Plano schools v. Allen schools

[PISDstudent]

Originally Posted by EducaCat

The single high school and size of the high school do not concern me. But some things have been mentioned so far that are of interest. Where can I find out where the top students (i.e., top 25%) in each city get accepted to college? How about scholarships? We are very interested in him getting a scholarship to a great school. PISDstudent mentioned academic extracurricular activities available in Plano that are not available in Allen. Could you please provide more details? How big are the honors and AP classes in each school city? Does one city go into more depth in the classes than the other? Those are the types of things that interest us and would set one city's schools apart from the other.

Our son is very bright, and sometimes we wish we could somehow afford to stay in the Northeast where he would be able to attend one of the specialized high schools.

I didn't see this post until now, so here is my late response:

Here are some lists of clubs/activities offered at Plano West-
Plano West -Co-Curr Clubs
Plano West -Non-Curr Clubs

One that I've been particularly fond of (since 6th grade, actually) is Whiz Quiz, or Quizbowl as it is known in the Northeast. Your son might already be participating in it, and if he isn't, it's something that many of my friends and I (we're all pretty academically oriented) really enjoy. Allen doesn't go off to local competition, so if they have it, it probably just amounts to no more than in-school practices.

As for teachers, I can't comment on Allen's teachers. However, I can tell you that at the 11-12 level, PISD has a lot of AP teachers who are actually on/have been on the CollegeBoard committee that writes AP exams; this year, out of my six teachers, three have been on those committees. That's pretty impressive. Are there bad teachers? Certainly. I think, though, that because of reputation, PISD has had an easier time attracting some really impressive ones (fun fact- Plano Senior's AP econ teacher has not one, but two Ph. Ds from the London School of Economics).

Class sizes are going to be big anywhere in Texas for the forseeable future.

Both Plano and Allen have kids who do test prep (and from what I've heard from friends frpm the Northeast, it isn't an anomaly over there either for Asian kids). So I don't see how this is an issue.

I think you hit it when you said the students in Plano cover a wider range than at Allen. Quite honestly, there are probably a lot of places in Plano ISD where being in a regulars class wouldn't be as good of an experience as that at a surrounding district. However, if your son is gifted, he'll have a lot of similar peers at Plano. Again, I can't stress enough how valuable this is; in fact, I think it's PISD's biggest asset.

One last note- most top schools don't have merit scholarships, FYI.

[TexasHappy]

I don't recommend the Allen schools. The schools are a disappointment. It's clear that academics are not taken seriously by the Allen ISD. One example is the Gifted and Talented program. They only administer the test once every two years, whereas other cities administer the test once a year. It's clearly a cost saving measure aimed at having to serve less gifted children. Another disappointment is the lack of communication with the parents about what their child is learning. If you think your child will be bringing home text books, think again. The sciences and social studies/history courses lack any kind of rigor. Concerns about your child's progress and what your child is learning are trivialized or (worse) ignored.