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Old 04-22-2015, 11:31 AM
 
49 posts, read 68,311 times
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We are current in the Dallas area south of 75 but are looking to move a little north to a better school district for our kids. The west side of 75(north of 635 and south of George bush) is crazy expensive with low square footage for houses priced high. We are thinking about the east side of 75 which historically has had spotty areas but I heard is improving. Does anyone have experiences with the area and schools? We liked a couple of homes close to Centennial and Audelia but were not sure of the places around it since its close to 635. Does anyone have info on Richland elementary, Apollo middle school and Berkner high?. Also any other info on areas and other school on the east side of 75 in the Richardson area would be very helpful. Thanks!
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Old 04-22-2015, 01:39 PM
 
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Last year I moved from Yale Park, zoned to Yale Elementary. I liked living there - it was quiet, I never had a burglary or any other kind of reason to call the police. It was perfectly safe. It's a blue collar neighborhood, and the elementary has an excellent reputation. I don't know anything about Apollo. However, I heard from some RISD insiders that Berkner is dicey. They said there are fights everyday after school. But then again, sometimes I'd shop at the nearby Target super early and some of the kids would be there before school and they were nothing but polite and charming.

Personally, I would prefer my young son go to RHS or Pearce, so we moved so he could potentially go to elementary school on up with the same kids he'll be in high school with. Of course, RISD has lots of magnets so you can always go that route.

I don't care for the area you mentioned around Centennial and Audelia. Too many apartments. Check out the Kroger there. I never felt safe shopping there, and it was dirty. I'd look a little more north if I were you. The Duck Creek neighborhood has some really lovely homes, especially those that back up to the creek/trail. Also look at University Estates. Good luck!
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Old 04-22-2015, 01:45 PM
 
Location: Austin
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I agree that the Audelia and Centennial area, to me, has too many apartments and is too industrialized. If you want a "neighborhood", you should look further north. As a child, many moons ago, I went to Yale and Mark Twain. Very good schools, and from what I hear, they still are.

I don't know much about the high schools anymore, except that Pearce is still highly rated, which is where I went, and that Richardson High has done a complete 180, and instead of being the school to avoid, it's become a good school to want to go to.

Overall, all of Richardson schools are good. I'm not sure where you would hear something was dicey, but look at their scores and call the schools for further information. Don't just rely on website ratings.
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Old 04-22-2015, 02:03 PM
 
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Richland Elementary is 68% economically disadvantaged, putting it in the bottom 50% of RISD schools for student affluence. For comparison, top elementary schools Brentfield and Mohawk are around 6-7% ED.

Berkner is by far the lowest performing RISD high school. It's SAT has hovered around 1455 (MVW) the last few years, about where Rowlett & Sasche score, and a tiny bit above the state average.

Bottom line: not horrible, not great. I would think you'd be better off buying in Wallace Elementary, the cheapest and least desired Lake Highlands elementary school because at least you'd be feeding into stronger middle and high schools than in the Berkner feeder. Or if you *can* afford it, buy west of 75 because the school quality is tremendously stronger than Berkner- just deal with the higher $/SF.
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Old 04-22-2015, 02:20 PM
 
Location: North Texas
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80 View Post
Richland Elementary is 68% economically disadvantaged, putting it in the bottom 50% of RISD schools for student affluence. For comparison, top elementary schools Brentfield and Mohawk are around 6-7% ED.

Berkner is by far the lowest performing RISD high school. It's SAT has hovered around 1455 (MVW) the last few years, about where Rowlett & Sasche score, and a tiny bit above the state average.

Bottom line: not horrible, not great. I would think you'd be better off buying in Wallace Elementary, the cheapest and least desired Lake Highlands elementary school because at least you'd be feeding into stronger middle and high schools than in the Berkner feeder. Or if you *can* afford it, buy west of 75 because the school quality is tremendously stronger than Berkner- just deal with the higher $/SF.
^^ This. 100%.

