Park.

[traceyr13]

I thought I would weigh in on the Prestonwood Elementary concerns.

We moved to Dallas this past summer. I am an educator by trade with 2 Master's degrees, and have been in the field for over 10 years (so I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about education). My oldest (4th grade) is in the private school that I teach at, but due to finances, we cannot have my younger 2 children at the private school right now (kinder and 1st).

We really hemmed and hawed about Prestonwood vs Bowie and Brentfield, and I was also concerned about the numbers, the ESL, the test scores (which are similar but not quite as high as Brentfield and Bowie, etc, etc. However, after speaking to some parents who had their children at Prestonwood, and some of my colleagues who are VERY knowledgeable about Richardson ISD schools and also had their children come to our private school after attending Prestonwood (and they performed academically very well with the transition), we decided to bite the bullet and send them to Prestonwood.

I have been very pleased. The teachers are loving and nurturing, and I feel my kids are doing well academically. I really have no concerns. Yes, my daughter's kindergarten class is larger than we would like, but I feel like she's getting plenty of attention, and both my kids are happy and thriving.

Anyway, just thought I would share my perspective before you completely rule out Prestonwood.

[dfwagogo]

Originally Posted by traceyr13

I thought I would weigh in on the Prestonwood Elementary concerns.

We moved to Dallas this past summer. I am an educator by trade with 2 Master's degrees, and have been in the field for over 10 years (so I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about education). My oldest (4th grade) is in the private school that I teach at, but due to finances, we cannot have my younger 2 children at the private school right now (kinder and 1st).

We really hemmed and hawed about Prestonwood vs Bowie and Brentfield, and I was also concerned about the numbers, the ESL, the test scores (which are similar but not quite as high as Brentfield and Bowie, etc, etc. However, after speaking to some parents who had their children at Prestonwood, and some of my colleagues who are VERY knowledgeable about Richardson ISD schools and also had their children come to our private school after attending Prestonwood (and they performed academically very well with the transition), we decided to bite the bullet and send them to Prestonwood.

I have been very pleased. The teachers are loving and nurturing, and I feel my kids are doing well academically. I really have no concerns. Yes, my daughter's kindergarten class is larger than we would like, but I feel like she's getting plenty of attention, and both my kids are happy and thriving.

Anyway, just thought I would share my perspective before you completely rule out Prestonwood.

Would you be willing to discuss with me further via PM/Email/Phone? I would love to talk to someone who is actually at the school. Thanks!

[CCE Mom]

I don't agree with the post above that says "Brentfield is the 'star' of RISD currently. Bowie is fast on it's footsteps, though." Everyone in Richardson knows that Canyon Creek in hands down the best elementary school in the district and that North is the best junior high. Pearce and Richardson High are tied imo.

In regard to transfers, I wouldn't take a chance. The older they get the harder the transfers get too, especially when athletics are involved.

[ryetronics]

Resurrecting an old thread here. Can anyone explain the process of how transfers work for students in RISD? For instance, if you're not happy with the school you feed into, can you transfer to another school of your choice (assuming there is space available) and is that transfer permanent?

[txman210]

How come no one mentions Spring Creek? It may not be Brentfield, but it (now) ranks higher than Prestonwood.

[dabrawl]

According to these numbers Springcreek elementary schools stands next to Bowie and not far behind Brentfield
Richardson ISD | 2014 TEA Ratings, STAAR Achievement Indexes

[apa1128]

Originally Posted by FarNorthDallas

I know lots of people who have transferred schools in RISD, but I am not sure it's an automatic thing. My guess is they would rather transfer a student, than to lose that student to private school, but the problem is Brentfield and Bowie always fill up with neighborhood kids. Bowie's overflow kids go to Spring Creek and I know they have some this year. Brentfield is always full, too, but I am not sure where their overflow kids go.

We used to have a poster here on CD who has kids in Prestonwood and she loved it and she was a little irritated that folks thought the school wasn't that good because of all the apartment kids that feed into it. Apparently some of the Prestonwood kids go to Parkhill Jr. and Pearce High and some go to Westwood Jr and Richardson High. I have no clue what the boundary is on that.

Also Bowie and Brentfield can fill up with Spring Enrollment. Folks who move in during the summer are the ones who get bumped to other schools. (Course it varies by year.)

I would call the district and ask, but my guess is they won't speculate.

I am confused. So if we move to Dallas next summer, and we're in the Brentfield boundary, we may not have a spot? I'll have a 1st and 6th grader. If someone could help explain the process, I'd really appreciate it.

[clickbear]

The reason this occurs is because the district tries to abide by not requesting a wavier from TEA for exceeding a student-to-teacher class ratio. Additionally, campus and district budgets are being set in the spring of the coming year and it can make it challenging to simply just hire another teacher for a campus unless there are enough students enrolling that merit a full size class. Go ahead and enroll regardless of the date. That way even if there are no shows at the start of the year or even at the start of 2nd semester there is a possibility to get in.

RISD has open enrollment in the early spring (March). All students enrolled in the school at the present time are also asked to re-enroll to help know the projected numbers for the coming year. Kinder round up is at same time. This allows the district to staff every school according to their demands. If you enroll after the "enrollment date", then you do stand a chance at being bumped to one of the overflow schools for that academic year based on if the classes are full. RISD date stamps all paperwork and it is first come first serve basically, if you enroll after the open enrollment date begins. This process is standard across the entire district.

Bottom line, you need to have the home address in your name or be on a contract BEFORE the date of open enrollment to avoid the "what ifs" and the waiting game. Worst case-it is a 1 year overflow and students would be bused from your area to the other campus.