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Richardson is nice. So is Flower Mound. But they are very different--why don't people seem to get that? Flower Mound is further out, and has more of a country feel. And arguably better schools. You also are going to get more home for the $$$ out there. If that is what the OP is looking for, he isn't going to find it in Richardson. If he is looking for a smaller, older (but still maybe nice) home closer to Dallas, then he should look in Richardson.
I did the Flower Mound-->Plano commute for 6 months. 3040-->35-->George Bush-->north on 75. The only traffic I ever hit was on the 1 mile I spent on 35. It still took 45 minutes, though, and I didn't enjoy it. The tolls add up as well. You'll find very few Flower Mound residents that have a close commute anyway, though
Guess what? There are some very nice new and newer homes in Richardson. They are off of Renner on the other side of 190. Lots of parks, wide open spaces, shopping, close proximity to highways, greenbelts. All of the things that one would find in FM they could find in Richardson and close by Murphy. And the OP's commute would be drastically reduced. One does not have to settle for "small" or "older" if they want to be in Richardson. One can have "new" and "large" within the city of Richardson.
And the schools in Richardson are very good. I know way too many families that put a very high emphasis on education that are in the RISD and very happy.
Guess what? There are some very nice new and newer homes in Richardson. They are off of Renner on the other side of 190. Lots of parks, wide open spaces, shopping, close proximity to highways, greenbelts. All of the things that one would find in FM they could find in Richardson and close by Murphy. And the OP's commute would be drastically reduced. One does not have to settle for "small" or "older" if they want to be in Richardson. One can have "new" and "large" within the city of Richardson.
And the schools in Richardson are very good. I know way too many families that put a very high emphasis on education that are in the RISD and very happy.
Exactly. Also you get intangibles that cannot really be recorded for rankings at RISD schools that probably do not exist or are minimal at FM schools, and that is exposure to a very wide range of students of different ethnic and religious backgrounds. That really does make a huge difference in preparing students to face the "real" world.
Exactly. Also you get intangibles that cannot really be recorded for rankings at RISD schools that probably do not exist or are minimal at FM schools, and that is exposure to a very wide range of students of different ethnic and religious backgrounds. That really does make a huge difference in preparing students to face the "real" world.
RISD schools are excellent and I respect your comments as a long time Richardson resident, however i would like to present you some facts.
All schools in Flower Mound are "Exemplary" including the high schools. Getting an exemplary rating for High schools is not easy. Also since you mentioned about high schools, one of the top national comparison point is the no. of National Merit scholarship. While the no. of National Merit scholarship might differ due to the quality/ interest of students you have to see the consistency.
Have a look at the following URL for the number of 2010 National Merit Finalist. Flower Mound HS is 3rd in the list.
35 - Plano Sr.
32 - Plano West
27 - Flower Mound HS (Total in Lewisville ISD were 49 for all 5 HS including FM HS)
16 - RISD (Includes all the 4 HS of RISD, Richardson HS had only 1, Pearce had 8)
Carroll ISD - 11
Also in this link are figures for 2008 and 2009 for your ready comparison.
FM High school was 4th in the state UIL competition this year beating all DFW schools in the regional competition across all areas before moving to the finals in Austin (The other top 3 schools were from Houston). While all students/schools might not be interested in UIL, this tells the dedication and passion of FM schools and their students as well.
I would be interested with facts on your basis of comparison.
RISD schools are excellent and I respect your comments as a long time Richardson resident, however i would like to present you some facts.
All schools in Flower Mound are "Exemplary" including the high schools. Getting an exemplary rating for High schools is not easy. Also since you mentioned about high schools, one of the top national comparison point is the no. of National Merit scholarship. While the no. of National Merit scholarship might differ due to the quality/ interest of students you have to see the consistency.
Have a look at the following URL for the number of 2010 National Merit Finalist. Flower Mound HS is 3rd in the list.
35 - Plano Sr.
32 - Plano West
27 - Flower Mound HS (Total in Lewisville ISD were 49 for all 5 HS including FM HS)
16 - RISD (Includes all the 4 HS of RISD, Richardson HS had only 1, Pearce had 8)
Carroll ISD - 11
Also in this link are figures for 2008 and 2009 for your ready comparison.
FM High school was 4th in the state UIL competition this year beating all DFW schools in the regional competition across all areas before moving to the finals in Austin (The other top 3 schools were from Houston). While all students/schools might not be interested in UIL, this tells the dedication and passion of FM schools and their students as well.
I would be interested with facts on your basis of comparison.
Overall number of finalists doesn't interest me. Finalists as a ratio of the student body do.
My points about RISD schools stand. Feel free to disagree. People who do this for a living disagree with you. Sorry.
My points about RISD schools stand. Feel free to disagree. People who do this for a living disagree with you. Sorry.
Who does this for a living and what do they say? I'm honestly curious.
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Finalists as a ratio of the student body do.
Are you referring to class size or demographics? I know FMHS and Marcus are 5A. Richardson has to be at least 4A, if not 5A. Correct me if I'm wrong.
I'll give you that Richardson is definitely more diverse, and diversity is good. But how does that transfer academically?
