West Plano schools: does average kid get lost in middle/high school? (Jasper: 2015, transfer)

[MurphyPl1]

If you like the smaller town feel but PISD, you might want to consider Murphy. 18,000 people, 5 sq miles, run into people you know at different shops and restaurants. If you don't know your neighbors, it's because you don't want to. And that's cool. No one cares or talks bad about you because of it. But there's plenty of social interaction in all of the neighborhoods, even the older acre lot neighborhoods that don't have HOAs to facilitate that.

Feeder is to Plano East via McMillen HS (3rd year open), Murphy MS and Hunt, Boggess or Miller ES (sits just outside Murphy in Richardson). The town is actually partially served by Wylie ISD and the boundary is generally Maxwell Creek (the creek not the subdivision).

There are actually a large number of people who grew up in east Plano and went to East that moved their families back here to raise.

[llanoestacado]

deenie1, Another positive for the Plano schools is that the voters in November just approved a property tax increase for the schools with a 62% yes vote. I am very proud of Plano ISD voters continuing their long tradition of investing in public education by approving both school bond issues and the occasional tax increase. But note, even with the tax increase, Plano ISD taxpayers will have the second lowest tax rate of all school districts in Collin County. (Only Farmersville ISD has a lower school property tax rate.) In contrast, the Lovejoy ISD voters just rejected a $75 million school bond issue. You will here "West Plano...West Plano" ad nauseum. Be sure to check out all parts of Plano ISD before making a decision on a housing purchase such as the incorporated town of Murphy (as Murphypl1 suggests) on the far east side of Plano ISD. Murphy is just south of the famous Southfork Ranch and is bordered on the west and north sides by the scenic semi-rural town of Parker (also much of it in Plano ISD). Your family could live in the genuine small town of Murphy and be served by elementary, middle, and high schools right in or very close to the town. My family lived in north central Plano (near Independence Parkway and Legacy Drive) which feeds Plano Senior High. A couple neighborhoods here to consider as alternatives to West Plano, drive into Forest Creek Estates (south of Legacy and west of Independence), then get out of your car and walk the neighborhood. You will see beautiful trees, well-maintained custom homes (built in the 80's) on numerous cul de sacs, kids playing outside, etc. The neighborhood north of Legacy and west of Independence is called Whiffletree, very similar in feel to Forest Creek Estates (the CEO of Southwest Airlines has lived many years in Whiffletree). Get out and walk these neighborhood(s). You will see what I mean.

[llanoestacado]

deenie1, you mentioned you are moving from a New Jersey school district, well I grew up just outside Philly and my family still lives there. All to say as a transplanted Texan, I love it in the DFW area. If you and your family are at all interested in church communities, Plano has superb alternatives - Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Episcopal, etc. There are numerous thriving church communities here and your family would be very welcomed.

[deenie1]

Originally Posted by llanoestacado

deenie1, you mentioned you are moving from a New Jersey school district, well I grew up just outside Philly and my family still lives there. All to say as a transplanted Texan, I love it in the DFW area. If you and your family are at all interested in church communities, Plano has superb alternatives - Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Episcopal, etc. There are numerous thriving church communities here and your family would be very welcomed.

Thanks. I appreciate all of the info. Funny that you mentioned Wiffletree. I have a couple of relatives working for SW. I will check all of that out. My DH needs to find a job first that will match his salary in NYC. Not an easy thing. I know cost of living is lower but we still need that income until I get my internship hours done and I can work and have a cushion. That should be in time for our kids to go to college so we may never truly catch up Still, I like the Dallas area and we do have some family out there. Little by little our family here has passed away so it's time to start anew. Just hope the job market opens up for him. He's got feelers out and I'm doing my homework with the schools/neighborhoods. Thanks!

[MovinOutIn2013]

We are moving to Plano next summer We were Plano West all the way, but with all the competitiveness, I'm not so sure anymore. I have two very different daughters, one is going into 9th grade and very bright..motivated. The other is going into 6th grade and is smart,but not motivated at all! Question is...a realtor sent me some listings and a few of the homes have Jasper as the HS feeding into Plano Sr. I thought that Jasper fed into Plano West?!

Where can I get the most accurate school info??

