Richardson Feeder Schools (Dallas, Plano, Spring: spring break, real estate, homes) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

miz77 · 06-30-2013, 07:48 AM

I apologize if this has already been posted somewhere, but I have not found the thread!! I'm confused on what elementary/middle schools feed into Pierce? Can anyone give me any info. on if those elementary and middle schools are good? What schools are in Canyon Creek and what areas of Richardson is recommended?? How do the schools deal with absences? My son has an autoinflammatory disorder that may cause quite a few absences....I need to find a school that is understanding of the situation, with or without a 504 plan. I know Plano schools get praised all the time.....are there those out there who like RISD better? I grew up in Plano schools and found the level of fakeness/materialism, drugs, competition to be overwhelming....I know there was a high suicide rate there during the time I attended....is this still an issue in Plano schools and is it an issue in Richardson schools? I'm ok if the education is not the top of the top, I want my kids to be well educated, but I also want them to be well rounded individuals that have had the opportunity to be around kind peers.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!! TIA!!

BigDGeek · 06-30-2013, 07:25 PM

Richardson ISD - Global - Maps

Texas is only OK · 07-02-2013, 11:11 AM

I did not grow up in this area. My best friend went to both Pearce and Plano. She hated Plano and said Pearce was much better. Her daughter now attends Pearce as well, and likes it just fine- no drug or other problems that I have heard about, although you will get that at least *some* at every school in the world, I suppose.
Canyon Creek is very expensive by DFW standards, but very nice if you can afford it. I am in east Richardson (Berkner HS) and real estate is about $80-90/sf here as oppsed to about twice that in CC and PC. Even further south in the W streets it is about 100/sf just because of the location west of 75, I guess.
RISD over all is VERY STRICT about everything, including absences. I would appeal to the school board prior to registration. Maybe they can give a special type of waiver for your son. Likely they will require a doctor's note, so you might get yourself prepared to jump through some typical RISD hoops.

miz77 · 07-02-2013, 03:20 PM

Thank you, that is very helpful. I did not really like Plano, but that was a long time ago, I keep hearing things have changed. Are PISD schools just as difficult and strict, do you know? Do the schools have SOME common sense when it comes to a chronically ill child? I can get a dr.'s note, I guess I am lucky that the school I am at now gets it and is very understanding. Are there ANY affordable Private Schools in the area of Plano/Richardson? We really wanted Catholic School, but the prices were insane.

miz77 · 07-02-2013, 03:21 PM

oh and what about homeschoolers in the area?

BigDGeek · 07-02-2013, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by miz77

Thank you, that is very helpful. I did not really like Plano, but that was a long time ago, I keep hearing things have changed. Are PISD schools just as difficult and strict, do you know? Do the schools have SOME common sense when it comes to a chronically ill child? I can get a dr.'s note, I guess I am lucky that the school I am at now gets it and is very understanding. Are there ANY affordable Private Schools in the area of Plano/Richardson? We really wanted Catholic School, but the prices were insane.

You'll have to call the district to see what their policy is. If your child has a diagnosed chronic illness and you can prove it, I'd be surprised if they weren't willing to be flexible as long as your child keeps up with the class.

Quote:

Originally Posted by miz77

oh and what about homeschoolers in the area?

There are some.

miz77 · 07-02-2013, 05:58 PM

A lot of school districts are not very easy when it comes to 504 plans/IEPs, even though they are federally mandated to provide it, at least that is the case here. I am just trying to figure out if there are any schools in the DFW area that offer an easier process and not so reluctant. Doctor's note is not a problem, I have one in his file at his present school, not sure if they would require a note from a TX doctor instead of our current one. the 504 requires the school to allow a certain amount of time to make up classwork and teachers needing to help catch him up, etc. Our present school has a lot of medically fragile kids, and they use common sense and easy to communicate with the nurse and staff. I really would like a school with that sort of understanding.

tuesday2 · 07-02-2013, 06:12 PM

I would call the district admin. office and ask. I believe they are closed this week and then have limited hours and staff next week (Mon-Thurs). Beginning Aug. 2 they resume regular hours.

My kids are enrolled in RISD and there were several families at their school this year who pulled their kids out for an entire week to go to Disney during off peak times, so maybe it depends on your principal as well. I can't imagine they wouldn't work with you if you communicate up front what the issue is and your child is able to make up missed work. I don't know the official policy and couldn't find one on their website other than this that was in an archived news page - Richardson ISD - District News - Dallas County Truancy Complaint

Also, to address your comment about being around kind peers... Each school has a counselor on staff and ours has regular lessons with the kids about communicating with their peers, conflict resolution, what to do if someone is bullying you, how to be a good friend, etc. The teachers also incorporated working together in community in the classes my kids were in. They were new this year and were welcomed and included and felt very comfortable with the transition.

Best wishes on your school search

miz77 · 07-02-2013, 06:39 PM

Tuesday2: if you are willing to share on here or privately what school ya'll are at, that would be most helpful and appreciated. Also, here, every year the teachers change, the admin other than the principal changes, there's a lot of switching around, does this happen in TX schools as well?

Texas is only OK · 07-03-2013, 08:10 AM

[My kids are enrolled in RISD and there were several families at their school this year who pulled their kids out for an entire week to go to Disney during off peak times, so maybe it depends on your principal as well.] (from Tuesday2)

NOT TRUE!!! I have tried every trick in the book to take a vacation at off-peak times so that we can afford to do so. It is just not a possibility. When I find out that someone I know has pulled off a vacation during school, I ask them how they did it, and it is always some form of a lie: a death (which has to be proven, so I am not sure what trick they used); family "issues" seems to be a popular one, because how would they make you prove that?. After 3 days of unexcused absences, the child has ISS, after that it is OSS. That is RISD policy. So stupid and ridiculous. I have dealt with 5 RISD schools so far, and my BFF has used 3 others on the other side of Richardson, and all have that same policy because it is district-wide.

That said, we moved to OR for a year, and when I wanted to visit TX, I went up to the school to find out the policy for taking them out of school a day before Spring Break. Their answer? "This is YOUR kid, you should be able to take them out of school whenever your want"-- AMEN!

These RISD strict policies are the ONE thing that I really hate about RISD. Since everything else about it is so good, I guess I will have to live with it, begrudgingly

What I have been doing is finding a 3-4 day weekend (like due to teacher work day, etc), and taking 2 unexcused absences against that 3-4 day to make a 5-6 day vacation. This means the difference of $6000 for a family vacation and $3000 for a family vacation. Totally worth it!