Grissom vs Bob Jones (Birmingham, Huntsville: housing, rental, travel)

[flstatenolefan]

I hate to add more to the confusion, but how does Buckhorn compare?

[Reactionary]

Kids who go there (and their parents) love it, even if their cheerleaders aren't as good as Bob Jones (or Sparkman) or they don't have as many National Merit Scholars as Grissom (or Huntsville).

Buckhorn has a new facility out Winchester Road.

[flstatenolefan]

Well, our oldest DD is in Kindergarten, so there is no telling how the high schools will compare by the time she is that age...LOL. But, if the others are already overcrowded, it might be worth it to go to a fairly new area that has room for expansion. Or am I reading too much into the Buckhorn area?

[VMH2507]

The Buckhorn area is growing at a rapid pace currently so who knows what it will be like when a kindergartner is high school age. Also certain rapid growth areas may build additional schools in the meantime. The Texas example I noted in an earlier post had a new HS built and a 3rd older HS in the same district had major addition built to ease overcrowding. I often wonder about the people buying in far SE Huntsville with the expectation that they will remain in Grissom district. My experience is that school lines are frequently redrawn when necessary.

[Reactionary]

VMH2507 - re: Grissom lines redrawn.

There would be riots unless they're redrawn for a new SE HS.

[VMH2507]

I actually think that there was some uproar when building another SE HS was discussed. Also when another school is built, it may dilute the stellar nature of the existing school through transfer of faculty and staff (as well as students). However, as has been pointed out, the imbalance of the populations of the Hsv HS's will need to be address in the near future and I wonder how it will be done. As noted before, in other places where I have lived, redrawing school lines was not uncommon and I always felt the only assured way being zoned for a certain school was to live very close to it. Therefore my statement about far SE folks.

[cglover]

IMHO the best way to know if a school/school system is a fit for you and yours is to visit the schools and tour them. We did that recently. We compared Grissom to BJHS and Liberty MS. We had good impressions of both school systems--pros and cons for each. Bottom line: we had our daughter with us and the reception she received and her impressions also impacted our decision. It comes down to what works for you. In addition to that, spend some time touring the areas you are considering as a possible relocation. We toured SE Huntsville, Huntsville and Madison as well as Edgewater. We stayed downtown and got a feel for that as well. We also checked out the malls--indoor and outdoor and the grocery stores. Feel the neigborhoods around you--get to know them. You will live there--know what you are buying--not just a school system but a full community.

And BTW--we loved our visit--and learned a lot--and still chuckle about the "rush hour" and "road infrastructure" problems because they are not anything compared to our daily commutes and driving issues here in the DC area.

[flstatenolefan]

So, as an outsider moving in, which area most impressed you?

[cglover]

We liked the Madison area very much--my daughter loved the schools and the welcome she received during the tours, too. It's a great match for our family as it is close to a lot of cool shopping (the Bridges at King Street were awesome!), Super Target, restaurants etc. Also, to us driving anywhere else for fun seems pretty trivial (eg downtown) after dealing with our commutes here. My drive to my daughter's school is worse than the drive to the Redstone Arsenol during rush hour

[jwisconsin]

We just got back from a 3 day visit to Huntsville. We did the tour of Grissom,Challenger, Mt. Gap, BJ, Discovery. The people were wonderful. We were impressed with all. We did have concerns on the Grissom building-not many windows, very run down, but very impressed by their academics. BJ wonderful building, but maybe not quite as high on the academic front. Overall we don't think we can go wrong with continuing the high standard of education we have in Wisconsin. Madison did have more homes to choose from. It will be a hard decision, but we are excited to start a new chapter. Also, I loved the downtown area and the historic area.