Coppell vs. Allen vs. West Plano ISD. Kids entering 5th grade. Opinions please? (house, education)

[europeanone]

Thank you all for the input. We have narrowed down to W Plano with Coppell as a backup at the moment. Cannot wait to visit the area finally in the next few weeks. Seeing the area in person will certainly shed light on many things for me I'm sure!

[ObamneyI]

Good luck and its presumptuous but I'll say it nonetheless. Welcome to 75093! :-)

[CREW747]

Originally Posted by ObamneyI

This is good advice. Coppell, Plano, HP, UP have an advantage that they get families who put education before housing so of course those students learn to value education and perform better. You add that to all the resources and nurturing environment a high performing district can offer and you get a winning combination.

Carroll and West Plano are attainable for some,Hp and Up are not attainable for most.

Carroll did not work for us location wise and we simply were not willing to sacrifice lot size,energy efficiency and updating costs for a house in West Plano under $500,000....

Plenty of families in Prosper,Fairview (Love Joy ISD)and Flower Mound (just to name a few I am directly familiar with ) value education just as much as some families in West Plano,highland,Park,UP and Carroll.

I suspect the only districts that will be on par with privates in coming years will be Carroll and HPISD....Plano and Frisco will be very close to equal,Coppell will be closer to Flower Mound.Prosper and Love Joy could very well move up...

Right now,if I had kids going into high school,I would make sacrifices for Highland Park ISD or Carroll,not Plano or Coppell. Those are the only two districts I would feel guaranteed me superior schools in the future.If you you have the budget,buying a house in Carroll ISD really is a very good investment.If our work locations were different we probably would have chose Southlake over Prosper.

[Pama]

I don't get it. Poster above didn't send kids to private schools or buy in HPISD because those were out of budget. She didn't buy in Soutlake or West Plano because she didn't like the houses she could get for her money. She didn't buy in Frisco because lots were smaller, Coppell wasnt a convenient location. They ended up in a city without any data to support school quality so she can have new house on a big lot. I'm sure that she values education but it comes somewhere at the bottom of the list.

[Jasmine0]

OP's choices were Allen, Plano and Coppell. Where did Prosper come from? Nobody goes to Prosper for schools. Plano and Coppell are the real contenders if schooling is OP's priority. According to my research, you can't go wrong with these two.

[DFWtransplant189]

Definitely Coppell. Cypress Waters is will have apartments that are at a higher price range so I don't see any need to worry about it. Also, West Plano and Allen have their fair share of apartments as well! Definitely Coppell for it's central location!

[Jasmine0]

I decided to pass on Coppell and focus on Plano. Allen is not a contender as commute and schools didn't meet our criterion.

[CREW747]

Originally Posted by Pama

I don't get it. Poster above didn't send kids to private schools or buy in HPISD because those were out of budget. She didn't buy in Soutlake or West Plano because she didn't like the houses she could get for her money. She didn't buy in Frisco because lots were smaller, Coppell wasnt a convenient location. They ended up in a city without any data to support school quality so she can have new house on a big lot. I'm sure that she values education but it comes somewhere at the bottom of the list.

I have never said we considered Coppell.We never did for a number of reasons.After driving thru West Plano and looking at houses in our budget,we took it of the list.We did not like the feel of Plano,alley way garages and older houses. Southlake,Prosper and Flower Mound were the only serious contenders for us.Due to our job locations,Southlake was not a fit.Not choosing Southlake had nothing to do with the kind of house we could get for our budget,under $500,000.We loved everything about Southlake.Large lot neighborhoods,no back alley ways,strict zoning standards,rolling hills.We also liked the buffer areas that surrounded Southlake,Colleyville and Trophy Club.We did feel the same about West Plano.Flower Mound was not either.I know it is difficult to grasp,but many people do not work near Dallas or DFW airport.I work off the tollway in the Legacy area.What better fit for us would there have been other than Prosper? We never ruled Southlake out because of the type of house we could get.

I would make sacrifices for Southlake and Highland Park,I would not for West Plano and Coppell.I realized upon moving to DFW that buying a house in the best district possible was a priority.After seeing the areas that I read about here on city data forum that were the best district areas,I was surprised.The feel and zoning standards in Highland Park and Southlake were great.Moving here from Greenwich,CT I could never live in West plano or Coppell.I see why people do,but neither was a good fit for us.Since our budget at the time was under $500,000 we could not do HP and the Southlake commute would not work.Like I have stated before,we have very young children.Prosper ISD is a great fit for us.When they are in high school 11 and 9 years from now,I would consider making sacrifices for HPISD or Carroll if they are significantly above Prosper at the high school.

Many people consider districts like Love Joy,Prosper,Frisco and Allen great.I think with time the numbers for these districts could get even better.They are above many other districts in this area already.I will take my chances and live in a town I find aesthetically pleasing,without an alley way and in a half acre lot neighborhood for now.City Data offers a fantastic plethora of information.I advise people moving to the area to take what they gather on city data,then dig deeper.Driving thru areas gave us a much different whole picture than what we would have assumed from info on city data.

There really are so many great options for housing in DFW.Even if I did not live here I would still say that DFW has some of the best suburbs in the country.

[Pama]

I get it now, house comes before education at this point in your life.

[Jasmine0]

I know it is a difficult decision to make sacrifice to cut down on life style to pay for privates or to compromise on less than perfect house in good public districts. I am going through this and resisting temptation. Quality education is the best gift middle class parents can give to their child.