Better school districts.... (Dallas, Fort Worth, Plano: rental, house, neighborhoods)

[alexyus50]

My family and i are looking ot reclocate to the dallas area. i would like some help on where the better school districts are in dallas and surounding suburbs.

Thanks

Alexyus50

[TurtleCreek80]

The two best districts in North Texas are Highland Park ISD and Carroll ISD. They are both located in very expensive areas- HPISD serves the towns of Highland Park and University Park, which are surrounded on all sides by the city of Dallas about 5 miles north of downtown Dallas. You would need a budget of $3,000+ for rent and $700k+ for a single family home. Carroll ISD is a suburban district about 25 miles northwest of Downtown Dallas. It serves the suburbs of Southlake and I believe parts of Grapevine (but not sure on that). You would need about a $450k+ budget to look there. Both are relatively small districts that each feed into 1 high school.

Beware in Texas that school districts don't follow city/town lines exactly (ie, parts of the city of Dallas fall into Richardson and Plano ISDs). Always confirm addresses with the ISD when you are house or rental hunting.

The Northern suburbs of Plano and Richardson both have very good school districts that serve 50,000 or more students each (big districts). Plano has three senior highs, each with graduating classes of 1,000 or more per school. Richardson's classes are smaller, around 600 kids per class at each high school. Plano elementary schools have kids "rotating" classes every hour or so by the time they are in 3rd or 4th grade. This is great for some kids but not all, esp if they are used to having one teacher all day long at current school.

Allen is a one-high school district about 25 miles due north of Dallas (north of Plano) that is well-regarded. It only has one high school and no plans to build another. Mega-high school.

Frisco is north of Plano on the western (Tollroad) side. I don't think the schools are as academically rigorous as Plano ISD, but the district has done an excellent job of staying committed to small class sixes and continuing to build more schools as the population explodes.

McKinney is popular with relocatees (just north of Allen) and the schools perform well on standardized tests, but I have heard and read nightmare stories about the administration. Do a quick city data search and you will find what I refer to.

Rockwall is a suburb east of downtown Dallas, about 20 miles. Very good schools but not a great idea if your office is anywhere othern than downtown.

Coppell is a suburb northwest of Dallas (but not as far out as Southlake). It's schools are generally regarded as 3rd best behind HPIsD and Carroll ISD. There are homes startig in the $200k's in app the other districts I have mentioned (maybe even $100k's in Frisco and Allen), but you'll need $350k++ to have much of a selection in Coppell.

Lewisville is northwest of Dallas (not as west, but further north than Coppell) with very good schools. Castle Hills is a popular subdivision there.

There are also great public schools in Dallas ISD if you can accept that the district is huge (200,000 students)- over half of whom are poverty level and 2/3 of which are Hispanic. This is a big turn-off to many. However, several elementary schools are outstanding and as good or better than their suburban counterparts (Lakewood Elem, Stonewall Jackson Elem, Kramer Elem, etc). White & Woodrow are the best of the mainstream high schools, the magnets are diffiult to get into and are among the best public hs's in the country.

Where is the job? What's your budget? What size school/district is your preference? Any particular needs? (learning disabilities, talented & gifted, athletics, etc)

[newtothisplace]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

The two best districts in North Texas are Highland Park ISD and Carroll ISD.

awesome information.

[nsumner]

Keep in mind too that school districts overlap city boundaries. So you could very well be living in the city of Southlake and attend Grapevine school district or Northwest. This is a very typical scenario all over the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. Once you narrow down the school you want to pursue, you can do a search by school district only.

Naima

[BigDGeek]

Also keep in mind that while many parts of Dallas are zoned to the Richardson ISD, some parts of Richardson itself are zoned to the Plano ISD, specifically the parts of Richardson in Collin County. Richardson in Dallas County is zoned to RISD.

[adixyz]

DFW is a big metroplex Your work location, budget and your children school grades will help others respond better.

[Grainraiser]

For the most part the more expensive the neighborhood the better the school will be.

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by Grainraiser

For the most part the more expensive the neighborhood the better the school will be.

Not always. It can also be quite the opposite. In some of these schools w/ more money than brains you have parents that want their little johnny getting all A's. If you have a principal that wants to make all parents happy (or the select parents that are "IN" that school) then this can be the case and academics slide. Then you can have schools in lower or middle income neighborhoods w/ parents that are involved and want the best education for their kids and expect their kids to behave properly. I've seen and know of both cases.


Don't overlook the Garland ISD. It is one of the few districts in the area that has magnet programs starting in elementary. There are 3 G/T elementary magnets, 1 fine arts elem. magnet, 2 math/science/technology elem magnets. Garland High School was only 5% points from one of the TAKS tests from being an Exemplary campus. Something hard to come by for a high school. And with the demographics of the school that is AWESOME!!!! An example of a school w/ a large cross section of diversity and socio-economic backgrounds but a school that rocks it academically.

[RonRut]

Rockwall ISD

[Grainraiser]

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

Not always. It can also be quite the opposite. In some of these schools w/ more money than brains you have parents that want their little johnny getting all A's. If you have a principal that wants to make all parents happy (or the select parents that are "IN" that school) then this can be the case and academics slide. Then you can have schools in lower or middle income neighborhoods w/ parents that are involved and want the best education for their kids and expect their kids to behave properly. I've seen and know of both cases.


Don't overlook the Garland ISD. It is one of the few districts in the area that has magnet programs starting in elementary. There are 3 G/T elementary magnets, 1 fine arts elem. magnet, 2 math/science/technology elem magnets. Garland High School was only 5% points from one of the TAKS tests from being an Exemplary campus. Something hard to come by for a high school. And with the demographics of the school that is AWESOME!!!! An example of a school w/ a large cross section of diversity and socio-economic backgrounds but a school that rocks it academically.

I agree with you on the Garland school district. I live in the Mesquite school district and really wish they would mirror Garland School District. In fact many of the older burbs with diverse demographics should use GISD as a template. I can't think of any schools in affluent areas that are bad. Heck I can't even think of any that are just average.