McKinney Elementary Schools - Opinions

I've had kids at Valley Creek, Glen Oaks and Walker...and all are great! I've been very pleased with the McKinney schools in general. I even have one that went thru the special ed system with great results...and he's graduating from Boyd this year. Hope that helps.

We are at Life schools in McKinney. I can't say enough good things about them. We came from a private school last year and this year has been wonderful. My daughter was struggling to keep her head above water in Kindergarten, but has made all a's in first. Mr. Bazan the principal, knows each child and is very active in the school with the kids. There is absolutely no behavior problems and the kids have a great time at school. All three of my kids will be there next year and I'm saving a bundle on private school tuition, since it is free.

Valley Creek is by far the best in Mckinney and one of the best in the state.

McKinney is a great city to live in, there is so much at your finger tips that you really have no reason to leave the city to often.
I cannot speak for all MISD schools, but my son has gone to Vega and Naomi Press both are great schools. We had a problem last year at press and it was resolved quickly and were given an apology.

My son's teacher this year realized my son had problems with writing, and she did everything she could think of to help. He now has his own special writing desk that is all his own. Because his teacher and I communicated so often we were able to work to get him on track. Now he says he loves to write.

We moved to McKinney in November 2007 and our daughter (then in 2nd grade) attended Glen Oaks. We chose the house/neighborhood specifically because I wanted her at Glen Oaks...it all looked great on paper. I communicated with their gifted education teacher via email and had a plan to get my daughter in their program asap when we moved. She had been in the GT program since kindergarten.

When we got here, they gave me the runaround on GT, and then finally retested her. She should not have been retested here, they should have used her test results from her old school. And then they told me she didn't qualify for their program. I have since heard, from other parents and *MISD teachers* that there is an issue of space within the program, and that students who should qualify do not. (Additionally, when I told my daughter's former GT teacher that she didn't qualify, the teacher was shocked and wanted to see her test scores. So I do not think this was a case of us thinking our daughter was/is something she is not.)

We now homeschool our daughter. Primary reason is that she was not challenged at Glen Oaks. I hade more than one conference with the teacher and requested something be done in the classroom. I know teaching is hard and there are students on all levels in one room (I used to teach before staying home) but something had to be done for my daughter.

Someone else told me that when McKinney re-zones for overcrowding, they also bus kids around to keep TAKS scores high. I have heard this from more than one person, but we have not been here long enough for me to actually see it.

Sorry for my somewhat negative response to your post. I just wanted to be honest about our personal experience with the MISD GT program.

Depending upon when you will be moving and your priorities for your kids, you may also want to consider Imagine International Academy of North Texas, a public charter school scheduled to open in McKinney fall of 2010. I'm already excited about sending my 2 yo DD there when she's old enough. Otherwise, she'll go to Caldwell, which I've generally heard good things about, although I have heard anecdotal comments about too much segregation between Spanish and English speaking children (there is a significant hispanic population on this--the East--side of town. I value the diversity, and want DD to learn Spanish, which is unfortunately not encouraged as much as it should be).

Also, as for the comment by the other mom about looking at middle and high schools, too, this is a good idea, but be aware that middle and high schools here are not zoned purely geographically--race and ethnicity are taken into account too. Your child IS supposed to go to the neighborhood elementary school, regardless. But by law all middle and high schools in town need to have the same racial/ethnic proportions--so, for instance, my (white) DD would almost certainly go to McKinney High, to which she can walk, while the (Latina) girls next door to us get bussed to Boyd.

And finally, depending upon what you're looking for and where you're coming from (I'm from New England), you may want to look at the historic district of McKinney--we LOVE LOVE LOVE it here. Cool old houses, very friendly and close-knit neighborhood, and you can walk downtown. GL with your move!

My advice is that you look at the matriculation path and consider the middle and high schools they will be attending. Use that for a tie breaker, especially the high school. That is truly where the rubber meets the road, so to speak. ;-) I know it seems like you are just looking at elementary but believe me the time flies. I took my 16 year old for his driver's license yesterday! It seems like last week we too were shopping elementary schools for the boy.

