Dallas ISD Magnet programs and other school related questions from a recent California transplant (Arlington: how much, big home)

[Macbeth2003]

Originally Posted by turtlecreek80

the one in junius heighrs whose name escapes me right now)

lipscomb!

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by Macbeth2003

lipscomb!

Sorry!! Hadn't had my coffee yet when I posted this AM, but I was definitely thinking of Libscomb

[Macbeth2003]

We lived in The Disney streets when we first moved to Dallas. It is where my parents rented for the first 2 years. It really is a lovely neighborhood. On the other hand it was a bit tough on a 7'th grader who had just moved to another city to have his info checked in his first period class and have everyone laugh when it was read out that he lived on Peter Pan Drive. Still. It could have been Tinkerbell.

[Lakewooder]

Interesting how so many people who have NO direct experience with DISD immediately weigh in with strong opinions they got from reading the newspaper or in a self-interest validation that they made the correct decision to live outside the district.

[TX75007]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

Interesting how so many people who have NO direct experience with DISD immediately weigh in with strong opinions they got from reading the newspaper or in a self-interest validation that they made the correct decision to live outside the district.

Or Plano.

[Considering Coming Back]

First time commenting, but I have some insight on getting into magnet schools.

I went to Dealy's predecessor (Hotchkiss) before it moved in the mid-90's to Dealy (I'm 28). After the move my family chose to stay in our neighborhood schools because of the drive. For that reason I would suggest that if you have your heart set on Dealy you would want to live on the west side of Central Expressway. Traffic north of Northweat Highway is insane IMO.

I lived just east of White Rock Lake and I know the area around WRE- crime is not a worry, but you wont have a chance of getting into a DISD magnet, which you already seem to know.

Back to magnets: they are easy to get into if you are in the system. A star in 5th grade will be recruited for Travis and Lanier (are Griener and Spence still magnets?) regardless of their home school. Most of the kids from upper middle class homes in North and East Dallas could get in, sure, but if you are not in a DISD school you will be passed over. I don't know if this is polciy, but it's the way of the world. The private school kids who get in, get in after DISD kids have turned them down. I turned all of the magnets down because I wanted a more comprehnesive education. I did, however, have a chance to tour the Arts High School post-renovation and wow, that is a nice facility. It can compete will any campus I the country. I can see living in Lakewood and sending my kids there despite my love for Woodrow, I can't say the same for Townview though. I don't think it's worth the trip. I would feel differently, I'm sure, if I was in the TJ, Conrad or North Dallas attendance zones. The Arts school makes a space for any serious student, even if boarderline talented. Give your kids some trumbone lessons and they'll get in. Great academics there, too.

TAG and SEM are super highly ranked, but that's a bit of gamiing the system. Hunter and Stuy in NYC aren't considered even though they are true peer institutions; nor is TJ outside of DC. To get into those schools you need to test in, adjusted based on your neighborhood. An 8th grader who can score 1000 on a psat test from Kessler Park or Lochwood will get in every time. To get in from Lakewood or Preston Hollow you will need to be a bit more of a nerd. (psat is not the test they use, but it's a proxy that most people understand)

For what it's worth my sister is a teacher at one of the top 5 elemntry schools in the city and she is considering the Lipscome area. Houses are bigger there than in Stonewall and bigger than all but 800k+ in Lakewood. Something to consider.

[TX75007]

Originally Posted by Considering Coming Back

TAG and SEM are super highly ranked, but that's a bit of gamiing the system. Hunter and Stuy in NYC aren't considered even though they are true peer institutions; nor is TJ outside of DC. To get into those schools you need to test in, adjusted based on your neighborhood.

Stuy/Hunter/TJ are not peers with the DISD magnets by any stretch of the imagination.

The former schools typically have 10-25% of their class as National Merits and the mean SAT IIs in the 2200s. The DISD magnets might have one or two NMSF each year.

In the DFW area, only St Marks/Hockaday are consistently on par with any of those schools.

What Stuy/Hunter/TJ do is pull ALL the top kids from their area. If DFW had two schools where ALL the top kids went, then THAT would be a Stuy or TJ. Ie, PISD, TAMS, the Tier 1 privates, etc, all sent their students to one school.

That is what is at those schools.

[Macbeth2003]

Originally Posted by Considering Coming Back

Back to magnets: they are easy to get into if you are in the system. A star in 5th grade will be recruited for Travis and Lanier (are Griener and Spence still magnets?) regardless of their home school. Most of the kids from upper middle class homes in North and East Dallas could get in,

Uhhh No. Travis is ungodly competitive. And you get one shot now because the Vanguard kids automatically move into the magnet, so get in as you enter fourth.... or don't get in. You also have to be more than a star student. You could have fantastic ITBS scores, a 98 GPA, and blow the essay away.... but have trouble with the pattern recognition and arrangement section of the testing and bye bye. You could also do great on all of these, but be in the North East quadrant (the most competitive) which means that a lower testing student from another quadrant would get a place over you. In the end there are so many qualified applicants that it has often come down to time the application was turned in. An equally qualified, same quadrant applicant from an app turned in at 8:05 gets the slot over one turned in at 8:06. This has led to camp outs overnight in front of Travis by parents.

