Plano Senior High Schools...West vs. Central vs. East

[Texafornian]

Thanks for the input all! I think when we head over there to visit we're just going to have drive around, see what areas we like the most (and which houses), and talk to some real estate agents regarding what homes are in which district. Thanks for all of the helpful insight though!! It sounds like whichever Plano high school district we purchase into, will be a good school.

[Malani]

Tallascot/Others in this form-
If you want to see % of students in ANY school in USA and a rough idea according to the website's grading system upon 10 you can visit GreatSchools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community

Originally Posted by Texafornian

Our kids are still young, so we're planning to move into the area based on the elementary schools first, but are looking long term and want to situate ourselves in the feeder district to a good middle school and high school. To be honest I've done more research on West Plano schools and hear a lot about Brinker, Barksdale and Centennial, but it sounds like I need to do more research on the districts that feed into Plano Senior as well. I'm telling you, most of the sites out there really put West Plano on a pedestal, so it's hard to think of moving anywhere else in Plano because I don't hear any other perspective...until now. Thanks for the insight everyone, keep it coming. BTW - I would LOVE to get a 4,000 sf house for $450K... right now in CA we're in a 1500 (barely) sf condo for $650k....ridiculous...and the schools in this area are just average.

CENTENNIAL, BEVERLY, BARKSDALE all are great schools.. yes I mean it.. they are rated a 10 upon 10 by http://www.greatschools.net. My child went to Centennial but we later moved to Skaggs area because of availability of more specialized Math courses in Andrews, Skaggs, Haun elementary as these schools cater to more Asian kids, hence more rigorous programs But beware of the tough competition to get into Gifted Talented (they call it PACE over here) and the Special Math Program called Math Rocks!

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by Texafornian

What is the difference between the 3 Plano Senior High Schools? I hear good things mostly regarding Plano West Senior and Plano Senior, but which one is "better" academically and provides more extracurricular activities and opportunities? Can anyone give me personal insight regarding Plano West vs. Plano Senior and which one would be a better choice if I could choose which district to move into? And I'm open to hearing about Plano East as well, not to leave them out . I'm also interested in the ethnic diversity in each of the 3 schools.

Some points about my family that may help you out:
- Asian American
- Open to (actually prefer) competitive academic environments
- Desire very good performing arts programs (i.e. theater, choir, band)
- Not as big on athletics, but would prefer that they have decent tennis, volleyball, basketball programs
- Would probably purchase a house around 400-600k range

Thank you in advance for any information!

As all manner of posts have dealt with academics I'll touch on the sports angle.

Both Plano Sr. and Plano West have spectacular volleyball programs for girls. Oddly, Plano West seemed to fall apart at the end of the season and they are out of the playoffs.
Unfortunately, boys volleyball is close to non-existent in North Texas.

Girls volleyball is freakishly competitive around here. Last poll I looked at had 8 Texas teams in the top 25 in the US - 4 of those are DFW schools. California had 6.

To give you a fix for volleyball competition at Plano West; West's JV has four kids at least who, unless they decide not to play, are tracking towards playing in college.


PSA (Plano Sports Authority) did have recreational volleyball teams, I'm sure they still do.


Best of luck and welcome to Texas.

[pappy97]

Originally Posted by EDS_

As all manner of posts have dealt with academics I'll touch on the sports angle.

Both Plano Sr. and Plano West have spectacular volleyball programs for girls. Oddly, Plano West seemed to fall apart at the end of the season and they are out of the playoffs.
Unfortunately, boys volleyball is close to non-existent in North Texas.

Girls volleyball is freakishly competitive around here. Last poll I looked at had 8 Texas teams in the top 25 in the US - 4 of those are DFW schools. California had 6.

To give you a fix for volleyball competition at Plano West; West's JV has four kids at least who, unless they decide not to play, are tracking towards playing in college.


PSA (Plano Sports Authority) did have recreational volleyball teams, I'm sure they still do.


Best of luck and welcome to Texas.

What about Plano East Athletics? Your post conspicuously did not mention anything about Plano East. Thanks.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by pappy97

What about Plano East Athletics? Your post conspicuously did not mention anything about Plano East. Thanks.

It seemed to me the OP was most interested in West and Sr.

East has a fine tradition of strong sports. East's volleyball has traditionally not been as strong as West's. Looking at East's varsity schedule they appear to have had a tough season. That said the team is very young and they should be much stronger next year. One player in particular is flatly outstanding.

[Brookside]

Originally Posted by Texafornian

Thanks for the input all! I think when we head over there to visit we're just going to have drive around, see what areas we like the most (and which houses), and talk to some real estate agents regarding what homes are in which district. Thanks for all of the helpful insight though!! It sounds like whichever Plano high school district we purchase into, will be a good school.

Just my 2c and for what it's worth: My neighbor's daughter (a ninth grader) is in a group of students who could actually choose which HS they wanted to go to -- either PSHS or PWHS.

She chose PSHS. Why? In her words, she felt the PWHS crowd (and she's in school with many of them at Jasper) places too much emphasis on material things. It's all about who has the latest designer handbag and shoes and who was dating the hottest guy with the coolest car, etc. Just not her scene.

It's a rich kids environment - and believe me, this girl's parents are by no means poor; they are highly educated, upper middle class professionals and her mom has never had to work. But she said it was no fun to be in an environment where you are constantly judged by whether you (and your parent's) have a brand-new car, belong to the country club, and whether you vacation in the Bahamas over spring break.

Something to consider.

[Big G]

First, let me observe that the OP's kids have probably already graduated from their chosen school.

Second, the "characters" of the three PISD senior highs are going to be quite a bit different going forward, due to the boundary shift.

Yes, PWSH has its share of precious spoiled rich kids, but that's about to be severely diluted by a massive influx of Jasper wonks. Right now, Jasper only makes up 20-25% of PWSH, since a lot of those assigned to PWSH from Jasper simply refuse to attend there. Going forward, that will be more like 40-45%, putting an end to the current Shepton domination.

Similarly, that same set of kids will be departing PSHS, to be replaced by a set of (probably) much lower performing kids academically. (Although I do see state championships in multiple sports in PSHS's future - so it's not all negative for PSHS.)

Right now, PSHS consists of Jasper+Vines, and (IMO) Vines has minimal impact on the "culture" of PSHS. A Vines+Clark PSHS will probably bear little resemblance to the current school.

[Brookside]

Good insight BigG, as always.

I probably should have done a better job of stressing my point, which is that neither the girl nor her parents believe she is compromising in any way by choosing PSHS. They are both excellent schools.