West Plano - schools, neighborhoods, future? (Irving, Carrollton: houses, new construction, school districts)

[Rakin]

Originally Posted by stan4

We picked private bc we were zoned to Huffman.
This is a school that was slated to be closed, but they decided to bus in low income instead. The rating plummeted.

So our kid goes to Greenhill.

Vicious cycle created by our Politicians. Smart kids head off to other schools and the ratings plummet. Ratings plummet and more families leave.

Loss of quality is not with the schools, they are still outstanding. Many districts like Irving and Carrollton face these problems. Much of it is due to kids who speak no English. Much of it in the last 10 years has been from Katrina kids who never went home.

[stan4]

Originally Posted by Rakin

Vicious cycle created by our Politicians. Smart kids head off to other schools and the ratings plummet. Ratings plummet and more families leave.

Loss of quality is not with the schools, they are still outstanding. Many districts like Irving and Carrollton face these problems. Much of it is due to kids who speak no English. Much of it in the last 10 years has been from Katrina kids who never went home.

All true.

But one of the biggest determinants of best student experience is peers.
Huffman doesn't have the peer group I'm interested in.
PWSH has excellent students and fantastic opportunities in academics and extracurricular activities, but the joint is a total rat race now. 20% have greater than a 4.0? Da fuh?

It irks me to shell out $25-30k per kid in tuition on top of $15k in property taxes, but whaddya gonna do?

[momof3inbigD]

I think everyone on these boards gets so lost in generalizations. I have a child at Frankford in 8th grade and does it have a few problems, sure. But it is full of young, kind, involved and really good teachers that really care about the kids. I was utterly impressed at open house a few weeks ago. And yes, I do shell out the money to send my other two to private school because that is what we chose to do for them. But to go and categorically bash some of these schools because some of the kids might not look or act like my own does not mean it is a bad place to be.

[DTXman34]

Originally Posted by Aceraceae

Is it losing its white Christian flavor?

They should build a wall and make Plano West great again. You know, keep "those" people out.

[EC2005]

Originally Posted by momof3inbigD

I think everyone on these boards gets so lost in generalizations. I have a child at Frankford in 8th grade and does it have a few problems, sure. But it is full of young, kind, involved and really good teachers that really care about the kids. I was utterly impressed at open house a few weeks ago. And yes, I do shell out the money to send my other two to private school because that is what we chose to do for them. But to go and categorically bash some of these schools because some of the kids might not look or act like my own does not mean it is a bad place to be.

Good point. For me (I don't live in West Plano), Frankford sticks out a little in the chain of Hightower, Frankford, Shepton, and West Plano Senior High.


Granted, I haven't done any research as to why the ratings at Frankford are lower, or why it is viewed negatively compared to the other schools I mentioned. From your post, it sounds like it may be because of diversity or perhaps lower income families?


Whatever the reason, it doesn't get viewed in the same light as the other schools in that chain. With that said, the ratings are still decent, and I probably would not mind sending my kids there.


By the way, may I ask why you send your other two kids to private school?

[BLDSoon]

Originally Posted by serger

Short commute from WP to the elite privates, seriously? Currently it can easily take 30 minutes to get from Bush to LBJ in the morning. And yet, I do see the St. Marks stickers all the time entering at Parker...

As someone that makes that commute daily, it most certainly does not.

Unless you're late for school that morning maybe

[BLDSoon]

Originally Posted by BayTexan

I would guess so. There was a huge brouhaha and lots of acrimony during that rezoning process with the Plano West gang up in arms about 'saving their school' and proposing a new high school (Plano North or something like that to keep the tigers out) and all sorts of other things.

There is truth to the tiger impact - as evidenced by for example the balance of academic power shift from Plano Senior to Plano West (e.g. look at the NMSF numbers now versus before the rezoning).

I'll never understand this thinking. I dont know how having a wealth of high performing kids join your school can ever be a bad thing. Going from PWSH to PCA is NOT an upgrade in my eyes. But then again i might be the kind of parent people like that may be running from so.....

[momof3inbigD]

We moved one of my daughters out of PISD because she just needed out for various reasons. My other child has some learning issues and was falling behind and we knew that shepton/west would be a huge struggle. As for my child at Frankford, she is in PACE and all honors, and at least from my experience in Plano, that track provides the small classes and attention. We are fortunate to be able to afford choices, but I do not for a minute think my child in PISD is lacking compared to her private schooled siblings. It's just different and that is ok.

[stan4]

Originally Posted by serger

Short commute from WP to the elite privates, seriously? .

Round trip to pick up my kid is ~35 min. That includes my leaving early bc I like to get the good spot in carpool line.

Morning is different (almost everyone's is) bc of other commuter traffic, but still only about an hour round trip.

[serger]

Originally Posted by stan4

Round trip to pick up my kid is ~35 min. That includes my leaving early bc I like to get the good spot in carpool line.

Morning is different (almost everyone's is) bc of other commuter traffic, but still only about an hour round trip.

Which school. Randomly picking St. marks, it is about 14 miles from my neighborhood in Plano, so even outside the rush hour it would take a while not counting any wait in the car pool. My impression is that at our relatively small size elementary people easily spend 20 minutes just waiting in the carpool lane.