The Best High Schools In The Dallas, TX. Area?

[slimplaw]

The area south of Dallas is growing and will grow even more. Many are moving to Midlothian and Waxahachie. My DS lives in Ennis and many of their campuses are exemplary. Ennis has about 19,000. A prominent builder told him that Ennis would be one of the next areas to see a lot of home building. He encouraged him to buy land as an investment to sell later to builders.

 

[arminnie]

Thank you everyone so much for your all the great information. I am a little curious about what you all mean by the rich-kid thing in Plano. What does that mean as I don't quite understand. We have our own version of "rich-kid" problem here but I'm wondering if it's the same thing.

Thanks again,
Shannon

I've had many friends who lived in Plano and who had children in school there. I lived in the Dallas area for many years too. Let me give you a little history.

Thirty years ago Plano was not an upscale community. Very middle class - lots of nice new homes but not McMansions by any means. Before that it was kind of a place that people went to get cheap housing (late 60s early 70s). By the mid to late 70s developers were building nicer homes, but just normal houses. These were mainly to the east and middle of the city.

Some time in the mid to late eighties developers started building HUGE homes on the west side of Plano. True McMansions. Also a lot of businesses relocated people to Plano from other parts of the country. So people who had maybe lived in a more modest home in the N.E. were now able to buy a mansion for less money.

The demographics changed dramatically. Kids being kids - some of the kids from the "richer" neighborhoods sometimes lorded it over the "regular" kids. All of this is generalization - there are hundreds of exceptions, but this is where the "rich-kid" thing comes from.

Also some of these "rich kids" came from homes where both parents worked round the clock and some of them didn't have the best supervision. Plano had a spate of teen-age suicides that made national headlines although that was at least a decade ago.

And a number of these families were what I might refer to as "nouveau riche" - the kind who want to flaunt their possessions. I grew up very poor and am comfortable now so I am not deriding anyone who didn't grow up with money. We all know the type of people who feel it is important that everyone know how much they can buy.

This was probably in reality a relatively small segment of the occupants of those big homes, but that's how the whole "rich kid" image came about.

My friends' kids (some of whom are still in school there) have done quite well and have not been adversely affected by any of this.

One other thing that I might point out - to get into the University of Texas a student needs to be in the top 10% of their class. This can be very difficult at a really top school. I had friends who paid a fortune to send their kids to really, really good private schools only to have them unable to get into UT. Their child would have been in the top 10% of a regular school easily. This of course only applies to someone with children near college age.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

One other thing that I might point out - to get into the University of Texas a student needs to be in the top 10% of their class. This can be very difficult at a really top school. I had friends who paid a fortune to send their kids to really, really good private schools only to have them unable to get into UT. Their child would have been in the top 10% of a regular school easily. This of course only applies to someone with children near college age.

Yep, I was thinking of this as well. It was a surprise to know this when we moved here last year.
My dd is a Freshman and she cannot graduate in the top 10%, her school is very competitive Honors track.
I will find out in August what her class rank is, my fingers are crossed.
I have been doing the research, and while she will not automatically get in due to the top 10% rule, we are hoping that she will get in if she can nail the top 25% and make the SAT scores. She has a shot at Texas A&M.

It is nerve racking for sure. However I would rather have students doing well, and have that competition rather than unmotivated students where we came from in Missouri.
So it is all good in the end, I think.

Good Luck to you OP!

 

[sm4987]

I'll chime in here. I live in Mansfield, TX and they have really good schools around here. I call where I live with the richy-rich people also, although you can really find some great priced housing in the area. We are between DFW and just south of Arlington, TX where the new Cowboys stadium will be

www.mansfieldisd.org

 

[ktulu]

I grew up in Arlington, good place there. West or north side of arlington was better, I think it still is, but I'm not sure. I live in Lewisville now, good community. Not sure on the schools, my dd is only 11 months, and I'm not going to think about her in school until it happens

darren

 

[arminnie]

Yep, I was thinking of this as well. It was a surprise to know this when we moved here last year.
My dd is a Freshman and she cannot graduate in the top 10%, her school is very competitive Honors track.
I will find out in August what her class rank is, my fingers are crossed.
I have been doing the research, and while she will not automatically get in due to the top 10% rule, we are hoping that she will get in if she can nail the top 25% and make the SAT scores. She has a shot at Texas A&M.

It is nerve racking for sure. However I would rather have students doing well, and have that competition rather than unmotivated students where we came from in Missouri.
So it is all good in the end, I think.

Good Luck to you OP!

Good luck to you with your daughter.

My best friend's two daughters got into UT after going to Hillcrest HS in DISD. The last one just graduated from UT with great grades. They both got a good education at Hillcrest so not all of the DISD schools are bad.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

DS is just finishing 4th grade, but if we stay in the neighborhood where we are now he will go to Hillcrest HS.

