need some advice from you wise ones - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

Jbrjo · 04-23-2005, 11:12 AM

I've been trying to convince my mom to move up to the DFW area, but she would never do it because my brother is in such a good school district down in south Texas. (she's in education so she is really picky) Does anyone know of any really good high schools in North Texas (including any of the smaller towns and etc) (academics and sportswise) Any suggestions would be appreciated!

ocelot_ark · 04-23-2005, 11:20 AM

I don't know anything about the school, but given the town's reputation, I'd look into Frisco. I love that place.

chumdawg · 04-23-2005, 11:21 AM

What district is he in down there?

Jbrjo · 04-23-2005, 11:24 AM

He's in south south Texas (near Harlingen) The school is in La Feria (It's a small town and a small school but it's a really good one go figure) Now I can't get her to leave even though me (and the rest of civilization) live 9 hours away!

Does anyone know anything about the Frisco area? I thought about that...it's got a great mall [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

chumdawg · 04-23-2005, 11:43 AM

The Plano schools are ridiculously good. Every year they turn out an amazing number of National Merit scholars. I'm hard pressed to think of a district with a better reputation. Maybe Katy, outside of Houston, but that would be about it. Plano is also huge, though. Their main high schools are just for juniors and seniors, I believe. They graduate about 2000 kids a year from Plano and Plano East, I think. Huge. But excellent programs in both academics and athletics.

Keller is an up-and-coming district. They have a gorgeous new high school that is still 4A and may be a less of a culture shock than something like Plano would. Not far from Keller is Southlake Carroll. Their football program is tremendous, and the academics aren't far behind. That whole Keller/Southlake area is growing at a fast rate.

Duncanville High School is about as big as the Plano schools and is as strong as anyone when it comes to athletic programs, band, etc. They always field great teams. But their academic reputation is not as strong.

Arlington has a set of good high schools. I think raefformvp teaches at Lamar, so she could tell you more than I could.

If he wants to stay small, there are pretty good schools north of here, such as Aubrey. Not many small high schools in the greater Dallas area. You have to get out of town a little bit.

I'm not a fan of Frisco, in general, myself. I think their school is a little too young right now to have strong programs, in either academics or athletics. He'd be far better off in Keller or Southlake.

Jbrjo · 04-23-2005, 11:55 AM

thanks a bunch Chum. I'm curious about the Arlington schools since that is my location. I think Plano would scare him to death, smaller is better in this regard

ocelot_ark · 04-23-2005, 12:02 PM

I was going to say Southlake, too. But for some reason I thought he was looking for areas North of Dallas...not...North....west? lol. Southlake, yeah...go there [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

chumdawg · 04-23-2005, 12:08 PM

As far as Arlington goes, I think that Lamar probably has the best reputation for athletics, and Martin for academics. I could be wrong, though.

I think it's a good strong district (plenty of money to pay teachers well, provide good resources for the kids, etc.) I think they are up to five high schools now (Arlington, Sam Houston, and Bowie) and growing.

If you are including Tarrant County in the mix, Fort Worth Arlington Heights has a terrific reputation, and is a smaller school I think.

u2sarajevo · 04-23-2005, 12:57 PM

Coppell is a highly rated HS.

Flower Mound as well.

capitalcity · 04-23-2005, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: chumdawg
As far as Arlington goes, I think that Lamar probably has the best reputation for athletics, and Martin for academics. I could be wrong, though.

I think it's a good strong district (plenty of money to pay teachers well, provide good resources for the kids, etc.) I think they are up to five high schools now (Arlington, Sam Houston, and Bowie) and growing.

Pretty much spot on chum... AHS is the hard one to pin down I thought it was great because we had the best mix of everything IMHO - I think Raef will tell you the same thing. I think there is something to be said for tradition... AHS has been around for 100 years and located on the same campus for over 60 years.

Since I graduated they opened a new HS, Juan Seguin, in SE Arlington. The 7th HS is slated for far west Arlington. The AISD purchased the land from Ft. Worth my senior year and should start construction within the next 10 years - it'll draw from the 'old money' neighborhoods of Lamar (interlochen), Martin (the lake) and Arlington (shady valley).

Not to disparage the Arlington schools, but I would suggest one of growing bedroom communities have had established themselves as EXEMPLARY according to the state... probably due to the flow of money from new housing, i.e. new property taxes. Southlake especially... with only one highschool all their resources are funneled into one place. And Chum's definitely right about Keller... the entire area inbetween 35W and Lake grapevine along 114 is up-and-coming.

Rhylan · 04-23-2005, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: capitalcitythe entire area inbetween 35W and Lake grapevine along 114 is up-and-coming.

Fosho.. that is my 'hood.

I've also heard good things about Flower Mound. Got family applying for a job there.

If you really want to go small, though, I've heard good stuff about Ponder. I think they're 2A. Not a whole lot of small schools in the DFW area anymore unless you wanna be almost 2 hours out of the 'plex. Ponder, Sanger, Krum, Pilot Point, Celina, Boyd off the top of my head.

I'm from Hamilton, so when I say "small," I mean 3A or less. Some people think Plano East is big and everything else is small. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

I guess I should give my geographical opinions as well.. I am not a fan of Frisco because of where it is. It's not close to anything except itself. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] Well, and Plano. Negative points for being near Plano. Frisco is probably a good place if you're an east-sider rather than a west-sider, but still want to live in a "rural" trendy suburb. There are lots more of those type of places once you get west of the airport, if the urban experience isn't your thing. I live in Trophy Club and you can't beat the location. Keller, Southlake, Grapevine, and to a lesser extent Colleyville and Flower Mound are all a part of my "home area."