Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Richardson's J.J. Pearce HS has an excellent marching band and orchestra program. https://schools.risd.org/domain/1111 The feeder area for this school is in the northwest part of Richardson. That would be a very easy commute, too.
From where we live (zoned to Rice and Jasper), it's about 11 miles to the Lakeside Boulevard area. So probably 15-30 minutes depending on traffic/rush hour etc.
Rice and Jasper have outstanding music programs (many awards won, tons of kids getting selected for All-region and All-state etc.) in addition to academics.
Quote:
Originally Posted by priya_caus
Thanks for your responses. So coppell is out based on this.
How much is the rush hour commute time from West Plano (rice middle school area) to specifically the lakeside boulevard area of Richardson (near Hyatt regency).
I will also look into Otto middle school.. will check the commute
Rice Jasper Plano West seem to be repeated often for best schools.
I need a school with good music program and academics.
And it is definitely NOT true that Honors classes have all Asians. My kid has friends of all races and most of them take Honors classes (White, Hispanic, African Americans etc.). And no - the honors classes are not so tough that Asians drop out - they may drop occasionally drop AP classes sure - but that's true anywhere.
Yes, it is a competitive environment but prepares you well for the rigors of college.
And yes, hey - little Tommy can take honors classes at Jasper too
Your son's experience may be different than my daughter and her friends' experiences. Many of them moved to Plano during 5th thru 8th grades and transferred out after Freshman year primarily because it was too stressful. Several of the ones to leave are now at top 20 elite colleges and feel leaving Jasper was a great decision and probably would not have been able to attend such good colleges if they had stayed at Jasper. I know that is the definitely the case with my daughter.
There is no question Jasper is the Best school with the best students, probably the best teachers in the area. If your kids are already used to Rice MS rigor that is one thing but for young kids to move into that level of stress is too much for most kids.
There is no other school in the area that is 50% Asian. Liberty in Frisco is in the 20's in Asian ratio. Clark and Shepton is in the teens and kids can get a great education with great teachers there too and still be able enjoy clubs and have a decent chance to get a leadership position.
Yo, NY'er just to get an idea - Unlike other top competitive schools like a Stuyvesent or a Bronx Science where students are rewarded for going to tought schools, Jasper students are in essence penalized because college admissions people could care less if you went to Jasper or Shepton. Just doesn't matter. And yet it is much harder to get A's at Jasper. If you don't graduate in top 5% from Stuy or Bronx you can still go to a top college, but at Jasper/Plano West you have zero chance.
I'm just trying to give you another viewpoint. You should go visit the school so you can get a better idea rather than take blind recommendations from a bunch of Homers. But here's a little glimpse of Jasper. Some of my neighbors and also my Daughter's friends were in their award winning Orchestra before they all transferred out for Sophomore year.
Objectively speaking, as you said, Rice and Jasper are by far the best schools in Plano from an academic perspective at that level (along with excellent fine arts etc.). It's great that your daughter and her friends who transferred out are successful. But those who do it for gaming the class rank system (which is a non-factor after 2022 as PISD is moving away from that like other districts have done) are just running away from competition. And FYI, Jasper has instituted 'No homework Thursday' where kids don't have any homework one day a week. So, they are trying to tone things down.
So what if there is no school in the area with 47% Asians? Why is that an issue when there are schools that are 90%+ Caucasian or whatever? Peer influence is a huge factor for kids (given how long they spend at school each day) - and having a group of peers who value academics (along with fine arts etc.) is better than the alternative (idle minds and all that). And building a good work ethic is a great thing to start in high school.
Clark is going through some significant issues (and Plano Senior along with it) after the rezoning - just look at the academic metrics for Plano Senior (for e.g., it now ranks below Plano East and several Frisco schools for National Merit Semifinalists). And Shepton still feeds to Plano West where they have to compete with Jasper students (and sure - they can have inflated grades due to easier grading or whatever but does that really serve them well)?
At the end of the day, it depends on what each child wants and can handle and the parental support and influence. If the kid goes to a top notch college and say in Engineering or medicine, they cannot run away from competition, tough grading, and hard work. There are over 7 billion people on this planet and many of them are driven, hungry, motivated, and hard working. There are finite resources and jobs and it's just going to get even more competitive in the future. In case you haven't noticed, the US is lagging way behind many other countries in education.