Now Lanier is more subjective, my son and two others I know got in, but it is based upon an essay, and an interview and Q/A with a panel of teachers. At that age there is no audition, but you have to have some knowledge of one of the areas. My son, for example, has been exposed to a lot of Theatre as I direct. He talked with them about Hamlet - and how the recent Dallas Shakespeare Fest got it wrong. Another Child I know had a dance background. Another is someone on the board I don't want to out/speak for so I will let hat person share their child's story if they choose.

Now if you want to do the TAG route you can get into K.B. Polk more easily. The program was actually not full last year. We toured and were not impressed, but it is apparently the same curriculum as Travis. You can then apply to Spence which is the other TAG MIddle School Magnet. So Polk, and Spence are an option if you want TAG, but recognize the low odds of Travis acceptance.
So as you can see Spence is still a Magnet, as is Greiner it is the Middle School Arts Magnet.

I also know of several very bright kids who, either this year or previously, have not gotten into Lanier. One of these, is now an accomplished young actor on the local scene.

Originally Posted by Considering Coming Back

The Arts school makes a space for any serious student, even if boarderline talented. Give your kids some trumbone lessons and they'll get in.

Again, this is just not true, unless there are no trombone players I guess. Booker T. is also legendarily competitive. It is very difficult to get into. In Theatre, for example, some people hire private coaches to help them prep for their auditions for months. Some of the most talented musicians, actors, aqnd artists in Dallas have been rejected by Booker T. Enough so that White started an Arts academy within the school to help attract students and funding as there are so many students rejected by Booker T.

Originally Posted by Considering Coming Back

For what it's worth my sister is a teacher at one of the top 5 elemntry schools in the city and she is considering the Lipscome area. Houses are bigger there than in Stonewall and bigger than all but 800k+ in Lakewood. Something to consider.

Lipscomb is a great school, but we are NOT a neighborhood of primarily large houses, certainly not compared to Lakewood. There are some in Swiss and Munger, but the majority of homes zoned to Lipscomb are in Junius Heights, which is full of 1 story 1920's Craftsman Homes. An 1800 Square foot home here is on the big side. In Munger you can have a "large" house of 2400 square feet or so.

[Considering Coming Back]

Originally Posted by TX75007

Stuy/Hunter/TJ are not peers with the DISD magnets by any stretch of the imagination.

The former schools typically have 10-25% of their class as National Merits and the mean SAT IIs in the 2200s. The DISD magnets might have one or two NMSF each year.

In the DFW area, only St Marks/Hockaday are consistently on par with any of those schools.

What Stuy/Hunter/TJ do is pull ALL the top kids from their area. If DFW had two schools where ALL the top kids went, then THAT would be a Stuy or TJ. Ie, PISD, TAMS, the Tier 1 privates, etc, all sent their students to one school.

That is what is at those schools.

I did not expect to be flamed so quickly!

I meant that the east coast schools I named all required academic tests to get in, like the Townview schools. All 5 schools are closed to people who do not live in their respective jurisdictions, btw. No one in Nassau can go to Hunter and no one in Arlington can go to TJ. And the elite do not send thier kids there. TJ and Stuy are both "for Asians" and Hunter is for "dogooder liberals".

I take issue with the Jay Matthews ratings because he says he is not considering schools that have admissions tests and yet he ranks TAG number 1 every year. So sure, TAG is better academically than all comprehensive schools in the country, but is TAG better than its peer magnets? I don't know

In defense of TAG, it is a very small campus. I think it has a class of 40 and 5 kids in the class of 2012 are National Merit- 12.5%. That is not bad at all.

Stuy is HUGE its 121 NMSF's are 'only' 14% of the class. Is that better than TAG? Maybe. TJ has 156 NMSF's- 35% of its class and Hunter has 69, 38% of its class. That's insane. No schools in Texas come close. TAMS in Denton is probably the closest in Texas with 34 NMSF's.

St Marks and Hockaday always do really well but those are elite, single gender private schools. More like Collegiate in Manhattan than Hunter.

For the record Booker T has 4 NMSF this year, SEM 2 and Woodrow and Hillcrest 1 each.

[Considering Coming Back]

Originally Posted by Macbeth2003

Lipscomb is a great school, but we are NOT a neighborhood of primarily large houses, certainly not compared to Lakewood.

The Munger area has many though, and those are cheaper per square foot than Lakewood proper. Houses over, say 3000 square feet, are fewer in the M Streets and Hollywood Heights. That's my point. If the woman has an 800k budget I see some amazing options in Lakewood proper.

Originally Posted by Macbeth2003

Again, this is just not true, unless there are no trombone players I guess. Booker T. is also legendarily competitive. It is very difficult to get into.

I guess it's all anecdotal at this point, but for what it's worth I know that in 2001 a really crappy and low scoring trumpet player got in because the top players went to Hillcrest and BA instead. I also know that one of the run of the mill male actors in the class on 2008 lived in Grand Prarie and got in because there were open slots. 2 years ago the Valedictorian lived in HP. I suppose she could have lived on Westside Dr, but somehow I doubt that. It's variable and if you have multiple skills you will get in every time. And if you can play the trumbone or barritone or tuba you will breeze in.

I wasn't up to date on the middle school stuff. Travis sounds like a nightmare. But it also still sounds like Spence is the easy way to go if you're east of Central.