School Comparison: Leander/Cedar Park VS. Round Rock (Austin, West: high school, live in)

[shankaupas]

Originally Posted by woodinvilleguy

Of course with the 10% rule.... maybe it is better to send your kid to the worst school possible so they are guaranteed to be in the top 10%.

I think it is changing to 8%.

[calel]

Originally Posted by hound 109

Basically, any LISD or RRISD school that is west of 183 & south of 620 will have the highest test scoring schools.

Cedar Park doesn't exist below 620, unless you're referring to the best RRISD schools. Some of the best schools in LISD are the ones that serve my neighborhood, which is the far SW corner of Cedar Park and just North of 620/West of 183. I guess that does count as nearly in Austin...

[hound 109]

Originally Posted by mark311

I'm not sure that I agree with those boundaries. Are you referring to just High Schools? I couldn't find a good list that details LISD, but the link below shows that there are a bunch of Exemplary rated schools East of 183 and North of 620.

Round Rock ISD : TEA Ratings

The boundaries I gave were for Taks scores, not for the TEA ratings. (for both LISD & RRISD....& for ES, MS & HS)

Some of the schools are 95% + Caucasion..... & some have significant Asian populations (where the caucasions bring the scores down ).

[tx-yadayada]

We've recently relocated to Austin from CA and our experiences with Steiner Ranch Elementary in the Leander ISD have been excellent so far. Extremely helpful staff and teachers...great parent involvement.

[poohbaby518]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

As a high school teacher I'd have the following comments about school quality generally.

Either way, if you are living in a community where the other parents share your values and are equally engaged in the school system then the schools will probably be fine. If you are living in a community where you are the lone parents who really care, or you are surrounded by non-parent elderly or young single types then you may need to be concerned about the schools.

I appreciate your insights regarding test scores. We currently live in Ohio and have similar testing programs and state rankings. Our experience has been that some of the highest rated school systems simply teach to the tests to ensure high scores, but this strategy doesn't ensure a well-rounded educational experience.

I know we can find test data online for each school, but I'm curious about the entire experience. Are Cedar Park, Leander, and Round Rock comparable on school safety, modern facilities, availability of technology, athletic and AP programs, graduation rates, student to teacher ratio, etc.

We'd like our kids to be safe, comfortable and get a well-rounded education. Passing the state test is not going to guarantee success in life.

Thanks to all for your feedback and insights.

[hound 109]

Originally Posted by calel

Cedar Park doesn't exist below 620, unless you're referring to the best RRISD schools. Some of the best schools in LISD are the ones that serve my neighborhood, which is the far SW corner of Cedar Park and just North of 620/West of 183. I guess that does count as nearly in Austin...

Agreed that Cedar Park doesn't exist below 620 (at least i don't think it does). But LISD definitely exists below 620 (& west of 183). 3 (or 4) ES, 1 (soon to be 2) MS & one HS.

[riaelise]

East side of 35 has some pretty good schools too. Forest Creek Elementary is a good school, so is Blackland Prairie. There is nothing wrong with East Round Rock, and the economically disadvantaged live on both sides. I was an out of stater too at one point and I never knew about the east v. west thing. Maybe that's good because I happen to live on the East side and love it.

[S6Sputnik]

Originally Posted by mark311

I'm not sure that I agree with those boundaries. Are you referring to just High Schools? I couldn't find a good list that details LISD, but the link below shows that there are a bunch of Exemplary rated schools East of 183 and North of 620.

Round Rock ISD : TEA Ratings

I think Hound109 is refering to the schools in River Place, Steiner Ranch, Grandview Hills etc...ie 620/2222 area of the LISD.

[calel]

I stand corrected. Didn't realize that LISD serves Steiner Ranch too.

You still can't go wrong with any of the schools in LISD and basing your comparison upon TAKs alone is comparing schools who managed 98% to schools who managed 96% in English (Math is a little more varied)... Nearly all of LISD schools are at least recognized (with the vast majority of ES at Exemplary). The only ones at Acceptable for 2009 are 1 ES, 1 MS, and 2 HS...nearly all in Leander. Leander Independent School District (http://www.leanderisd.org/default.aspx?name=schools.TEArating - broken link)

[chickenfry]

the real data to use to compare comes from justforkids.com they compare schools/scores by demographics. in other words, they compare cphs or westwood with a high school that has the same sub/groups etc.