Best High Schools in the Metroplex? (Howe: colleges, live, horse)

[nativeDallasite]

Originally Posted by nativeDallasite

Sure, but Dallas's only exemplary junior highs/high schools are the magnet schools and I think there's only a couple of recognized JHS/HS out there. There are some exemplary/recognized elementary schools, but elementary schools serve such a small area that it's not as difficult to achieve. Contrast that to some suburbs where there are few schools ranked below "recognized".

I went to Hillcrest and I think I got a pretty good education, but it wasn't just handed to me; you have to be motivated to receive a good education because the teachers in the DISD don't seem to give a ***** whether you push yourself or not. I also saw things at HHS I'd rather not have seen and experienced things I don't think kids should have to experience. I was physically attacked one day by a very large black guy who must have weighed 300+ pounds...at that time I was 5'4" and weighed maybe 120...and I'm a GIRL. He decided he didn't like the look of me, so he hit me in the face with a jawbreaker the size of a baseball. Nothing happened to him either. I got a concussion and a fractured orbit that still aches when it rains. I got to see one of my friends beaten unconscious with a lunch tray during a race riot in the cafeteria right after the Rodney King verdict. I got to see the dean of students punched in the face...she was on one side of a pane of glass, the puncher was on the other; he punched THROUGH the glass to get to her. She had to wear an eye patch for months, she almost lost her eye. All the kid got was a three-day vacation. This wasn't even during the race riot; it just randomly happened one day.

Stuff like that is what makes it unlikely (but not impossible) that I'd put any child of mine in Dallas public schools.

Thanks to whoever neg-repped me for this and called me a racist...ridiculous.

[nativeDallasite]

Originally Posted by nativeDallasite

Thanks to whoever neg-repped me for this and called me a racist...ridiculous.

Oh, and thanks for the anonymous neg-rep where someone called me a liar and said nobody'd get away with breaking my jaw, which I never said anyway. I said he hit me with a JAWBREAKER. Reading comprehension, people.

Where do I complain about bogus neg-reps?

[hillcrest77]

Hillcrest has one of the best academic programs. Most kids that go there dont even stay in the attendence zone. Really,overall,I would say Hillcrest; ITS KNOWN ALL OVER DALLAS

[Grainraiser]

Funny how I remember my years a DISD. My home schools were WH Atwell and DW Carter which were majority white in the mid 70's. After my 7th grade year they switched me to Boude Storey and South Oak Cliff which were all black. My parents were not very happy and were going to rent a apartment in my old district so I could go back to Atwell. I talked them out of it because I would only go to Boude Storey for one year. When it came to high school me and the majority of my neighbors decided to go Skyline High School. Since I was a minority I could have went to just about any high school in the district on a M&M transfer. Skyline was the largest highschool in DISD because of it's magnet programs. We had students from all over the city both poor and wealthy (1978). It was the best decision I ever made. I experience diversity like I never experienced before. Schools in the city were 5A while schools in the burbs were 4A or smaller. Based on memory Plano Sr was the only 5A school not in the city limits. Now things are totally opposite. I could not go to the majority of high schools on a M&M transfer and the majority of the the inner city highschools are 4A or smaller. My how time brings about change.

[theloneranger]

HP and Carroll are a tier of their own for the public schools. However, your kid can get a good education anywhere if you want it and the kid wants it.

Pearce is still a pretty good school but it's not as strong as Carroll or HP. The Plano schools are all excellent but your kids are going to be going to school in a zoo of people.

North Dallas is now mostly private school, and it's very difficult to compare vastly different private schools, but I'd say that the elite tier academically would be Cistercian, St. Mark's, Hockaday, and Greenhill, with Ursuline, Jesuit, and ESD in the next tier. If you're going to talk about all-around it's comparing apples to oranges--for instance, Jesuit has 1000 boys for 9-12 and is a UIL 5A school, whereas St. Mark's has 360 boys for 9-2 and is in the SPC, and Greenhill has even fewer boys. Jesuit and Ursuline are 9-12, Cistercian is 5-12, and most of the other top private schools are 1-12 or even PK-12. Therefore, for private schools it's much more of a question of individual fit, family tradition, and where the kids' friends are going rather than simply saying which school is the best.

[nakold23]

I agree about the tiers of private schools.
the Top is definitely Hockaday, St. Marks, Greenhill, Cistercian, and the rest fall behind that.
As for public schools HP and Carroll are tops but also Plano schools, Pearce, and Coppell, Allen, Woodrow, and the DISD magnets are all great

[theloneranger]

Originally Posted by nakold23

I agree about the tiers of private schools.
the Top is definitely Hockaday, St. Marks, Greenhill, Cistercian, and the rest fall behind that.
As for public schools HP and Carroll are tops but also Plano schools, Pearce, and Coppell, Allen, Woodrow, and the DISD magnets are all great

You can't put Woodrow in the same league as the suburban schools--at least not yet.

[Lakewooder]

For AP and now IB you can and always have been able - but Woodrow also has a lot of kids from circumstances that many of the suburban schools do not have (but are becoming more prevalent).

I attended a well-known suburban school for ninth grade, then got back to Lakewood and Woodrow blew that school away in honors and AP.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by theloneranger

You can't put Woodrow in the same league as the suburban schools--at least not yet.

Not even close. Nearly every public school is going to have a great Honors/AP program. Woodrow is no different in that regard. What sets apart the HP's, Coppell's, Plano's, and elite privates is a "culture of success" that permeates down to the 80-90th percentiles of the class. Woodrow & the other average to good high schools may have a culture of success, but it is more limited to the top 10-25% and not the school as a whole.

Not saying you can't get an excellent education at Woodrow or Lake Highlands or Garland or other publics of their caliber. It's just not a "top tier"'overall experience due to the school's culture/ demographics. (Demographics not meaning race or income but expected graduation, expected 4-year college enrollment, successful/professional parents, etc).

[theloneranger]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Not even close. Nearly every public school is going to have a great Honors/AP program. Woodrow is no different in that regard. What sets apart the HP's, Coppell's, Plano's, and elite privates is a "culture of success" that permeates down to the 80-90th percentiles of the class. Woodrow & the other average to good high schools may have a culture of success, but it is more limited to the top 10-25% and not the school as a whole.

Not saying you can't get an excellent education at Woodrow or Lake Highlands or Garland or other publics of their caliber. It's just not a "top tier"'overall experience due to the school's culture/ demographics. (Demographics not meaning race or income but expected graduation, expected 4-year college enrollment, successful/professional parents, etc).

Which, as much as people like to ignore it, are largely dependent on income and race.