[essn1977]

Ok I have narrowed down 3 towns that I would like to live in if and when we move to the NW AL area.. they are FLorence, Killen and Muscle shoals.. Muscle shoals being #1 because it looks like on greatschools.net that they have the best rated schools overall.. meaning great elementary, middle and High schools... can anyone else chime in here and let me know if this is correct? I have also read somewhere not to go by greatschools because sometimes it may not be acurate.. anyway I love the Killen and Florence areas as well but I want my DD's to have great educations without having to FIGHT to get into private schools.. Thanks in advance...

I also wanted to add my husband would be working in Florence so this is why we chose these areas.. thanks

[Southlander]

Well, try some other school rating systems. Maybe even the Alabama board of education. I hear Brooks High in Lauderdale County (near Killen) is a good school, too.
And then you might want to visit some of the schools.
This forum has had two or three people from the Florence area (including one who hates it), but that's all. Please don't base your choice on the opinions of a handful of anonymous people on a board, nor on a school rating system.
Charles, the constant poster in the Huntsville forum, cited several school rating systems. You might do a search of his comments over the past two or three weeks.
Click on the poster's name. Click on "Find all posts by ___"
Then go to the top right and click on "Search this forum."

[pennquaker09]

It depends on the age of your kids. Muscle Shoals' is great on paper, but academically, the best schools are in Florence.

[Chris_Rock]

Originally Posted by essn1977

Ok I have narrowed down 3 towns that I would like to live in if and when we move to the NW AL area.. they are FLorence, Killen and Muscle shoals.. Muscle shoals being #1 because it looks like on greatschools.net that they have the best rated schools overall.. meaning great elementary, middle and High schools... can anyone else chime in here and let me know if this is correct? I have also read somewhere not to go by greatschools because sometimes it may not be acurate.. anyway I love the Killen and Florence areas as well but I want my DD's to have great educations without having to FIGHT to get into private schools.. Thanks in advance...

I also wanted to add my husband would be working in Florence so this is why we chose these areas.. thanks

I have lived in Florence since middle school and recently finished college at UNA. It's widely known in north AL that Florence is Cinderella and, south of the Tennessee River, lie its dirty sisters (Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia). Florence has taken on the "going to town" destination for people in the counties of Colbert/Lauderdale AL and Lawrence/Wayne TN. Recently, Florence's two HS combined removing a popular rivalry and creating a 6A school in the process. The University of North Alabama is in Florence between Pine St. and Wood Ave. - Great University with a Fall/Spring student pop of roughly 7,000. There are several elementary schools in Florence. The city is moving northeast/east along HWY 72. To the west of Florence city limits within Lauderdale County is known as "bend of the river" where cotton and soybeans reside - not many homes. You will probably situate towards the German established town of St. Florian or towards/within Killen if not within the city limits of Florence. There are great and not so great county schools but those would take some time covering. If you need any additional info. shoot a line! Wherever you go, sun to your back and a light breeze!

[KMK]

Chris, I think is on the money, his note is just difficult to follow. Selecting a school in this area depends on what your academic aspirations are for your children. If you are imagining your children to go to college and perhaps even one with a challenging enrollment process then by far you will have a better chance of accomplishing this in the city school in Florence or MS. Our county schools are filled with some nice kids and famililes but the academics does not appear to be as good. The theory for a long time was that the schools in MS were actually teaching and preparing (deliberately) ACT material in order to bump up test scores. Consequently on paper they did tend to appear to be a better school. Who knows? I can tell you a few pointers that might help you with your choice. Forever the Tenn River has been known as the iron curtain in this area. There is little if any constructive communication between communities on different sides of the river. They tend to function totally independent of one another and at times will compete. Tuscumbia is the small quaint little town of the 3(MS,Sheffield, and Tuscumbia) Sheffield has had little if any progress in the past 20 years. It is pretty delapidated and run down. And MS, although seems to be the most progressive and updated appears to have no zoning laws. You will be in a business district and suddenly a nice neighborhood will spring up, then a run down district with little defination between the 3. Florence is probably as Chris pointed out the most asthetic. All areas are experiencing a huge economic slump. Alot of popular chain stores have gone out of business and we have dozens of abandoned and empty strip malls. Over the past decade most businesses have folded and left the area. The community has been pushing to make this area a retirement community. Consequently it has become less kid friendly. There have been many recorded disputes over the years in our local paper regarding this topic. Finding any activites for the preteen and teen years will be a challenge. There is a movie theatre and a ton of steak houses. That is about it. The river offers summertime fun but unless you have a lake house assess is difficult. There is no fight to get into our private schools and you will find alot of public school teachers send their children to the private schools. I have kept my children in private schools to elude the alcohol,discipline, and drug problems prevalent in our public schools. While the private sector is not exempt of similar problems, smallar numbers are easier to control. (and it impacts all incomes) If I had it to do over I would opt for a public school but shop for a healthy school with sound academics first, then look at job options and where to live. While there are individual schools thru-out Alabama that do a good job, as a whole we cannot boast prime education. I think we rank 45th nationwide in academics. Most of the natives here always have joked(thankgoodness for Mississippi, because they always ranked just below Alabama in education.) For years the two have competed for the 49th and 50 slot. I will add that if you are determined to do the public school route, then we do have one excellent elementry county school(Underwood) I wish I had sent my children. Then about half the students go to thecity the other half on to the county HS. Lastly, I have lived in Killen. It is a quiet area and enjoyable. It does boast one of the more challenging academic environments,both elem and HS despite being a county school. Both have a large enrollment. However with the large enrollment comes more discipline problems. ( I always take a peek what colleges the HS graduates are selecting) Florence city, MS, and Brooks HS in Killen tend to graduate students applying to more challenging colleges) Shoals Christian, Mars Hill and Covenant(in Tuscumbia) in the private sector can boast the same. That tends to hint to me these schools provide a more stimulating environment for academics. I might add, aside from the school issue, that although Killen is a nice, quiet community, it truely has only one main road to and fro(HWY 72) At times navigating this road can be a pain and not thee safest. Too little road to handle all the traffic. Any serious shopping will require a trip to Huntsville, Birmingham, Nashville, or Memphis. I have spent alot of time in Huntsville this past summer and although it has traffic problems I was surprised at how progressive this town has become. It seems to have made alot of growth and sound economic choices over the past few years. Well I hope I have offered some honest, sound advice. I never knew how important a school choice impacted your childs life. Good luck with your selection. I wish you the best. I will be glad to clarify any info or answer any further questions.

[renmill]

THis is Nov 2009 and I just read ur post. I live near Muscle SHoals, Alabama just a mile from there. Did u move here?? If you want--email me at renmill@yahoo.com