Looking for Preschool & Elementary (Plano)

[TX75007]

Originally Posted by american.woman

Hi TX75007- I may sound dumb but what is NMSF is all about? I mean does that mean that 3.4 % of the plano west students got yhe scorlership? or 3.4% of the plano west applied for it? i read thru their website but i cudnt get it.
& the percentage difference is so big in public & private schools?
Thanks again for ur help.

National Merit Scholarship Program - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Performance on NMSF is a function of intelligence and preparation.

The top 0.5% of kids taking the test become NMSF and this represents the top 0.25% of all high schoolers in that age range.

Below NMSF is the commended students which represent the top 2% of the total kids in the general age range.

The occurrence rate of NMSF is really 1 out of 400 seniors. So, PISD has NMSF at 14x the expected rate.

What does this really mean?

A school with a high number of NMSF and Commended does a very good job of preparing the kids. For parents with bright kids or who want a rigorous education for their kids, these schools offer this.

The difference between the privates and publics is that the privates can pick and choose who they let in. The entrance is competitive. Second, privates teach to a much higher common denominator so all the kids get enriched much sooner.

The publics must take all kids. Some districts do get selected by parents so the concentration of smarter kids is higher. But, publics do not group kids by ability nor do they pick up the pace until the later grades, around 7th or 8th, so the pace is less for the kids compared to their peers in privates. Some parents in public do hire tutors and send their kids to private classes - especially the Asians, and this is reflected in the higher achievement rate for them as reflected on who earns NMSF.

The down side of these schools is that someone who might have stood in the top 5 might be in the top 50 now. Also, the competition might turn off a deeper thinker or leave little time to go deep into a topic.

[american.woman]

Originally Posted by Big G

NMSF is short for National Merit Semi-Finalist. The list is derived from the results of a national test (PSAT) administered in the fall of 11th grade. The cutoff to qualify as a NMSF is (I believe) a test result in the top 0.5% of the students in your state. So, if the Plano schools have 3% or more of their kids qualifying for this, they are performing at a rate 6X that of the average school.

(Actually getting such a scholarship can depend on factors unrelated to intelligence, so the NMSF qualification is a better measure than the number of scholarship winners.)

The public schools are educating kids from the full spectrum of academic potential. The private schools can cherry-pick only those kids with significant native intelligence. As a result, the percentages are going to be significantly boosted for the private schools.

Thanks a Ton !

[Vicman]

When considering homes, please use the school finder to find specific school zones:
* Plano ISD: School Finder : Plano ISD
* Richardson ISD: RISD School Locator System

[american.woman]

Thanks a lot for the help. i did learn a lot from this thread. appreciate it a lot ! I have been reserching preschool for my kids. here is what i need ur help with -
1. bright Beginings preschool plano
2. beaty early childhood education - ( teacher child ratio is 1:20 & dissmissal is 11.30 :-( )
3. Primrose school of north plano - seems too expensive.
4.Plano Day school - ( it looked like there is more than 70% asians in school)
5. teady bear junction

can u please share reviews & help me choose one of these or suggest any other preschool you know of.

[Souleiado]

For preschool ,one of little gem of Plano is Custer Parkway of Plano (CPP) . It has been there for years , it is also known as the international school.

[compSciGuy]

Originally Posted by american.woman

Thanks a lot for the help. i did learn a lot from this thread. appreciate it a lot ! I have been reserching preschool for my kids. here is what i need ur help with -
1. bright Beginings preschool plano
2. beaty early childhood education - ( teacher child ratio is 1:20 & dissmissal is 11.30 :-( )
3. Primrose school of north plano - seems too expensive.
4.Plano Day school - ( it looked like there is more than 70% asians in school)
5. teady bear junction

can u please share reviews & help me choose one of these or suggest any other preschool you know of.

Plano Day School is very good academically. My daughter had very good teachers. There are some better, some worse, different personalities, etc., but I believe they do have a curriculum that is much more academically focused than most.

Growing up in the USA, Plano Day School's slant is aligned to the USA education system, so it seemed as though her PreSchool (3-4) year old class was almost like Kindergarten and her PreK (4-5) year old class was like 1st grade. I know some of the other Asian heavy schools may have different focuses that are possibly stronger than PDS (Chinese, math / thinking), but the environment at PDS definitely supports English reading / vocab / etc.

On a side note, most of the kids seem to come from cluster of Asian heavy schools several miles away in Plano & Frisco ISD, with some kids living (or parents working) in the nearby areas.

[TX75007]

Plano Day School and Primrose are more academically focused and have a specific curriculum. Both are known to be the most flexible as well.

Plano Day goes past K for after-school pickup and will offer after school enrichment, too.

[Big G]

My neighbors have been extremely pleased with Canyon Creek Day School (despite the name, it's now located at Coit/Spring Creek in Plano). They were so happy, they decided to keep their kids there through the kindergarten program, and move them to PISD in 1st grade. Their oldest has now transitioned to PISD with flying colors.

[american.woman]

Originally Posted by Big G

My neighbors have been extremely pleased with Canyon Creek Day School (despite the name, it's now located at Coit/Spring Creek in Plano). They were so happy, they decided to keep their kids there through the kindergarten program, and move them to PISD in 1st grade. Their oldest has now transitioned to PISD with flying colors.

Thanks... it looks really good from their website , i called them but it seems really expensive !

[Almirojb]

Is the "St. Marks" school mentioned above the same as "Saint Mark the Evangelist" school in Plano, TX? If so, is this school/preschool good? If not, what "St. Marks" is everyone referring to? We are new to Plano, TX and wish to find a great preschool for our 4 year old.