Moving to DFW area in 2008 Need help on school districts and safe diverse communities (Dallas: real estate, foreclose)

[moving2008]

My family and I will be relocating to DFW in 2008. My husband and I are young black professional educated couple with two daughters (2 and 8). We want to live in a safe, low crime, diverse community and it is very important to us that our children are in an excellent public school district with a diverse ethnic mix. To be blunt, I want there to be a good share of black students along with the white, hispanic, and any other race. Dallas is so big that I'm not having much luck penpointing a suitable location but i know there has to be areas that i am looking for in the DFW area. I am finding many of the schools that are rated exceptional or recognized have a very scarce black student percentage. Please someone help. I'm not racist in the least bit but I don't want my kids in a prodiminantely white school nor all black school I want a well rounded mix. I just don't know where to look to find this.

Additionally, my husband and I don't know where we will be living as we don't know where we will be working so if I could get at least one or two safe communities that will provide me the type of school district I am looking for in all directions of DFW (North, South, East, West) including subburbs. It would be most appreciated.

[OU314]

If you want good public schools, you probably don't want to be in Dallas proper. You might check out Richardson, a suburb on the NE side of Dallas. Schools are good, there's an ethic mix. Lots of Asians and Hispanics, not sure about blacks. Maybe east Plano, but definitely not west Plano. The far north suburbs have the best schools, but there's very little racial diversity. I'd stay away from the towns east of Dallas, like Rowlett and Rockwell. Tend to be a little redneck-ish. You might try Carrollton too. You've apparently done some research on the racial makeup of the various school districts, so feel free to throw a couple out and I'll tell you what I know. Good luck with the move.

[FarNorthDallas]

Specifically I would look at Lake Highlands High School attendance zone and Richardson High School Atendance zone. It's rare to have a high school with a Recognized or Exemplary rating no matter what the demographics are because drop out rates are included. Both of these schools are Accademically Acceptable, but are both good schools with diverse populations.

[moving2008]

Thanks OU314

Areas i have been interested in are Arlington, Richardson ISD, Cedar Hill ISD, and Carrollton Farmers Branch ISD. I really like what I am reading about Arlington but am turned off by a lack of public transportation. I like the Richardson ISD and have found certain schools on greatschools.net that are fairly diverse and have good ratings within this district, I just don't know what the areas are like surrounding these schools. For example some of Richardson ISD is in Richardson and some parts are in Dallas - I'm not sure about where the high level of crime is happening in dallas but I surely don't want to be in a high crime zip code. Cedar Hill seems fairly diverse as well and seem to have good schools, not at good as Richardson is rated but definitely more diverse; however my daughters has allergies and i've been reading that allergies worsen for some people who move to cedar hill. Now I don't know how true but it is something i'm keeping in mind for the sake of my daughter. I haven't done much research on Carrolton-Farmers Branch but was reading it might be an option as well. I also see Irving as being diverse but not to sure on the school districts. FortWorth may be an option as well but I visualize Fortworth as overly rural and I don't like country rural at all. We will be in Dallas the first week of October to look around so if you can give me some insight on some the areas i've named that would be great.

[moving2008]

Thanks FarNorthDallas

I'll look into these areas to see what i come up with.

[loves2read]

Cedar Hill is in an area that gets lots of pollution drift from cement factories around Ennis--that is not considered a good thing...
also Lake Ridge is a development with Cedar Hills schools--problems with foundation construction in homes there--quite a few foreclosers in that area...probably not good for resale...

[OU314]

Arlington would probably fit the bill too, if your jobs are in the mid cities or Ft Worth areas. It's a bit of a commute to Dallas. Public transportation is pretty bad everywhere here. Richardson sounds like a good bet for you - at least you'd be close to the DART train. Some areas are kind of sketchy, though. You can get an idea of which ones by looking at the real estate prices.

I second the Lake Highlands suggestion just because I like the area, but I don't know anything about the schools.

I don't know anything about Irving schools either, but probably not all that great.

[loves2read]

Magnet schools in Dallas ISD have some quality education going on--those schools also usually have a good blend of ethnically diverse student population with same educational goals so while it is diverse in some ways--background, economics, ethnicity--it can be fairly homogeneous in others...
is that something that might interest you---

articles in FTW paper lately about high tax rate in Arl and uncaring city council/mayor being more in thrall to sports teams like Cowboys/Rangers than the normal citizesn--which although I don't live in Arlington I have read about and it does seem true--Arl has pretty high tax base for the quality of life in the city---the fact that it has a need for service workers--hotels/restaurants/retail/stadiums--which are usually low-paying jobs, has a large univerity really inside the city limits, and yet has no public transportation does not speak well of pasrt or current city councils.
Also article in last weeks FTW paper about the expensive housing and other living requirments (like transportation) for poor people---Arlington is one of most expensive towns in TX for people making under 30,000 a year
that might not be YOUR problem---but most of the people who live in ARL make less than 40 thousand---so it is a problem for them...

[moving2008]

great information on arlington - thanks. I doubt if my husband and I will be moving for a $30k salary, however, i do see your point and can truly understand it. The lack of public transportation is really the big issue for us with Arlington, while we do have our own mode of transportation, I simply don't like not having the option of public transportation if needed. I mean no buses, no train, nothing..I just don't like that especially for a city its size.

Cedar Hill I guess is out of the question too - i cant risk it with my daughter

Magnet Schools - I never really thought about them all that much. Aren't these schools that your child has to test into? I have never been a fan of those types of schools. Not that my daughter can't test in because she's extremely bright I just have never been a fan of public schools that deny children's admission based on test scores. I could be wrong in my perception but this is what I thought a magnet school was? I can look into this option though if it will give me a better chance at getting what I am looking for.

Thanks again for your response

[intence]

Depending on where you live now, most of the public transportation in Dallas is quite poor. If it's really an important factor for you, and i'm assuming you're planning on using it to go downtown (since it's pretty much useless to go anywhere else), then living somewhere along one of the DART rail lines would probably make sense.

Anything from North Dallas to Plano could be considered.