Centralized Programs

What Is a Centralized Program?

In Plano ISD, specialized services are provided based on individual student needs. These include services and programs for specialized populations. As a result, not all programs exist on every campus. Centralized programs are placed across the district to serve the needs of students and families based on capacity, geography and facilities/equipment. Plano ISD staff evaluate the location of programs annually to ensure all students’ needs are met, and adjustments and/or expansions are made accordingly.

Centralized Programming in Plano ISD:

• Bilingual Programming
• Special Education Programming
• Pre-K Programming

Bilingual Programming

Plano ISD offers research-based bilingual programming in both a one-way and two-way dual language model. These programs foster language and literacy development and are recommended as the most successful model to help students demonstrate academic achievement along with developing bilingualism, bi-literacy and socio-cultural competence.

With any changes to boundaries or locations of bilingual programming, the district will ensure all needs of emergent bilingual students are met. Specifically, with the closure of Forman, the location of a robust bilingual program, existing programs at Meadows Elementary and Memorial Elementary will expand and a new program will be established at Dooley Elementary to serve emergent bilingual students. Students served in these programs will be notified of any changes to their placements before the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year.

Special Education

Plano ISD offers a continuum of services and programs to address students served through Special Education and Section 504. Two of the centralized special education programs in Plano ISD will be impacted by the school closures.  

Davis Elementary currently houses the Regional Day School Program for the Deaf (RDSPD) which serves students who not only reside in Plano ISD but also in Allen ISD, Blue Ridge ISD, Celina ISD, Community ISD, Coppell ISD, Farmersville ISD, Frisco ISD, Lovejoy ISD, McKinney ISD, Plano ISD, Princeton ISD, Prosper ISD, Richardson ISD and Wylie ISD. This incredible program will be relocated at Harrington Elementary. All students served along with the entire staff of the elementary RDSPD will transition to Harrington in the Fall of 2025.

Transitioning a special education program as large as the RDSPD will involve an extensive transition process starting in the summer of 2024. District administration will convene a team to plan various activities and address needs including student, family and staff education events, meet and greet opportunities, classroom design, acoustical needs, safety considerations, staffing, signage and more. The RDSPD leadership team has participated in several listening sessions with parents from Davis Elementary regarding specific concerns related to transitioning the RDSPD program and will continue to seek input from staff and families throughout the 2024-2025 school year.

Carpenter Middle School currently hosts one of the sensorimotor learning centralized programs. This Active Learning Classroom (ALC) will be relocated to another middle school for the 2025-2026 school year. District leaders will work closely with each family who will experience a move to determine the optimal placement for their child before Fall 2025.

Specific questions regarding special education programs and placement may be directed to the office of Student Support Services at 469-752-8240.

Pre-K

With three dedicated early childhood centers, Head Start, Early Childhood Special Education programs (ECSE) and Pre-Kindergarten classes on 17 designated elementary campuses, Plano ISD values a high-quality pre-K experience for students. The district continues to expand programming to meet an increased interest in pre-K services. In the 2023-2024 school year, a two-way dual language pre-K class was piloted at Daffron Elementary with an additional two-way dual language classroom beginning at Huffman Elementary in the 2024-2025 school year. Pre-K programs are evaluated annually with additional classrooms assigned as needed.

Student Transfer Information

Changes to attendance boundaries will not be in effect until the 2025-2026 school year, but the district recognizes that some families may wish to make a change for the 2024-2025 school year. There will be a window of opportunity from June 10, 2024 until 11:59 PM on June 18, 2024 to submit a transfer application for 2024-2025. This window will be open as a way to assist families, and students who are impacted by closure or boundary change will receive priority consideration during this window. 

The special transfer application window opens on June 10, 2024, and will close at 11:59 PM on June 18, 2024.

To submit a transfer application, please visit www.pisd.edu/pisdtransfer. Detailed instructions and additional information about the transfer process are available on this webpage.

The district will also prioritize students impacted by boundary changes for the 2025-2026 school year during next year’s transfer process.