My family is considering moving sometime soon and therefore I'm starting to research school districts and their ratings. Any suggestions on what criteria to look at & also where to find the information? I have a 3 year old and a 3 week old so schools are going to be of great importance to me in the near future.
I used the website greatschools.net. You can find information about the academic performance, student and teacher demography.
Scools were important to us when we moved here before having daughter 12/1994.
We chose Plano and we do not regret our decision at all. She is getting a good well rounded education. You can be in the best of districts and end up with a school that is not the greatest so do your homework.
There is a lot of flack going on in Plano now with some boundary lines changing. As for us, we are still set on our path because it does not change what our daughter will do. As of now she will have a choice of Sr High schools and she can't really go wrong with either choice.
There is a site so you can research schools on www.tea.state.tx.us
Each area has a website as well with testing, etc for each school. Ours is pisd.edu
You'll find as your children reach middle school that there are basically 3 schools within the school....meaning...regular classes, honors/AP classes and the gifted/talented group. This can be an issue for some kids. I know with my daughter in 9th grade now, the regular classes are referred to as "regs" and her group (honors/AP) are referred to mostly as the group with college and beyond goals, etc. I AM NOT SAYING students in regs don't go to college...MANY do and do it well.
We closely monitor her school and the testings. I've had my finger on the trigger to put her in private in a second but I have been impressed with what she has received so far. At his point a very balanced good education. The social interaction is extrememly important as well.
I believe parental involvement with the school is a must. You can learn so much by being a part of the education process.
Each family is different and each have different needs. Best wishes to you for finding what is the best fit for your family.
I used greatschools.org when we were planning our move to the N. Texas area 5 years ago. Our kids were in 4th grade and Kindergarten at the time. Wound up in McKinney. I know that Frisco, Plano and Lovejoy are all well-rated. Although there's been some issues recently with Plano's doing rezoning that has caused a lot of grief so if you're considering Plano you may want to look into that.
Hi - http://www.greatschools.org/ is a great source of information on schools, school districts etc for all over the country.