I will admit I'm a wee bit biased...my FMHS-aided National Merit Finalist status got me a nice fat scholarship to OU. No student loans to pay off here (except for the ones my husband is currently racking up in med school). I can say with certainty that is was completely due to the preparation they gave me. I got a hell of an education there.
Who does this for a living and what do they say? I'm honestly curious.
One is an assistant principal in the district. Another is a career educator who taught in the RISD for years but who pursued a different pedagogical path a bit later in life. Another is a career educator whose children attend Richardson public schools.
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Are you referring to class size or demographics? I know FMHS and Marcus are 5A. Richardson has to be at least 4A, if not 5A. Correct me if I'm wrong.
I went to private school so I don't know what the cutoffs are for 4A, 5A, etc. RHS has 2200-2500 students I think. I hear Pearce is 2000-2200. Both schools have grades 9-12.
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I'll give you that Richardson is definitely more diverse, and diversity is good. But how does that transfer academically?
It doesn't, but there's more to an education than what transfers. If I had gone to public school I would have attended Preston Hollow, Franklin, and Hillcrest in the DISD. I often wish my parents had sent me to public school.
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I will admit I'm a wee bit biased...my FMHS-aided National Merit Finalist status got me a nice fat scholarship to OU. No student loans to pay off here (except for the ones my husband is currently racking up in med school). I can say with certainty that is was completely due to the preparation they gave me. I got a hell of an education there.
Good for you. Everyone I know who attended Richardson's public schools is doing very well too except for one, and he's not Richardson's fault. He'd be a failure no matter where he was educated.
One is an assistant principal in the district. Another is a career educator who taught in the RISD for years but who pursued a different pedagogical path a bit later in life. Another is a career educator whose children attend Richardson public schools.
So you are saying Richardson-associated educators have specifically said Richardson schools are better than those in Flower Mound??
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I went to private school so I don't know what the cutoffs are for 4A, 5A, etc. RHS has 2200-2500 students I think. I hear Pearce is 2000-2200. Both schools have grades 9-12.
I believe Flower Mound probably has in the neighborhood of 3000. That means that FMHS had about 1 National Merit Semifinalist for approximately every 111 students. According to the class sizes you gave me, Richardson HS has 1 for every 2200 and Pierce has 1 for every 250 students. I don't see a comparison here.
Again, not saying Richardson is a bad school district, but how can you argue with facts?
So you are saying Richardson-associated educators have specifically said Richardson schools are better than those in Flower Mound??
I'm saying they know the RISD better than both of us do.
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I believe Flower Mound probably has in the neighborhood of 3000. That means that FMHS had about 1 National Merit Semifinalist for approximately every 111 students. According to the class sizes you gave me, Richardson HS has 1 for every 2200 and Pierce has 1 for every 250 students. I don't see a comparison here.
Again, not saying Richardson is a bad school district, but how can you argue with facts?
So you take Flower Mound and I'll take Richardson. If I had a kid in either district I think they would be equally successful.
One thing we need to realise is DIFFERENT strokes for DIFFERENT folks!
What a boring world if everyone wanted the EXACT same thing out of life and wanted to live in the exact same area.
I agree with whoever said, "why are people ragging on the OP for they want?"
Some people love the city life, love to be
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Some of us like being closer to the action
as BigDGeek said, but some of us hate the city life...want to be away from the action. LOVE to drive down my street and see cows and horses on my way home etc...
Some people will commute for hours to have the big new house with all the bells and whistles (its what THEY want)
Some want to be close enough to bike or walk to work and LOVE thier bungalow etc... (It's what THEY want)
Some people want to have 5 acres and a horse....
Some people truely put priority ABOVE all else on schools, some people put the priority on commute, and for some it's price.... we need to give FACTs to new people and help etc... not bickering back and forth on what our OPIONIONS are about the best school district etc...
Richardson is good.
And yes the OP should check it out for themselves rather than rely on what others say...for thier price they may hate every house they look at and every neighborhood. Then move on.
FM is good but they are like comparing apples to Oranges.
Personally I love FM it is very pretty out there and schools are very good and crime is very low. But it is a mess to get in and out of at rush hour.
There are many area that are closer to a Richardson work commute that the OP should look into.
I suggest looking in Coppell, Plano. If the OP want a more "country feel" then look in the Murphy area that is in the plano schools. Look also in Garland.
There are sooo amny options in this area for good schools and low crime and great neighborhoods!
Personally I love FM it is very pretty out there and schools are very good and crime is very low. But it is a mess to get in and out of at rush hour.
These are some very old comments I read even when I moved to FM a year back. A lot of internal road development/expansion had happened since than and a number of road projects are in progress. I had personally commuted in different directions during rush hours and had compared it with another so called "easy to get in/out" location. I will provide my findings later with facts. I am not suggesting anyone to make a long commute and would recommend the OP to do some test commutes from point A to B for different options and decide.
5stones- Do you honestly think there are intersections or areas in DFW area that are not crowded during rush hour ?
Last edited by adixyz; 08-02-2010 at 06:14 PM..
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