And sure, I agree that the OP should visit the schools and talk to the teachers etc. But it doesn't hurt to take input from 'homers' along with that of refugees
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter5457
Your son's experience may be different than my daughter and her friends' experiences. Many of them moved to Plano during 5th thru 8th grades and transferred out after Freshman year primarily because it was too stressful. Several of the ones to leave are now at top 20 elite colleges and feel leaving Jasper was a great decision and probably would not have been able to attend such good colleges if they had stayed at Jasper. I know that is the definitely the case with my daughter.
There is no question Jasper is the Best school with the best students, probably the best teachers in the area. If your kids are already used to Rice MS rigor that is one thing but for young kids to move into that level of stress is too much for most kids.
There is no other school in the area that is 50% Asian. Liberty in Frisco is in the 20's in Asian ratio. Clark and Shepton is in the teens and kids can get a great education with great teachers there too and still be able enjoy clubs and have a decent chance to get a leadership position.
Yo, NY'er just to get an idea - Unlike other top competitive schools like a Stuyvesent or a Bronx Science where students are rewarded for going to tought schools, Jasper students are in essence penalized because college admissions people could care less if you went to Jasper or Shepton. Just doesn't matter. And yet it is much harder to get A's at Jasper. If you don't graduate in top 5% from Stuy or Bronx you can still go to a top college, but at Jasper/Plano West you have zero chance.
I'm just trying to give you another viewpoint. You should go visit the school so you can get a better idea rather than take blind recommendations from a bunch of Homers. But here's a little glimpse of Jasper. Some of my neighbors and also my Daughter's friends were in their award winning Orchestra before they all transferred out for Sophomore year.
All Plano schools have good teachers and they have the same curriculum and course materials. You realize they all teach the same material, right. The only difference at Jasper is the teachers have to create a few extra questions otherwise half the kids would get perfect scores.
My younger daughter is at Plano Sr and she loves school. She will be NM next year based on her top score. And more importantly she is able to participate in plenty of clubs and teams while maintaining a top student status. And, we all know she couldn't do all of that at Jasper, no way. You can't be in a team sport, things like band, and other activities at Jasper and compete GPA wise with all the top students who strategically have to give up those activities otherwise their GPA suffers. We all know that about Jasper. C'mon now.
Plenty of Hard studying kids at Jasper go on to West and suffer because their gpa isn't good enough to go to a good college. And yet they probably worked harder than other top students at most other schools who get to go on to good colleges. That is the Jasper penalty. Instead of being rewarded for all the added stress of working so hard at Jasper, you end up being penalized.
And it's getting worse. They may get rid of honors for classes like art and band. Then there will be even more students electing not to take those classes because it will really kill their gpa.
All Plano schools have good teachers and they have the same curriculum and course materials. You realize they all teach the same material, right. The only difference at Jasper is the teachers have to create a few extra questions otherwise half the kids would get perfect scores.
My younger daughter is at Plano Sr and she loves school. She will be NM next year based on her top score. And more importantly she is able to participate in plenty of clubs and teams while maintaining a top student status. And, we all know she couldn't do all of that at Jasper, no way. You can't be in a team sport, things like band, and other activities at Jasper and compete GPA wise with all the top students who strategically have to give up those activities otherwise their GPA suffers. We all know that about Jasper. C'mon now.
Plenty of Hard studying kids at Jasper go on to West and suffer because their gpa isn't good enough to go to a good college. And yet they probably worked harder than other top students at most other schools who get to go on to good colleges. That is the Jasper penalty. Instead of being rewarded for all the added stress of working so hard at Jasper, you end up being penalized.
And it's getting worse. They may get rid of honors for classes like art and band. Then there will be even more students electing not to take those classes because it will really kill their gpa.
I'm just not getting the Jasper is impossible thing. One of my son's best friends, he's a medical resident so I'll stipulate he's always been an excellent and very determined student, ran the Rice, Jasper, PW gauntlet. He maintained near perfect grades plus he was an outstanding school and club hockey player - club hockey is like having a job.
