Vanguard schools of Dallas ISD (Plano, Highland Park: house, purchasing, magnet schools)

[nams567]

Hi, One of my friends are planning for their kids - to begin with the application process of vanguard schools (elementary schools of magnet school league ) in Dallas ISD. Can anyone give their advice whether these schools are better than normal public schools of Plano or Highland Park. I need to understand this as in future i would also be going through the same process of school admissions. Also we would be purchasing our house based on schooling for kids in Dallas Metroplex area.

[numbersguy100]

Originally Posted by nams567

Hi, One of my friends are planning for their kids - to begin with the application process of vanguard schools (elementary schools of magnet school league ) in Dallas ISD. Can anyone give their advice whether these schools are better than normal public schools of Plano or Highland Park. I need to understand this as in future i would also be going through the same process of school admissions. Also we would be purchasing our house based on schooling for kids in Dallas Metroplex area.

the search function is your friend (this has been discussed a LOT here) and the two are not comparable. Plano and HP have good schools, and to get into them you move into the ISD attendance boundary. that's it. to get into the magnet track at DISD, you need a fairly smart kid AND a lot of luck. but given the same motivation and capabilities, a kid from DISD magnets, HPISD, and PISD will have similar opportunity sets in terms of college.

[nams567]

ok, that makes sense. thanks. but you mentioned getting into magnet depends also on luck ? why , i thought it was based on their performance of entrance exams. or maybe i am wrong. do they also have some lottery system or parents profession review or something like that ........

[numbersguy100]

There are entrance tests at each level, yes. But there is always an asterisk. At the elementary level, the test is really, really subjective and while some spots are reserved for the very top 30% of scores on that test, the other 70% of spots can depend on where you live geographically in the city. Then siblings get preference. With the middle school vanguards, same thing with sibling preference. The high schools, I believe, are the only ones that are truly merit-based. But the system tends to favor applicants who come up through the DISD magnet system over applicants who don't. So the advantages that skew attendance at the younger magnet schools carry over to the high schools. Luck may or may not be the right word. But the point still stands that you can't simply count on your kid getting in by being incredibly smart and nailing the entrance exam.

[pepper131]

There are no guarantees to get into a DISD magnet. Each school has its own admission requirements so be sure to understand what they are. Within a school, different grades have varying admission requirements too.
Also understand the better entrance years for schools like Dealey and Harry Stone since they are Montessori.

[nams567]

thank u, all that mentioned is really helpful