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My son currently goes to an HEB public elm school. I've been researching private and charter schools and my eyes are nearly crossed now! It seems like there are not options unless I have 10k or more to spend each year on private school. Does anyone live in this area and have any recommendations?

I live in Plano and am trying to figure it out myself. I am most interested in Yorktown right now- price and curriculum look great- but they do not have an elementary school now BUT the website says it is starting in Fall 2012. there are a lot of good privates but they are all very expensive. 10k would be a bargain.
Brandy

It was a while ago now, but my DDs both went to Fort Worth ISD for a few years and I was pretty impressed with the magnet programs they offered. I was also impressed at their willingness to let one of my daughters test out of certain classes, despite being a tiny and very young 5th grader (July birthday) she was allowed to test out of 6th grade math and reading and she was able to take 7th grade honors pre-algebra and orchestra as replacements during her 6th grade year. I also liked that the homework load was minimal allowing more time for extra-curricular activities. I have not heard anyone else praise the FWISD, but I can't say anything bad about my DD's experiences there. Luella Merritt is the math and science elementary magnet and William James is the middle school magnet for robotics/pre-engineering. after middle school, my oldest was recruited to Pascal HS gifted program which is probably one of the best as far as challenge and national merit scholars. Just my two cents...

Thanks for the feedback Nik. My stepmom is a principal in the FWISD and really wants me to put him in the Montessori charter, but that's on the other side of town. If it were just him I could probably work something out, but I also have a daughter in K....

I'll look into Yorktown.

Wow, Yorktown looks really wonderful. I wonder if my husband would have a heart attack if I suggested moving just to be close to a school? lol

I've looked into this for the last year.

The only objective measure I can find for a school for GT kids is skipping, either grade level or subject wise, and student body ranking as a percentile on national tests, which reflects both the higher intelligence and school preparation.

Here is the list of schools and their NMSF students for this year.

http://dallas-area-schools.blogspot.com/2011/09/2012-national-merit-semifinalists.html

The list pretty much speaks for itself and mirrors what I see when I go to these schools. The majority of the science and liberal arts talent winners come from the schools on the top of the list.

Some highly recommended magnet schools in the DFW area way under perform relative to their reputation.

My first rule of thumb is if there are no kids taking Calculus as 9th or 10th graders, then its doubtful that the school district or private is a good fit for accelerated learners. Its the first question I ask any of the current Seniors.

The top DFW privates all have great reputations and do subject acceleration. Many parents will struggle with public and then move the kids over to private.

The real problem in the DFW area is what to with kids who are 3 to 11 years of age.

That is exactly what I am seeing Austin. The resources for Middle and H.S. seem way more prevalent than for elementary, which is a shame, because a bad elementary experience can really mess up the rest of their education.

Thanks for the link!

ETA: Trinity HS is the only HEB one on the list (and isn't the one my kids are meant to go to... they are slated for LD Bell. bah!)

To answer your other question, once we settle where Mr W will go to school, we plan to move near the school. It just makes it so much easier on everyone. I sent you a PM on another school that I heard about this week that has very high scores for its elementary program.

DW went to school in FW and in another city prior to that. She transferred as a 6th grader and remembers that FW was about two grades behind what she was studying elsewhere.

Paschal is a great school. Here is a sample of what the class of 2009 did.

http://paschalhs.org/news/alum_ad_09.pdf

We live in Plano and the elementary's do not accelerate. Many of the students( the top students) take extra math classes ( generally predominantly Asian students) to accelerate outside of school. Both my kids take one of these classes to get the acceleration they need. Then others top students are at C2 and Kumon after their regular classes which helps those scores and supplement other subjects- it is NOT just from the public schools. A downside to Plano is the district uses Connected Math and if you are accelerated in math the only elementary advancement they do is the Math Rocks program starting in 4th. We currently are in what is considered one of the top elementary schools, my ds is in PACE and we still need more and supplement with outside classes and are looking to move to Yorktown in the Fall when they open the 4th grade.