Prices per sq ft are high in my part of Richardson (75080) for good reason. At the end of the day you may have to decide what's more important...proximity to jobs, square footage, or school quality. It's hard to have all three on a budget if you work south of 635.

Good luck OP!
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Old 04-22-2015, 03:55 PM
 
49 posts, read 68,311 times
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Thank you all for the very insightful view. I had also not heard good things about Berkner and all of you guys have just confirmed that as well. We have just begun looking and with limited inventory based on our price range( about $350K and 2500sq ft house) it is going to be us having to compromise on 1-2 aspects. I will be asking more questions as we look so thanks again for the wonderful advice!
Also I was using niche.com for comparing the schools since greatschool.org and schooldigger.com seem to be outdated as of 2011 or so. Is there any other websites you guys recommend looking at to compare schools?
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Old 04-22-2015, 04:24 PM
 
13,194 posts, read 28,176,343 times
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Originally Posted by dabrawl View Post
Thank you all for the very insightful view. I had also not heard good things about Berkner and all of you guys have just confirmed that as well. We have just begun looking and with limited inventory based on our price range( about $350K and 2500sq ft house) it is going to be us having to compromise on 1-2 aspects. I will be asking more questions as we look so thanks again for the wonderful advice!
Also I was using niche.com for comparing the schools since greatschool.org and schooldigger.com seem to be outdated as of 2011 or so. Is there any other websites you guys recommend looking at to compare schools?
Niche is complete crap. A big portion of their weighted scores is for diversity which means that a very diverse and poor school gets an A+ score for that component, disguising poor academics and poor teachers. I have seen schools that have A+ scores in academics & teachers but a C in diversity be ranked lower than schools with A+ in diversity and B/C scores for academics and teachers.

I get most of my school data from a local blog, dallas-area-schools.blogspot.com
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Old 04-22-2015, 07:31 PM
 
49 posts, read 68,311 times
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Thanks again Turtlecreek80!
I saw a listing of a place on west side of 75, just north of spring valley(richardson heights). Do you know anything about this area? Also how are the following
1. Dover elemenetary
2. Heights elementary
3. West JH
4. Richardson HS(heard reputation is getting better)

Also how much to pay importance to economically disadvantaged %? I know it plays a factor but at what % would you say it starts affecting the overall quality of the school?

Last edited by dabrawl; 04-22-2015 at 07:54 PM..
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Old 04-22-2015, 08:35 PM
 
370 posts, read 360,584 times
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I may be of a little help with generalizations since I just went through a similar search a year ago and I know a lot of RISD folks who helped me when I had similar questions. Someone else would be better with number crunching - not my thing!

1. Dover Elementary - very poor, high ESL population. I ruled it out immediately because of that.
2. Heights Elementary - getting better as more and more families move into the neighborhood
3. West JH - I know a lot of teachers there on a personal basis and they're all great. I've heard some troubling things about the principal, but of course staffing frequently changes. My understanding is that Richardson North and Parkhill are considered the top middle schools in RISD.
4. Richardson High School - It's best if you can be in the magnet programs there. I've heard they are really good. Some people prefer RHS to Pearce because they are turned off by the relative whiteness and affluence at Pearce. I know of at least 2 graduates of RHS who chose it over Pearce for that reason, and they had a good high school experience. Outside of the magnets, I understand the school has some rough elements but for the most part it's fine.

You should pay attention to the economically disadvantaged percent. There are always exceptions, but it speaks to some extent of the support the kids receive from their families (I mean academically and socially more than financially, in this case) and that can affect the learning environment. For me, more than 50% and I start to get nervous.
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Old 04-22-2015, 09:04 PM
 
49 posts, read 68,311 times
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Thanks a lot Aggielina(BTW are you an Aggie? So are my wife and I)
The house i mentioned comes under Heights Elementary so am more curious about that school. I have a friend whose kids went there but several years back, he does have great things to say about it. It does show close to 70% in terms of economically disadvantages students so that is kind of a red flag.
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