Moving to Plano, Which ISD is better now? (Dallas, Richardson: apartments, magnet schools)

[Taub201]

At HP, the 18% admitted to UT are not average students. They are exceptional students with high stats and/or highly involved in activities and almost without exception they are captains or officers in those sports or clubs.

UT is just a highly sought after destination so many students apply. Kids want to go there and almost universally will be involved in the Greek system and/or other activities on campus.

[turf3]

Well, first of all, when I say "average" I mean "average for the school". I'm guessing the average HP student is about on the same academic level as the average Plano West student; which will be much higher than that of the average Woodrow student and quite a bit lower than that of the average St. Mark's student.


Secondly, as I pointed out, when high performing students from St. Mark's or Greenhill, or from HP for that matter, choose to go to UT, they are choosing to go there for other reasons than choosing the most academically demanding and selective school they can manage. You have just mentioned the social and networking reasons why many HP students who could get into Stanford, Rice, or RPI might choose to go to UT instead.

[biafra4life]

Originally Posted by Taub201

New U.S. News rankings came out yesterday:
#16. Rice
#42. UT-Austin
#66. SMU, Loyola Marymount, George Washington, TX A&M, Fordham, UMass, WPI and Minnesota.
#76. Baylor, American, IU and Yeshiva
#80. TCU, Denver, BYU, Stevens Institute, Michigan State, NC State, Howard and Gonzaga.
#97 Auburn
#133. OU
#143. Alabama, UTD
#160. Arkansas and Ole Miss.
#176. UH, Louisville and Washington State.
#187. OK State
#217. TX Tech

Florida public universities seem to be improving. Class sizes, graduation rates, resources spent per student, access and support for Pell Grant students and "reputation" weigh heavily.

My alma mater (TCU) would be crushed by this report on two counts: one they are ranked way below the biggest rival SMU and second, they havent cracked the top 50. Both of these were the goals back when I was there 15 years ago. Not much has changed on that front.

On the other hand, I have to give a shout out to UTD. It wasnt that long ago that the school was a complete non factor for serious college students. They've come a really long way since then.

[texstout]

I feel like I need to stick up a little for Woodrow. Woodrow is a very diverse schools with ~50% nowadays coming from Lakewood/M Street proper. Driving around the neighborhood with $1M+ homes with Woodrow signs - it obvious there is vast income disparities compared to the ~50% of students who come from very different backgrounds. I know many families that have transitioned from private lower schools to do the IB program at Woodrow. But your right...those don't necessarily make up the 'average' Woodrow student. The challenge is that the school just has a wide range of demographics and abilities.

Another difference for Woodrow (compared to the other schools listed) is that the highest scoring kids that feed into Woodrow also can go to the top ranked schools around: TAG HS and the SEM. Both of which produce large amounts of National Merit winners - especially compared to their small sizes.

We feed into Woodrow and I expect that my younger son will be a top performer when he gets older (judging from his 4th grade exceptional PSAT score). We don't, of course, know what the future holds for..but if he wants to go to Woodrow (or TAG or Jesuit or St Marks)...I suspect he will perform at the highest ranks. Whatever the case, he will apply to UT...how can you not for the cost?

[Taub201]

"Average" HP student goes to OU.

By that, I mean where are the kids that are 40% to 60%ile in the class going.

[veuvegirl]

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

Agree with everything written above, but also want to include that Plano has 3 senior high schools, and they breakdown more or less like this:


Plano West

Frisco
Plano Central

Plano East
Allen



Frisco and Allen both have much better demographics (more rich people, fewer poor people) than any Plano school but still don't perform as well for top students as Plano West ISD. Plano East has the worst demographics (much larger number of lower income students) but still performs amazingly well. Plano West has the best demographics and outperforms them. Plano Central performs slightly below to in-line with its demographics.



If your kids are not among of the top students (ie: you do not expect them to be in the running for valedictorian/top 10%) then all the schools are equal.


If your kid has learning disabilities (like dyslexia), I've heard and anecdotally experienced that Frisco and Allen support that better than any Plano school.

Allen is NOT good for learning disabilities. My son was unable to get his 504 fulfilled due to the size.

[TheOverdog]

Allen is NOT good for learning disabilities. My son was unable to get his 504 fulfilled due to the size.

Anecdote: A friend had their kid in our Plano school for K-3. She had an obvious dyslexia that was ignored until 3rd. The 3rd grade teacher recommended she get diagnosed, which was through Scottish Rite Hospital (or Childrens in Dallas, I can't remember as it's been a few years-- in any case she had to schedule and go to someplace in Dallas), not through the school. They moved 3rd grade year to Allen. Allen immediately identified her dyslexia, had in-school dyslexia diagnosis, and in-class extra help.

[turf3]

Originally Posted by texstout

I feel like I need to stick up a little for Woodrow. Woodrow is a very diverse schools with ~50% nowadays coming from Lakewood/M Street proper. Driving around the neighborhood with $1M+ homes with Woodrow signs - it obvious there is vast income disparities compared to the ~50% of students who come from very different backgrounds. I know many families that have transitioned from private lower schools to do the IB program at Woodrow. But your right...those don't necessarily make up the 'average' Woodrow student. The challenge is that the school just has a wide range of demographics and abilities.

Another difference for Woodrow (compared to the other schools listed) is that the highest scoring kids that feed into Woodrow also can go to the top ranked schools around: TAG HS and the SEM. Both of which produce large amounts of National Merit winners - especially compared to their small sizes.

We feed into Woodrow and I expect that my younger son will be a top performer when he gets older (judging from his 4th grade exceptional PSAT score). We don't, of course, know what the future holds for..but if he wants to go to Woodrow (or TAG or Jesuit or St Marks)...I suspect he will perform at the highest ranks. Whatever the case, he will apply to UT...how can you not for the cost?

Sounds to me like Woodrow is almost like two different schools in one building, an inner city low performing school and an urban-pioneer school with intensively involved parents pushing kids and teachers alike.

[NTXPerson]

Originally Posted by turf3

Sounds to me like Woodrow is almost like two different schools in one building, an inner city low performing school and an urban-pioneer school with intensively involved parents pushing kids and teachers alike.

A lot of DISD schools are like this. When your students are in pre-AP and AP classes, the students are essentially in their own little bubble at the school. You don't really interact with the rest of the students. I assume it would be just like this at any school, students are mostly around those who are in their classes. However, there is more of an obvious division in DISD schools because of the larger number of ED kids at the schools.

[texstout]

Originally Posted by turf3

Sounds to me like Woodrow is almost like two different schools in one building, an inner city low performing school and an urban-pioneer school with intensively involved parents pushing kids and teachers alike.

That's probably a fair assessment. Woodrow implemented the IB and a science/engineering competitive program a few years ago that has been very successful. The school has also just undergone beautiful renovations..much of this is because of tremendous parent involvement. The school seems to have huge school spirit and enthusiasm from the community.