Moving to DFW area - help on school districts ... (Dallas: to rent, house prices)

[Moving2DFW]

We will be moving back to USA this summer after 5 years of living overseas. We are relocating to DFW area. I will be mainly travelling and hence reasonable accessibility to DFW airport is a must. We have two kids who will be starting 8th and 5th grade in the coming school year.

Based on our research, we zoned in on Plano, Frisco and Coppel ISDs. We are a little confused in terms of options.

1. Plano ISD looks well established. We are unsure of enrollment as the ISD is fairly settled and do not have significant intake. Also individual school ratings seem to fluctuate widely year on year (especially high school since the elder one will be in high school after the upcoming year). Commute time to DFW from Plano seems to be ever increasing as well.

2. Frisco ISD has a great appeal. However, worried about constant redistricting. Also, SAT / AP course scores seem to be tad lower than Plano ISD.

3. Coppel ISD - Honestly did not spend lot of time on this so far. Heard that this ISD is highly competitive and heavily concentrated with specific ethnicities (diversity being the key).

We heard about Allen ISD as well.

Please help us with your insights on ISD, decent access to DFW and house prices trends. Understand each person's opinion would differ, but hoping to gain insights which will help us.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers!

[kretsch]

If accessibility to DFW is a big factor, then of those 3 districts Coppell is definitely the most convenient and its schools aren't too shabby either. Other communities adjacent to DFW include Grapevine/Colleyville, Southlake, and Flower Mound which also all have good schools depending on your price ranges

[Rakin]

Read the other threads on here about buying homes in these areas. It can be a challenge depending on your price.

You might also consider Flower Mound, Grapevine and Keller schools.

[europeanone]

We did a lot of research into the school districts before buying in Plano. We had considered Plano, Frisco, and Coppell. We would have considered Southlake and University Park as well but that was out of our league price-wise. We were not thrilled at the time with the Frisco ISD re-districting kids from one school to another due to the rapid expansion of the ISD. (I wanted to buy a house and know exactly which schools my kids will be attending...I'm not fond of guessing games . We settled on Plano, but if the airport is your concern then I would absolutely lean toward Coppell. Plano is far from the airport during rush hour, and Frisco is even further. We liked Coppell very much but at the time (3 years ago) we were turned off by the Cypress Waters development coming into Coppell, which we thought was going to put a strain on the ISD...10,000 housing units are scheduled to be built as part of the development. I stopped following the progression of that development and its impact on the ISD, but at the time there was fear of its impact. I'm sure someone else here can elaborate on the current status of it and whether it has had an impact on the town and ISD. That said, we are very happy in Plano. Our kids will be entering high school the year after next, like your child, and we are excited about what the schools (for us it's Jasper and Plano West) have to offer. Good luck!

[cordata]

You may want to even consider Dallas proper. If you are traveling weekly it's no big deal to get from Dallas to DFW airport.

[mSooner]

We liked Coppell very much but at the time (3 years ago) we were turned off by the Cypress Waters development coming into Coppell, which we thought was going to put a strain on the ISD...10,000 housing units are scheduled to be built as part of the development. I stopped following the progression of that development and its impact on the ISD, but at the time there was fear of its impact. I'm sure someone else here can elaborate on the current status of it and whether it has had an impact on the town and ISD.

It's pretty much a non issue now. I'm not sure what the total unit number was going to be, but it isn't nearly as much as originally proposed. I don't hear much about it at all anymore. If anything, those that sold in 2010-2011 in fear of it have got to be kicking themselves right now as they sold at the bottom of the market.

That being said, the ISD is experiencing lots of growth...and a lot of it isn't from Cypress Waters at all. Tons of young families moving in and new single family homes being built on just about every shred of Coppell ISD land left. The ISD has plans to address the growth--hence the huge bond we are voting on right now!

[WorldKlas]

Check out the Grapevine-Colleyville ISD, too. It serves Grapevine, Colleyville, sections of North Euless and a small part of East Hurst. All near the airport and some lovely neighborhoods.

[loves2read]

Also note that property values are likely going up in many neighborhoods all over DFW so make sure you ask about the new appraisal the homeowner has received
Your purchase price is supposed to be protected--not legally required to be turned in to the tax appraisal district but our buying price certainly found its way to TAD---I think the seller's agent did it--she was pretty stupid about lot of things...

You might consider the Bush freeway access to DFW--it flows pretty well but it is a toll road--maybe your can get toll tag through your company...

[Moving2DFW]

Thanks everyone for the details. Quality ISD is the prime driving factor on the decision. We are looking to rent for an year before deciding on the buy (gives us a chance to scout locations locally and also hoping against hope that Dallas housing market cools down the hot streak). We will ideally look for in the $250-350K range, however can go up to $400K if needed for the right property / location.

Will check out Grapevine/Colleyville, Flower Mound, Southlake and University Park as well.

[ChristieP]

Southlake and University Park will be totally out of your price range. You would need to go up to $500k for Southlake, and closer to $1M for UP.