What is considered the best school districts in greater Dallas area? (Houston: sex offenders, houses)

[masalamomma]

Sorry folks, but still do not have the answer to my question. I am simply looking for a response on which school districts have the best reputation as being the best. I gave the example that the Cherry Creek School District has the best reputation in the greater Denver area, with Douglas County Schools being second.

I am not looking for a debate on people's individual evaluations of school districts, but more the general public's opinion, like I gave above. And since I am only interested in Western and Northern area, which is why I limited it to those sectors. And I guess if Highland Park is for the uber rich, then that wont help me either.

Anyone able to get the jist of what I am looking for?

[stargazer]

Highland Park is supposed to be the best in the area. Other good school districts would be by reputation Carroll Southlake, Lewisville ISD ( look around in this district though), Frisco, Coppell, Argyle, Lovejoy, Colleyville to name a few. Most of the schools in the north are good by reputation but if you are trying to figure out what schools within the district present themselves a good, look at greatschools.net. The parent reviews are really helpful when it comes to that. It also breaks down the teachers experience and a few other demographics.
These are all schools that I have thought of off the top of my head that are west and north. Good luck.

[onrway2clt]

What is your price range? Sorry if I missed that.

As for reputation as being the best in the North, I think West Plano is your best bet.

[momof2dfw]

Actually the question can not really be answered. Every school district has good and bad schools. While one person may believe that x school district is better that may be the ONLY ISD they have any experience with at all. There is way too much of that out there and it only leads to rumors being kept alive.

While a school district may have more exemplary schools it does not mean that it is the best. You can look at the TAKS scores but then you REALLY have to break them down to the nitty gritty. Say campus A received expemlary but campus B received unacceptable. Why? Does that mean that all students at campus B are failing and have bad teachers. Does that mean that campus A is full of super bright students w/ teachers that are topnotch. NO! If you look at the numbers for each campus and how the students faired by subgroups you may find that the mainstream students at campus B outperformed the students at campus A. It only takes one small subgroup of students (that could be as small as 10 students) to bring a campus down to the dreaded "unacceptable" ranking.

I do not buy the arguement that schools in upper class areas are the best. I've seen kids from the poor side of town do better in school and excel just as much as I've seen "rich" kids do such. Then we have the issue of magnet schools. These schools are not located in upper class areas. You will find that the campus for the gifted & talented is in a neighborhood of lower income housing.

I get the "jist" of your question but it just does not happen to work. There is no finite answer to it. There is no one school district in the Dallas area that stands out heads and shoulders over the others. Perhaps the best question you could ask instead is which school district thinks they are better than anyone else? It won't always be the best school district when it comes to education.

[masalamomma]

My price range is 300 - 350k. My husband is interviewing today for a job there. Since the company has several locations (in Northern and western suburbs), I am not sure where he would be working.

We are currently in suburban Denver. Before deciding on a job offer, I always want to know what I can expect for housing quality and pricing before making a decision. I did live in Plano for one year in 2003, but I was only renting and my children were attending a private school, so I know nothing about school district reputations in the greater Dallas area. I need to know a couple areas to focus in on while researching, just to get an idea what I could expect to pay for a house.

I may or may not be sending my children to a private school (in Garland), so would want to buy into a school district with a good reputation nearby just in case. Plus, I see my home also as an investment, and am always thinking of resale values and ease of sale, another reason to buy in an area considered to have a reputable school district.

I did just read an article in D magazine, one on elementary schools and one on high schools. Allen seemed to do well in both categories. I dont recall Plano receiving good marks in either, plus wasn't there just a thread about how Plano schools are overrrun with drugs? Hard to believe a school district with drug problem would be considered having a great reputation in the city.

In suburban Denver, the choices are obvious. The North suburbs are more for the blue collar class. The east is mostly immigrant populations and labor class, with a huge gang and crime problem. The southern suburbs are more for the white collar, college educated, middle class to upper middle class. Then focusing on the South, there is the reputation of which districts are 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th.

I am sensing that things may be not so clean cut when it comes to suburban Dallas.

[socketz]

CA was easy too. Pay alot and live in a crackerjack box in the excellent school district, pay less and live in a bigger home in an area with poor schools. The lines were already drawn.

Here, it's my observation/opinion after hours of talking to people and reading things online that if you stay west of the 75 above the 190 and the schools in Mckinney, Allen, Frisco and Plano are all pretty much very good. The median family incomes in all these areas are fairly high, so while others argue, this typically means the schools are going to be top notch. This is my 4th major city, that always holds true. Yes there are exceptions, but where there is more money, things like education typically benefit and parental involvement is very high.

West Plano = best schools in Plano, Russell Creek in Central Palno is also excellent. Median income and number of masters degrees in this area is well above national averages. Also check the sexual predator map, amost none.

West Mckinney in Stonebridge = Highest rated elementary schools n Mckinney - Exemp across the board (there is also an excellent elementary school in El Dorado, maybe the best one North). No sexual predators in this area at all and the median family income for Stonebridge is over 100k.

Allen = West Allen. Also check the predator map. West has the consistent/highest rated schools. The higher cost homes are there in the west...

Frisco...best schools in the Southwest portions of Frisco. The Trails alone carries that rep for the elementaries.

East of the 75 in that same area, I've heard lots of good things about the Lovejoy school district that serves fairview. Fairview is full of larger homes on acreage. Over there, the Mckinney ISD is not as highly regarded, so the Fairview homes in Lovejoy have a higher resale.

You have to keep in mind that middle and high schools are feeder schools here, so at that point, everyone comes together into one, so this observation becomes skewed with the exception of West Plano high, it has kept itself somehow reserved to the upscale areas to the west. I have two friends that moved from East Pano to send their kids to West Plano. Both were educated folks that wanted the best for their kids....

You need to move here and look at all these areas being mentioned on the boards. I think once you see all of this firsthand, the choice will be much easier to make.

What we have here in the forum now is a ton of competition among posters to boost the value of their area by putting other areas down. This has become a marketing tool for some. Come here, make your own decisions.

Again, this is my observation.

[delta97]

If you go to D Magazine website they may have a list of the best schools & will show what they are rated by. They usually come out w. a new list every year. Hope this helps.

[socketz]

300-350k, West Plano is out of the picture. The only homes I saw there near that price range needed alot of work.

[socketz]

I love D magazine. They put alot of effort into those comparison articles. Even the mexican food article they did was informative.

[masalamomma]

Thanks for the input. I can see that school discussions are a touchy subject for people from Dallas.

I do think that most major cities have a couple school districts and areas that stand out and have a reputation, so not sure why things seem to be so cloudy in Dallas.

Just take a couple of your neighbors that I have looked into. In Houston, Sugarland and Fort Bend ISD seem to be the front runner when it comes to a family friendly environment with solid schools. In Austin, Steiner Ranch and the Leander ISD are favorites among the college-educated white collar class. So why does there seem to be so much confusion as to the same in Dallas? Don't answer that! I don't want to start another debate.