Need Help Navigating DFW Elementary Schools (transfer, private school tuition, live)

[justsomeguy]

Originally Posted by rabbit33

As to "ratings", it's important to keep in mind that many of the DISD schools are really two schools in one building: the poorly-performing school full of the kids whose parents live in those skanky apartments along the highway, and the highly-performing school full of the kids whose parents have bought the McMansions down the street and who are in the school every day watching and holding the school to account. The two populations of students intersect at lunch and gym and pretty much nowhere else.

My assumption is the McMansion folks just send their kids to private schools, no?

[texstout]

Originally Posted by justsomeguy

My assumption is the McMansion folks just send their kids to private schools, no?

Definitely not all. My son goes to a DISD TAG magnet school. While we are in East Dallas, I had reason recently to drop things off at a bunch of his classmates homes in NW Dallas. Many of these homes were very McMansion-y...and some were true mansions. They had all started at public elementary in the private school corridor before testing into the magnet. So while its true that probably most go private, I definitely see many families (of all demographics) choosing public that might have otherwise gone private. We started private and then moved public..and i know quite a few similar families.

[justsomeguy]

Originally Posted by texstout

Definitely not all. My son goes to a DISD TAG magnet school. While we are in East Dallas, I had reason recently to drop things off at a bunch of his classmates homes in NW Dallas. Many of these homes were very McMansion-y...and some were true mansions. They had all started at public elementary in the private school corridor before testing into the magnet. So while its true that probably most go private, I definitely see many families (of all demographics) choosing public that might have otherwise gone private. We started private and then moved public..and i know quite a few similar families.

Yes, but was the public elementary school good at least, or was it one with poor ratings?

My comment was in reference to the elementary schools with poor ratings. Didn't think the McMansion kids were going to those schools.

[NTXPerson]

Originally Posted by justsomeguy

Yes, but was the public elementary school good at least, or was it one with poor ratings?

My comment was in reference to the elementary schools with poor ratings. Didn't think the McMansion kids were going to those schools.

Yes, there are McMansion kids and other kids from high income families going to these schools. I mentioned W.T. White HS as an example earlier. It’s rated as 3/10 on Great Schools. However, you have kids from middle and upper middle class families going to this school, doing well, and then going to good colleges. That’s why I argue that these ratings don’t give the whole picture. The child’s background and economic status is a large indicator of their success at any school.

Also, I can’t say with confidence about other school districts, but DISD offers you the standard classes, Pre-AP classes, and then you AP or IB classes. Majority of kids with families with higher incomes will be found in the Pre-AP and AP (or IB) classes. There isn’t a lot of interaction between the kids in the higher level classes versus the regular classes (except maybe for electives).

[rabbit33]

Originally Posted by justsomeguy

Yes, but was the public elementary school good at least, or was it one with poor ratings?

My comment was in reference to the elementary schools with poor ratings. Didn't think the McMansion kids were going to those schools.

What you're going to have to do is to step back from the "school ratings" websites and do some actual on-the-ground research with other actual parents regarding the school(s) you're interested in. As noted, many of the DISD schools are really two-in-one. The "IB" or whatever term they're using this year, those students show up at the same building, but other than the cafeteria and the gym class, they're essentially in a different school. Yet the ratings are going to smush all the kids in that building together.

I take it that you're in a prosperous neighborhood in Northwest Dallas. Ask around amongst your neighbors who seem to be the educated prosperous kind of people who are concerned about their children's education. That will tell you volumes more than trying to parse out score differences of 0.05 in ratings made up by some website bot located in Indiana somewhere (or, for that matter, in Malaysia).

[4Movingeast]

PSA about the Kessler School: they are digging in their heels against evidence based reading instruction and sticking with whole language/workshop/Lucy method.

[rabbit33]

Originally Posted by 4Movingeast

PSA about the Kessler School: they are digging in their heels against evidence based reading instruction and sticking with whole language/workshop/Lucy method.

Oh, you mean the people who believe that English, one of the easiest languages to teach reading because it has an alphabet, each of whose letters clearly indicates the sound to be made - should be taught like Japanese, one of the most difficult languages to learn to read because you have to learn the meaning of each ideogram by brute memorization?

Idiots.

[pisekar]

Originally Posted by justsomeguy

Yes, but was the public elementary school good at least, or was it one with poor ratings?

My comment was in reference to the elementary schools with poor ratings. Didn't think the McMansion kids were going to those schools.

To me, top 3 public schools in DISD are Lakewood, Withers and Mockingbird Elementary. In terms of location, Withers zone is the best. It is close to private schools including Greenhill.

[justsomeguy]

Originally Posted by pisekar

To me, top 3 public schools in DISD are Lakewood, Withers and Mockingbird Elementary. In terms of location, Withers zone is the best. It is close to private schools including Greenhill.

How can one get their child into Withers if they live near it but aren't zoned to it?

[rabbit33]

Originally Posted by justsomeguy

How can one get their child into Withers if they live near it but aren't zoned to it?

Well, you could go down to Ross Ave. with a handful of hundreds...