Allen, McKinney Boyd, Richardson, Frisco, LoveJoy (Dallas, Plano: fit in, for sale, houses)

[bluejay3]

Looking for opinions on these high schools. Allen, Mckinney Boyd, Richardson, Frisco and LoveJoy

Any information regarding the academics and social would be very helpful. We might be moving two 8th graders and a Sophomore. This is clearly not an ideal time to move. In fact, social is just as important as academics at this point so the kids feel like they fit in. We are looking for a friendly and welcoming community. We realize there are pro's and con's to all the schools and districts.

Activities they are involved in: Golf, Soccer, Tae Kwon Do, Choir, Band, Orchestra, Violin, Piano, and Percussion/Drums

Thank you for any advice, thoughts, and information you may be able to provide.

[Beaching]

Allen, NO!

McKinney Boyd, doable

Richardson, doable

Frisco, doable

Lovejoy, very doable


Where would your commute be to? That can make a world of difference. Especially with kiddos that age that are involved and will need a parent and/or older sibling that drives to get them to/from their EC's (extra curricular).

Why I say no to Allen: It is a very large high school. They stagger the students due to the sheer size of the school. You either start late or leave early. It could be possible that your own kids may not be on the same schedule and you could end up running back and forth to the school 4 times per day for drop off and pick up. Plus, with sports, the student body being so large unless your student athlete is a super star standout, they may not make the team. Same for the fine arts if they desire a top spot in the first band/choir/orchestra.

McKinney Boyd: Smaller school student population. Has a good track record academically. Better chance to make top tier groups for their fine arts. My high school golfer has played with students from there and they seem to like it and are good.

Richardson: I would say similar to McKinney Boyd in many aspects. A bit more diverse than the others on the socio economic side and ethnicity. I'd look at JJ Pearce in the Richardson ISD.

Frisco: New school zones being realigned constantly due to expansion. This upsets a lot of parents as one kid could be zoned for the current high school, new school opens and lines redrawn and younger siblings zoned for a different school. Small student populations with having the large number of high schools in the district. Good academics and opportunities for involvement in their EC's.

Lovejoy: That school, WOW! NICE! Lovejoy ISD just passed a new bond proposal. Academically strong with a lot of AP courses offered on the high school level. Small student body population. Area is more rural than the other options listed. Although, if you are looking in Lucas be very aware that the school districts do intertwine. One street could be Lovejoy ISD, a street over McKinney ISD, a street over in the other direction could be Allen ISD. Property values in this area are strong. Depending on where you purchase, you won't be around the corner from a super anything store, not even a gas station. Which I like, why I am moving there in a few weeks. Oh, and my high school golfer has played with these kids as well and said they were very nice and did well in the tournaments they were in together.

[bluejay3]

Thank you very much Beaching. I appreciate your honesty and all the information you provided is very helpful. Not 100% sure about the commute location, although we believe it will be in Richardson, or close to there.

[Beaching]

Originally Posted by bluejay3

Thank you very much Beaching. I appreciate your honesty and all the information you provided is very helpful. Not 100% sure about the commute location, although we believe it will be in Richardson, or close to there.

Richardson is a large area that spreads out from east to west. In rush hour it can take a good hour to get across Richardson alone if one were going from the far west side of Richardson to the east side.

Also, school zones in the DFW area do not follow city limit lines. You could live in say Spring Park area of Garland and be in the Richardson ISD. A few streets over you would be in the city limits of Richardson but zoned for Plano ISD. Similar to what I described for Lucas. It is crazy! The house we are purchasing is in the Lovejoy ISD, even though we will not have kids in school I still preferred Lovejoy for resale. Two streets to the north, McKinney ISD then a street north of that, Lovejoy ISD. Don't believe what the listing says on MLS. If the house you are looking at is existing, look on the tax rolls and see where they pay taxes. Links below for Collin and Dallas Counties appraisal districts. You can also compare the tax rates for: County, City, School District, Community College, Parkland Hospital (this is for Dallas County only), etc


Collin CAD - Home

Dallas Central Appraisal District

[europeanone]

Regarding the staggered schedule in Allen: not sure the OP knows this, but the driving age here is 16. So your sophomore would be able to drive him/herself after a year or so of living here. So the chaotic driving schedule would only be temporary.