Plano had a big problem with heroin back in the mid-1990's, and in yesterday's Dallas Morning News they were reporting that problems with heroin are cropping up again. But that will be true of ANY school, public or private, in Plano or otherwise. There was a rumor that a child at DS's elementary was caught with that "cheese" heroin. I haven't been able to get to the bottom of that so I don't know if there is any truth to it.

In DISD zones the rich kids go to private school. Ross Perot actually lives in the zone for DISD, not Highland Park. Not that he has school age kids living there. I am SURE his grandkids go to private schools.

I don't know what we will do about class ranking and college. DS is not a big academic kind of guy so I think he may be spending some time at Community College, then maybe transferring. Of course we have PLENTY of time to worry about that. He is tiny, so his options for sports are going to be rather limited. Maybe tennis, maybe golf. Or he could train to be a jockey.

 

[missypie]

In DISD zones the rich kids go to private school. Ross Perot actually lives in the zone for DISD, not Highland Park. Not that he has school age kids living there. I am SURE his grandkids go to private schools.

When Ross Perot's grandkids were younger,they went to my church's day school. There was a guy that they called the school security guard, but he was, in reality, an armed security guard that Ross, Jr. hired to watch over his kids at school!!!

If you want to be close in to Dallas and go to public school, Highland Park is your only choice. Don't go there unless you have a whole lot of money. I know that some people rent the tiniest apartment available to have their kids go to those schools, but do you really want your kid to be the poorest kid in the school? We're talking about a school where the kids drive their own Hummers to school, and their daddies or grandpas are household names. They also seem to have more "Risky Business" issues than most other schools (huge drunken party when parents are not at home.)

Coppell is good. Grapevine-Colleyville is great. In that area, housing would seem inexpensive to you.

Watch out for Irving. North Irving is in several different school districts, so you have to really check and make sure you know what district you're in.

I think it is funny that no one is pushing Carroll (Southlake) - they think so highly of themselves (the residents are wealthy and they win State in football every year). I predict that Southlake will uncover a huge financial scandal in the coming years. They are hit hard by "Robin Hood" (a now unconstitutional former school finance program) but so are lots of other districts. Yet they are constantly slashing programs (EXCEPT FOOTBALL) while no one else has to.

I don't know if you think racial or ethnic diversity is a plus or a minus, but don't assume that the suburban schools are totally non-diverse. We are in Grapevine-Colleyville, and the student body is amazingly diverse.

As for the Newsweek rankings of the top high schools in the US, they base their rankings TOTALLY on the number of AP exams the students take and pass. When this year's issue came out, I handed it to my son and said "THIS is why you took an AP exam today as a 9th grader!"

Good luck! We'd love to have you here in DFW!

 

[Rafiki Rafiki Rafiki]

Bumping and subscribing...Dallas is probably in my near future.

 

[m&m's mom]

Bumping and subscribing...Dallas is probably in my near future.

I have to say - we do have the best DIS Meets!

 

[Rafiki Rafiki Rafiki]

What about schools in Rockwall and Rowlett? I'd like to live a little closer to family in Arkansas and still be in the Dallas area.

 

[janette]

Rockwall is in the Garland School District. It's pretty mixed also but they have open enrollment where you can pick your school. The worst part is that you dont' always get what you choose. My sister lives in Rockwall and likes it, her kids have just attended the neighborhood schools.

 

[Planogirl]

What about schools in Rockwall and Rowlett? I'd like to live a little closer to family in Arkansas and still be in the Dallas area.

Which part of Arkansas? We go up to the northwest part of Arkansas a lot and I think that it's easier to head north and cut through Oklahoma.

 

[challada]

double post

 

[challada]

I grew up in Arlington, good place there. West or north side of arlington was better, I think it still is, but I'm not sure. I live in Lewisville now, good community. Not sure on the schools, my dd is only 11 months, and I'm not going to think about her in school until it happens

darren

Howdy! I grew up in Arlington too!!!! I can say it was a nice place to be a kid...but I haven't been there in a while so who knows!

I did college in Highland Park/University Park area (GO Mustangs) and can say those school districts were the best period...but then again, I was a measly tutor to the rich and famous folks kids in those districts.

If you are coming from SoCal, you will totally understand the "rich kid" mentality of Dallas....but if you were coming from anywhere else, I would say put armor on your kid before you go!

South of Dallas....was not somewhere folks lived. Waxahatchee was a pitstop for kolackies on the way to Austin!

 

[DisnyMama]

Wow, I am so glad to get so much useful and informative information. I put my home here in CA. on the market today and DS talked to his dad in McKinney about us moving out there. He reinforced the financial benefit of us moving out their with the home prices.

Thanks again everyone for all your help.
Shannon