Please help!...just found out were moving to Dallas! (Plano: fit in, transplants)

[NY Transplant]

Hi there everyone. What a great site this is! I am so glad I found it!

I live in Rochester, New York and my husband and are originally from NYC. My husband's company here was bought out by a larger one based out of Plano.(North Central Expy, I think, is the address.) He has just found out today that he is receiving a promotion in his company BUT it will require us to move to the Dallas area.

I desperately need and respect your honest opinions. I am a mom with 2 elementary aged kids (7 and 5), both of whom are gifted...I am not saying this to brag, believe me...but to say that schools are of the utmost importance in our decision of an area. I am a teacher myself with a masters degree in education, and I believe in excellent quality public school education.

I should say that I am not thrilled with the idea of uprooting to Texas. I am quite nervous that we won't fit in. But I am hoping things will work out and that it will be a wonderful adventure.

While salary has not been settled on yet, I am guessing our home range will be in the $250-$275k range. I don't understand interest rates or taxes in your state yet so I really can't say for sure, perhaps we can afford little more. We pay about $5000/year in taxes on a house valued at about $180,000.

Preliminarily, I have been drawn to McKinney (Stonebridge Ranch), Frisco (The Trails)? What areas do you think we should be looking at? How would the commute be to Plano? Commute issues really seem to be an issue in DFW from what I can tell. We are exceedingly spoiled here with low commute times. (20miles=20 minutes) And right now hubby works from home so it's even more daunting to start facing huge commutes.

The timing of this move might be very quick in coming. Ideally, we could rent for a while and figure things out, but I do not want to uproot the kids twice from school.

We don't need a lot, besides the excellent schools. 3-4br, 2500 sf or so, 2.5 baths and newer construction would be nice.

Your input would be greatly appreciated!

[MaryS80]

I assure you fitting in won't be an issue. Dallas is a city of transplants, with many from NY and Cali. Relocating to Plano sounds like a good match. It is a popular destination for families with children and is widely seen as one of the best school districts in the area. The vast majority of homes in the Plano and Frisco areas are fairly new. I'm not sure what the housing prices are like in Rochester, but if its anything like NYC you all will be able to easily afford a pretty large new home.

If possible see if his company would pay to fly you guys here for a week or so just to get a feel for the area, and maybe meet with a real estate agent.

Central Expressway is one of the main highways in the Dallas area, it can be pretty congested at times. It was backed up solid this afternoon in Plano because a truck overturned. Living fairly close to work, commute time should not be a problem.

I don't live in Plano myself, but there are plenty of people on this board who are and they can give you lots more details. Plano and Frisco are centered on families like yours, and from what you have said I think you will be very happy there.

[FarNorthDallas]

For gifted kids I would look at Plano or Allen school districts. Go to great schools for detailed information about specific schools. You can bring up all the elementary schools in the district and compare them and once you find a school then go to a real estate site and see how much the houses are in that attendance zone.

The yearly accountability test is called TAKS and based on those scores the schools get a rating of Exemplary, Recognized, Academically Acceptable or Academically Unacceptable. It's not a complete picture of a school (my son's exemplary school could not teach him how to read), but it's a good start. It's very hard for high schools to get the exemplary rating because drop out rates are included and Texas has a very high drop out rate, esp for Hispanics. Half of all Hispanics drop out of school. But you want to see the elementary school with an exemplary rating (at least I would).

[LastDallasNative]

You will meet more people from NY than you will meet locals in Collin County.

Plano is pure suburbia, with much pressure on students in large schools with high numbers of students on the campuses. Some kids have "affuenza".

Rumor has it the Californians live in Stonebridge Ranch. The NYers probably just live all over Plano.

[GoPadge]

I'd consider checking central Plano for an existing home (10 - 20 years old) you can find a number within your price range that are very nice and the commute across town won't be as bad as traveling down 75.

[Drew610]

Dallas is prefectly nice, with plenty to do all around the Metroplex. I am from back up that way (Boston) originally, and I very much like it down here. You obviously would need a better attitude than you have now to enjoy any place different from where you are, but you will get there, and I hope you like it. Note that Dallas is of course more urban than Plano/McKinney, etc. and therefore has certain advantages, but those advantages are of course traded off with the schools, unless you live in Lake Highlands, and can take advantage of the Richardson school system.

[momof2dfw]

Actually if you have a true gifted child I would look into districts that have Gifted & Talented magnet schools. As the mother of a g&t child myself I have seen the benefits of having my child in a magnet school. I have another child that is not in a magnet and while the regular neighborhood schools offer "something" for them it is NOTHING like what they will get in a true magnet. The programs offered are SOOOOO much more tailored towards a whole class of children on the same level for each subject along w/ extras (orchetra, advanced art, choir, etc) that you will not find in a mainstream school. As a teacher your very aware that in a regular classroom your going to have 20 students ALL on a "different page" and it makes it hard. Teachers have to spend a fair amount of time w/ those students that need catching up so the gifted child either can entertain themselves w/ extra work, tutor other kids or get bored and get into troulbe. When you have a child in a program totally engulfed to their level they have more challenges that are presented to them to keep them interested and challenged. I would not want to see my g&t child in a mainstream class now and I believe she would have suffered had I put her in a neighborhood school.

Not all school districts offer magnets so check around. One that does is the Garland ISD, search for posts on it and you will find TONS of info. It would also be VERY convienent for your husband.

[SepiaZelda]

If we had children we would live in Plano. I wouldn't like it, but I would do it for the schools. I have a friend who is an elementary school counselor who sincerely believes that parents who can afford to leave DISD and don't are neglecting their children. I think that's going too far but I think there is something to be said for the fact that Plano schools are generally far superior. I also don't think you'll have any problem fitting in; Dallas is a vibrant city with lots of diversity if you venture out of your nucleic neighnorhood. Good luck!

[DFWMike]

I think your choice of McKinney or Frisco would be fine in the way of schools and areas to live, traffic a little rough in Frisco because it's the trendy suburb to live in atm. Plano probably still holds the banner for school districts in the area, but pretty much if you stay in Collin County your kid will get a good education. The only problem here can be keeping up with the joneses.

I agree with Mom on Garland, but make sure you do your demographic work if that becomes a choice for you to avoid bad areas(typically north Garland is the best area in terms of safety and middle class).

[USA_Mom]

My experience with Frisco and Plano schools is that they were very comparable EXCEPT FOR Frisco had less "keeping up with the Joneses" atmosphere. I must have spent at least $75 a month on various field trips for one child when we were in Plano which to me seemed a little much because it seemed more like picture taking opportunities versus really a field trip to learn stuff.

My aunt raised her kids in Garland, both went onto college and good careers, and she swears by it. Now her kids are mid 20s so I don't know if things have changed but she loved the school and has tried (and now that we are moving back) keeps trying to get us to Garland...we'll see