Schools

Schools, Schools, Schools

Bottomline first – the schools and school districts throughout North Texas area are very good.  I’ve toured many of them (they enjoy promoting themselves to local real estate agents) but more importantly I’ve talked to parents and seen the results in their children. Children in this community have all the necessary educational opportunities to become whatever they dream to be. I sincerely believe that.

I have lived the challenge of moving and attempting to locate the correct school (2 daughters – 3 moves, including the dreaded in the middle of high school move). It takes work but it can be done.

One other note – one of my daughter’s is an elementary teacher and teaches in a local school district. An added extra bonus is her husband is also a teacher. So now I have their added insight into the local school scene.

Finding “the correct” School

STAAR Scores

A starting place is to review a school’s (or a school district’s) STAAR score. The Texas Education Agency website works to explain STAAR testing and provide the most recent score for both school districts as well as individual school scores. (Note: In the 2019 – 2020 school year STAAR testing was NOT conducted due to Covid 19 pandemic.) Please remember, testing scores are only a starting point.

Your Families Needs

More importantly, what are you looking for in a school program?

Are you interested in a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) program? Do you have a child that has special needs? Programs that support these topics and many others do vary widly district by district. Have you identified the key programs/elements that your children are looking for?

Will your children have a better fit into a large campus or small campus high school approach? School districts have distinctly different approaches to high school size. One district has a philosophy of building very large high schools – while another has focused on building many smaller campuses. There is no right or wrong to either approach – each has its advantages but your preference may be for one approach over the other.

Below are links to local school districts that you can use to research their programs.

Other Sources

Real-life experiences (both good and bad) are the hard to collect information. Having lived, worked and volunteered in the community for over 10+ years I can share or in some cases point you to resources that will provide you valuable additional insight.

For more on Starr Testing

The Texas Education Agency is the state agency that oversees primary and secondary public education in the state of Texas. It helps deliver education to more than 5 million students. This link takes you to their site that describes general information about student STAAR testing.

This is a link to a TEA maintained site. You can review the most recent STAAR scores for any public school district or school in the state of Texas.

Links to local school districts:

Allen ISD

Anna ISD

Frisco ISD

Little Elm ISD

Lovejoy ISD

McKinney ISD

Plano ISD

Princeton ISD

Prosper ISD

Wylie ISD