I'm just not getting the Jasper is impossible thing. One of my son's best friends, he's a medical resident so I'll stipulate he's always been an excellent and very determined student, ran the Rice, Jasper, PW gauntlet. He maintained near perfect grades plus he was an outstanding school and club hockey player - club hockey is like having a job.
There are some sports and teams where you are forced to take it as a class and you are graded on a 4.0 vs the 5.0 for AP Honors. On some teams, if you are a captain then you have to take 2 class loads at 4.0. All the top students at Jasper avoid these situations because they need to max their gpa's to keep up.
They'll even avoid Honors Art because it is known as the biggest time sucker due to all the incredibly talented kids there.
I'm just saying that Jasper has other variables Transplants should be aware of. If you are already in plano then all the local kids already knows about Rice and Jasper.
And if you avoid the GPA rat-race while taking courses that you like (my child takes Choir, a language, and Theater (gasp - all 4.0 courses) - and yes, I am an Asian Indian parent and we do exist at Jasper - unlike pink unicorns ), and don't kill yourself to be in the top 3% or whatever, then you will have a very good education and time at Jasper (as indeed at any Plano high school) while developing a great work ethic, with a motivated and driven peer group, and excellent fine arts programs. There are many kids at Jasper who excel at academics, sports, and fine arts combined like EDS said.
As I said, running away from competition, and trying to game the GPA system by going to a school with easier grading or an 'easier' peer group is not the best way to prepare for life.
As the old saying goes, 'Better be a small fish and learn to swim in a big pond than being the big fish in a small pond'...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter5457
There are some sports and teams where you are forced to take it as a class and you are graded on a 4.0 vs the 5.0 for AP Honors. On some teams, if you are a captain then you have to take 2 class loads at 4.0. All the top students at Jasper avoid these situations because they need to max their gpa's to keep up.
They'll even avoid Honors Art because it is known as the biggest time sucker due to all the incredibly talented kids there.
I'm just saying that Jasper has other variables Transplants should be aware of. If you are already in plano then all the local kids already knows about Rice and Jasper.
If your focus is on less home work and just text book learning then other school districts are good. But If you are OK with every day 3 hours of home work with frequent tests and learning history and science in depth from other sources(other than text book) and everyday instrument practice to attend UIL, All Regionals and All state then choose Rice/Jasper.
In Rice/Jasper, pretty much every body tries advanced level courses in Math and Science. Kids will be inspired to do it. You may call it Peer motivation or Peer pressure.
And if you avoid the GPA rat-race while taking courses that you like (my child takes Choir, a language, and Theater (gasp - all 4.0 courses) - and yes, I am an Asian Indian parent and we do exist at Jasper - unlike pink unicorns ), and don't kill yourself to be in the top 3% or whatever, then you will have a very good education and time at Jasper (as indeed at any Plano high school) while developing a great work ethic, with a motivated and driven peer group, and excellent fine arts programs. There are many kids at Jasper who excel at academics, sports, and fine arts combined like EDS said.
As I said, running away from competition, and trying to game the GPA system by going to a school with easier grading or an 'easier' peer group is not the best way to prepare for life.
As the old saying goes, 'Better be a small fish and learn to swim in a big pond than being the big fish in a small pond'...
Tell that to all the hardworking Jasper kids who couldn't even get into UTD, even though they studied harder than most other kids going to UT Austin.
You can go to any other Plano HS and be challenged, learn all those topics from good teachers, enjoy clubs, teams, etc. AND still compete for top class rank. Jasper is the only school in the metro where that is impossible. All the other Plano HS grads are also succeeding in top college engineering and other tough programs. You don't lose out by going to other Plano HS, but you do gain by not having to sacrifice other HS experiences in order to compete for class rankings and a chance for top college admissions.
Again, I think future transplants need to know how tough Rice and Jasper are because they may not have schools this tough where they are coming from. New kids take some time to adjust and find their footing again and they could really struggle at a place like Rice or Jasper.
Last edited by Peter5457; 02-26-2019 at 10:32 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
