The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is huge. It spans 400 miles and is made up of thirteen separate counties. Within it there are 100 school districts, so it can be overwhelming to narrow down the best one for you and your family. If you’re thinking about making the Dallas area your new home, here is some information about school districts to help you determine the best community in which to settle down.
Highland Park ISD
One of the best school districts in the state is located right smack in the middle of Dallas county. Highland Park ISD serves the cities of Highland Park and University Park. The district is made up of four elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school. There are 6700 students enrolled in Highland Park ISD, with an average student to teacher ratio of 15.8. The average SAT score is 1215 and 100% of Highland Park students pass the TAKS test at the exit level.
Carroll ISD
Carroll ISD is located just northwest of Dallas in Tarrant County and serves the communities of Carroll and Southlake. It is also one of the top school districts in the state, with an average SATs score of 1155, and 99% of students passing the TAKs test at the exit level. The district has five elementary schools, two intermediate schools (for grades five and six), three middle schools and two high schools. There are just under 8,000 students enrolled in Carroll ISD, with a student to teacher ratio of 15.
Lovejoy ISD
Lovejoy ISD, in Collin County roughly 25 miles north of Dallas, has the third highest student achievement index in the Metroplex. It serves just over a thousand students in the Lucas, Fairview, Allen, and McKinney communities. Lovejoy has three elementary schools, one intermediate school, one middle school, and one high school. The Texas Education Agency has called the Lovejoy school district “exemplary.”
Coppell ISD
Also just north of Dallas is Coppell ISD. There are more than 10,000 students enrolled in Coppell ISD, which is made up of nine elementary schools, three middle schools, one high school, an education annex and an alternative campus. There is a student-teacher ratio of 15.8, and the district boasts an average SAT score of 1140 and an average ACT score of 25.2. 99% of Coppell ISD students pass the TAKS test at the exit level.
Grapevine-Colleyville ISD
Grapevine-Colleyville is another Tarrant County school district, this one serving more than 13,000 students in the cities of Grapevine and Colleyville. The district is comprised of eleven elementary schools, four middle schools, three high schools, and two alternative campuses and its average student-teacher ratio for the district is 14.9 is 14.9. The average SAT score is 1099 and 98% of students pass the TAKS test at the exit level.
Allen ISD
Another Collin County school district is Allen ISD. There are just under 20,000 student enrolled in Allen’s sixteen elementary schools, three middle schools, one freshman center and two high schools. The district also has two alternative schools. The average ACT score in Allen in 24.1 and the average SAT score is 1096. The average student to teacher ratio is 16.3.
Frisco ISD
Serving Collin and Denton counties is Frisco ISD, located roughly 30 miles north of Dallas. The district is made up of 34 elementary schools, thirteen middle schools, seven high schools, and four special program schools and serves around 40,000 students in Collin and Denton counties, as well as the city of Frisco and parts of McKinney, Plana and Little Elm. The average SAT score in the district is 1062 and 99% of Frisco students pass the TAKS test at the exit level.
Fort Worth ISD
With more 80,000 students enrolled, Fort Worth ISD is one of the largest school districts in the state. Serving the city of Fort Worth and much of Tarrant County, the district has 83 elementary schools, 28 middle schools and 6th grade centers, fourteen high schools, and seventeen special campuses. The average SAT score in Fort Worth is 905 and the average ACT score 18.1. The average number of students per teacher is 16.2 and 88 percent of students pass the TAKS test at the exit level.
Dallas ISD
Dallas ISD may not be the highest rated school district in the DFW Metroplex but it is certainly the biggest. In fact, it’s the second largest school district in the state. Dallas ISD serves over 150,000 students from eleven municipalities spread across 384 square miles. The district is made up of 155 elementary schools, 32 middle schools and 32 high schools. It has four magnet elementary schools, two Montessori elementary schools, six magnet middle schools, nine magnet high schools and eight alternative campuses. Two of the district’s magnet high schools, the School for the Talented and Gifted and the School of Science and Engineering, are the #1 and #4 ranked public schools in the country. There’s also Booker T. Washington High School, a performing arts magnet that is the alma mater of Grammy winners Erykah Badu and Norah Jones.
Private Schools
There are a number of alternatives for Dallas residents who prefer to send their children to private school. In fact, Dallas is home to some of the highest-ranked private schools in the state. The city’s St. Mark’s School of Texas recently beat out Houston’s St. John’s School as the #1 private educational institution in the state. St. Marks, a boys school, is also one of the oldest private schools in the area, having been established in 1906. It boasts such prestigious alumni as Alan Lomax, Boz Scaggs and the Wilson brothers. Girls school Hockaday, St. Mark’s unofficial sister institution, is number three in the state. Other high-ranking Dallas private schools are Cistercian Preparatory School (No. 4), Greenhill School (No. 7), Jesuit College Prep School (No. 18), Trinity Valley School (No. 19), Ursuline Academy of Dallas (No. 20), Episcopal School of Dallas (No. 21) and Yavneh Academy of Dallas (No. 25).
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