I would agree with Beaching in all other respects except to emphasize that I would not put Richardson on my list unless it's you are zoned for JJ Pierce. Frisco and McKinney are safer bets ISD-wide IMO. I also don't know much about Lovejoy so I defer to Beaching on that one.

[keribeth818]

High school kids don't get shifted around that much in Frisco. When they ope the new schools, they typically start with only 9th grade or 9th and 10th and let the 11th and 12th graders finish where they are. At least that's how they've done it the past few high schools and the new one opening next school year.

Allen gets a a bad wrap but if your kids are social and outgoing, there's literally something for everyone there. There's a club for just about any activity you could think of. The comment about being an allstar to make the team? That's true at just about any high school in the area, except maybe FISD because of the smaller student body. Sports (and all activities, really) are hyper-competitive compared to other areas of the country. The other thing about Allen is that the 9th graders actually go to a different campus than 10-12. Not sure you were aware of that. They are building a new freshman center but I don't think it will be complete before your 8th graders are ready to attend.

Just curious why Plano East didn't make your list?

[bluejay3]

Thank you europeanone and keribeth818

Your thoughts and opinions are greatly appreciated. As for Plano East, I really don't know anything about the Plano schools either. In fact, we don't know that much about Texas :-) Except for what we are researching at the moment.

[CookieBoss80]

Even though I agree with above posters about Allen being a less than ideal choice academically or logistically, their high school starts at 10th grade so it may suit your sophomore better. Unfortunately for your 8th graders, it can be too much to move to Texas, stay in middle school one year, move to freshman center next and Allen high year after.

Lovejoy is a smaller community so it can be difficult to walk in as a sophmore and navigate social cliques. Richardson and McKinney are mixed bags. Frisco has smaller schools so again difficult to walk in as a sophomore. It's easier to find your niche in a bigger student body.

It is difficult moving at that age not only socially but for academics and extracurriculars as well. Keep your kid involved in decision making so he won't feel like things getting imposed upon him.

[DitsyD]

Originally Posted by bluejay3

Looking for opinions on these high schools. Allen, Mckinney Boyd, Richardson, Frisco and LoveJoy

Any information regarding the academics and social would be very helpful. We might be moving two 8th graders and a Sophomore. This is clearly not an ideal time to move. In fact, social is just as important as academics at this point so the kids feel like they fit in. We are looking for a friendly and welcoming community. We realize there are pro's and con's to all the schools and districts.

Activities they are involved in: Golf, Soccer, Tae Kwon Do, Choir, Band, Orchestra, Violin, Piano, and Percussion/Drums

Thank you for any advice, thoughts, and information you may be able to provide.

My first question would be "Where is your job located?" Western Richardson up to Frisco and McKinney and over to Lovejoy covers a LOT of land. How long of a commute are you willing to put up with?

Then, I would spend the time to search this forum for all of those schools. There has been many discussions and you can get a real feel as opposed to the cheerleaders jumping in here for their favorite schools. (Disclaimer: I grew up in Plano schools & my kids either attend or graduated Plano schools)

I think that all of these areas are friendly and welcoming.

Richardson is older with established neighborhoods. Lots of dining and shopping and access to Dallas. Newer homes are being built in the Eastern part of the city.

Lovejoy is mostly large lot (1+acre) and has extremely limited shopping & dining and mostly residential tax base.

Allen is a large school, but Texas mandates class size. Personally, I think that a large student body allows for less peer pressure and you can more easily find someone that shares your interests. Their band is the largest marching band in the country with lots of opportunities to travel for performing.

McKinney just passed a bond election to build a new football stadium among many other things. I don't know much about the schools.

Frisco has a lot of high schools. The district is building and rezoning frequently. New neighborhoods, not a lot of tradition.

[Beaching]

With the sheer number of new housing going up in Lucas, I would not be worried about going in as "new". There will be a lot of kids coming in as "new" as well so anyone "new" will not stick out as "the new kid". Just walked in the door from swinging by where we are buying and could not believe in a weeks time how many more houses are going up in the new subdivisions.

Honestly, based on the number of homes on the market that are flying off as soon as the for sale sign hits dirt, I would believe that all of the area schools in the DFW region are going to see a large influx of new students across the board.