[TR95]

Originally Posted by MovinOutIn2013

We are moving to Plano next summer We were Plano West all the way, but with all the competitiveness, I'm not so sure anymore. I have two very different daughters, one is going into 9th grade and very bright..motivated. The other is going into 6th grade and is smart,but not motivated at all! Question is...a realtor sent me some listings and a few of the homes have Jasper as the HS feeding into Plano Sr. I thought that Jasper fed into Plano West?!

Where can I get the most accurate school info??

Jasper feeds into Plano W. Surprised a realtor does not know that. Of course, the MLS gets schools wrong quite a few times I've noticed.

Go to Plano Independent School District – Plano, Texas and under schools>feeder schools chart. Here is the link

Feeder Schools Chart : Plano ISD

Plano Senior High School

Elementary Schools: Bethany, Carlisle, Mathews
Middle School: Schimelpfenig
High School: Clark
Elementary Schools: Christie, Harrington, Thomas
Middle School: Carpenter
High School: Clark
Elementary Schools: Beverly, Hedgcoxe, Rasor
Middle School: Hendrick
High School: Clark
Elementary Schools: Davis, Hughston, Saigling, Wells
Middle School: Haggard
High School: Vines
Elementary Schools: Aldridge, Jackson (east of Coit), Shepard, Sigler, Weatherford
Middle School: Wilson
High School: Vines

Somewhere around late 2011/early 2012, the people at Shepton were complaining about Plano West becoming too crowded and wanted rezoning with Jasper going to Plano Senior. That did not happen. Guess the issue could come up again in the future, but for now Jasper goes to Plano W. That's about all I know since we've only been here about 3 years, and from when we were looking back in 2011.

[DitsyD]

Originally Posted by MovinOutIn2013

We are moving to Plano next summer We were Plano West all the way, but with all the competitiveness, I'm not so sure anymore. I have two very different daughters, one is going into 9th grade and very bright..motivated. The other is going into 6th grade and is smart,but not motivated at all! Question is...a realtor sent me some listings and a few of the homes have Jasper as the HS feeding into Plano Sr. I thought that Jasper fed into Plano West?!

Where can I get the most accurate school info??

Feeder Schools Chart : Plano ISD

[Big G]

Originally Posted by MovinOutIn2013

...Question is...a realtor sent me some listings and a few of the homes have Jasper as the HS feeding into Plano Sr. I thought that Jasper fed into Plano West?!

Where can I get the most accurate school info??

Originally Posted by TR95

Jasper feeds into Plano W. Surprised a realtor does not know that. Of course, the MLS gets schools wrong quite a few times I've noticed.

The MLS has inaccurate school info all the time, that's for sure. But these particular listings probably aren't wrong.

Most likely, those listings are for the area zoned to Schimelpfenig Middle School. That particular neighborhood has a "side deal" with PISD such that any student there has a guaranteed transfer to Jasper HS (the area's former 9/10 campus) if he/she wants to attend there. (No such guaranteed transfer exists for Plano West.) So, even though the house is UIL zoned for Clark/Plano Senior, you could also consider it as being zoned to Jasper/Plano Senior. Since "Jasper" is such a Holy Grail, that's what most sellers would list.

FWIW, up to now, Jasper was split between Plano Senior and Plano West, with most of them attending Plano Senior. This year's juniors are the first Plano West class to include all of Jasper.

[GripeWater]

School Finder : Plano ISD lets you enter home address to find out about the school feeder. PISD is such a big, organized and well oiled district with plenty of options that I wouldn't worry about my kid not getting a custom tailored path. They aren't perfect and they are a public institution so you may have to meet guidance counselor and show older and current transcript to facilitate the things in right direction and let them do their own testing to find a better fit. Intra district transfer is always an option and then there are IB, Health and STEAM academies which offer busing to your nearest school. Every school has special, regular, honors, PACE and AP streams to meet individual requirements. Of course it helps if a child puts his best effort and parents provide their support.

[llanoestacado]

Big G,

After some lobbying by Plano West parents, last year the PISD School Board took away the option for Schimelpfenig kids to go to Jasper/Plano West. Now the only track is Clark/Plano Senior High for Schimelpfenig.