Go to Greatschools.net and look at all of the demographics, read the parent reviews and then site visit the schools. With that, you will get a good feel. I highly recommend you site visit the middle and high school too. The last thing you want is for your 8 year old son to have made solid friends at elementary, then have to pull him out at what is probably the most vulnerable years to be without a peer support group - middle school. Now that I am on my third middle schoolers, I think that is really cruel if it can be avoided and properly planned for.

Good luck. Invest the time and trust your instincts. We moved across the country for schools and I am thrilled with our choice K-12. We are not in McKinney, so I can't speak to their schools, but I can tell you the above process really works and is one of the best investments you can make in your children's lives.

Hello,

My son attends an Elementary School in Mckinney you did not list.. but I have heard nothing but wonderful things about McKinney ISD from friends in the area. I don't have any info about how they deal with accelerated kids, but I know they just did testing to see who qualifies in my son's Kindergarten class a few weeks ago.

The below link will show you the school ratings.. and all of the Elementary schools you listed are Exemplary.

http://www.mckinneyisd.net/departments/curriculum/account...

My kids have been at both Walker and Eddins and I have to say that I like Eddins better. It was a Blue Ribbon school last year as well as being Exemplary. All the teachers we've had have been wonderful. They have a good mix of new and more experienced teachers. It's a very friendly school.

Also, if your kids go to Walker, they will go to Faubion Middle School. I'm sure it's changed as they are under a new principal, but we were not happy with our experience there. I didn't like Dowell either, but they have a new principal there, too, and I think he will make great improvements.

Overall, I think McKinney schools are good. It's a growing school system, so that presents some challenges. I wish that they would build smaller, more community- based schools instead of fewer, larger schools (at all levels). They do bus kids from poorer areas into other areas to achieve a socio-economic balance at the schools. I don't know that it makes a difference, but some folks are really opposed to that. Johnson and Faubion MS may become Title I schools in the future. Class sizes are generally the maximum, but not always.

Hope this helps,

R.

You might also consider looking in Lovejoy ISD. We have been very happy and it is not far.

Many people have found homeschooling, especially in this area, to be the best option for their children. That way every part is catered to the child without strain on the parent. Check it out. You may be surprised at what you find.

Welcome to the area!
~A.

My son started at Wolford when it first opened and now my daughter is about to move onto Evans from Wolford. We've always loved the school and never have had any problems with the school or the teachers.

The greatschools.com website is a great resource . . . I used it when we first contemplated moving to Texas (from NJ) and I settled on McKinney because of how well the schools ranked. I know that Valley Creek and Wolford are both highly rated. Definitely check out the http://www.mckinneyisd.net/index.htm and click on the Campuses link on the left nav bar. You can then check out each elementary school's TEA rating (Glen Oaks is Exemplary and was named a Blue Ribbon school in 2006). Most of the elementary schools are highly rated; although that seems to change in middle and high school (they are all rated Academically Acceptable with the exception of Cockrill Middle School because it just opened).

As for GT programs, my 9 year old has been in GT since Kindergarten. In elementary school it is only one day a week, although 4th & 5th graders have a full day of GT while the younger kids only have 1/2 day week. But in middle school they have separate GT classes (my 14 year old daughter is in those) and in high school as well. I think it's a pretty good program all around and I know my 9 year old thrives on the challenge. My 14 year old is smart as a whip but lazy so the challenge sometimes overwhelms her, but I guess that is what GT is all about!

My daughter goes to Walker and we love the school and teachers. While she is only in Kindergarten several other kids in our neighborhood have gone there for several years and their parents can't say enough good things about it. They do a great job getting to know the kids and the parents are very involved at the school. One of my most favorite things they do is pairing older kids (4th and 5th grade) with kids in the younger classes as mentors so that they make friends with lots of kids. I don't know about the GT program yet because my daughter was just tested.