When deciding what school district to relocate to within the Dallas real estate area, three districts stand out as offering the best education: Highland Park, Lovejoy and Carroll. This rating is primarily based on the Texas Education Agency’s 2011 School District Summaries, most specifically the District Accountability Rating listed within the reports.
1) Highland Park: Widely regarded as one of the priciest areas of Dallas, Highland Park ISD encompasses the Park Cities and offers an outstanding education for its residents. Unlike other school districts, Highland Park only has one high school, Highland Park High School, which is frequently rated as one of the top 100 public high schools in the United States. In 2011, US News and Rankings ranked it as the 71st best high school. In the 2009-10 District Accountability Rating, 100% of the schools received an Exemplary rating. Also noted within the report is the district’s impressive dropout rate for the Class of 2009: 0.2%. In the 2009-10 school year, the report classified 0.0% of the students as economically disadvantaged, an unusually low amount for any district in the US. Another important factor to note is the proximity to Southern Methodist University, creating opportunities for Highland Park students to benefit from the many resources offered to the SMU students, such as the ability to use the libraries during daily visitor hours.
2) Lovejoy: Located 25 miles north of Dallas, the district covers an approximately 19-square-mile area in central Collin County. It serves around 1,316 students in the communities of Lucas, Fairview, and a small portion of Allen. The district was founded on July 2, 1917, forming the Lovejoy Common School District, Number 32, from the consolidation of the Forest Grove and Lick Springs schools; its name is taken from Mrs. J.L. Lovejoy, a local resident who was a strong proponent of educational causes.
3) Carroll: Carroll ISD is a K-12 public school system located in the heart of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The 21-square-mile district consists of 11 schools serving more than 7,900 students and 1,000 employees. The district is the largest in the state of Texas to earn the top rating of “Exemplary” by the Texas Education Agency. CISD has a zero percent drop out rate, a 97 percent attendance rate and consistently scores above the state and national averages on assessments. Five of CISD’s schools have been named National Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education. Eight of 11 campuses were named to the Texas Business Education Coalition’s 2008 Honor Roll. Approximately 98 percent of Carroll’s seniors go on to attend a college or university after graduation.
