Relocating to Frisco/ Allen

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by luxk

I am a physician. Moving from Philadelphia to Plano. Got a job in Plano. Have kids 7th and 8th grade. Please give inputs about schools, houses. Planing to move either Frisco or Allen. Any inputs appreciated.
Thank you

To borrow from other posters:

1. Where is the job?
2. What are your family's educational priorities for your kids?
3. What activities are desired - arts, sports, fishing, mudding etc.?

[theplanoman]

Originally Posted by luxk

I am a physician. Moving from Philadelphia to Plano. Got a job in Plano. Have kids 7th and 8th grade. Please give inputs about schools, houses. Planing to move either Frisco or Allen. Any inputs appreciated.
Thank you

The Texas Education Agency annually rates school districts overall and also individual schools within those districts. Highest to lowest ratings are: Exemplary, Recognized, Acceptable, and Unacceptable.

Overall, Frisco ISD is rated Exemplary, while Plano ISD is rated Recognized.
However, there are individual Exemplary Rated schools within the Plano school district, so the specific location of your new home is very important if you want an Exemplary eduaction path in Plano.

Other great news about the area: According to the City-Data Crime Index, Plano is 178 and Frisco is 236. In comparison, the national crime index is 319, so both cities have relatively low crime rates.

Both Plano and Frisco are wonderful places to live and offer a wide range of new construction and pre-owned housing options depending on your budget. But also realize that the cities are close to each other so you can enjoy the benefits of both while living in either!

[theplanoman]

To add to my last reply:

Allen ISD is also rated Recognized, so like Plano, the specific location of your new home is very important if you want an Exemplary eduaction path.

Allen's crime index is 157.

Allen and Frisco are close enough to Plano that your commute time should not be a problem.

[Philip T]

Originally Posted by texasmccurrys

Look at Lovejoy. Great schools and some larger lots available. Just outside of Allen.

Based on our last year's Real World experience -- would Strongly Advise AGAINST Lovejoy.

Once you dig into the numbers and methods -- they are fairly shady and shifty. It is basically a big Real Estate and Money Hustle.

For example -- they put our kids in GT (the school gets extra money for that) and held them back from the topics -- like just basic division, for example, until after the STARR test, to crank up ratings.

The kid's Science Book is 12 years old and they do not use it. But that is not a test event so they do not touch it.

Goes on and on like all the way up through the High School. Require kids to enroll in AP classes (school gets extra money for that) -- and then have a very high fail rate -- but it gets them some ranking and money for having promoted the failure.

Again -- Avoid Lovejoy. Serious. Avoid Lovejoy.

============

In all this back to the OP -- When dealing with Public Education in Texas -- there is a lot of dumb, lazy, and scams to look out for. Since so much is so marginal, it makes anywhere of quality very premium.

Would advise only renting for the first year until you figure the game out.

btw, Welcome to Texas.

[PlanoGirl]

Originally Posted by theplanoman

The Texas Education Agency annually rates school districts overall and also individual schools within those districts. Highest to lowest ratings are: Exemplary, Recognized, Acceptable, and Unacceptable.

Overall, Frisco ISD is rated Exemplary, while Plano ISD is rated Recognized.
However, there are individual Exemplary Rated schools within the Plano school district, so the specific location of your new home is very important if you want an Exemplary eduaction path in Plano.

While yes, this is true, take these ratings as a grain of salt....they are primarily based on the TAKS/ STARR test results, which are more a measure of demographics (a homogenous, higher-income population) then anything else.

Based on criteria for college preparation (SAT scores, AP pass rates, Ivy league acceptances) Plano notably outperforms Frisco. Use the Search link to look up these ISDs...you will find a plethora of threads with such info.

[Saintmarks]

Would add McKinney in your search as well.

You will find people with an anti Frisco bent on this site. I suggest going thru each area and see which one feels right. All the school districts are great, Frisco, McKinney, Plano, Allen, even Loverjoy. Please take info from here with a grain of salt and not someone's anecdotal evidence or bias. My kids have excelled in McKinney schools but I would have no problem with them attending any of these districts.