Schools in East memphis and Germantown... (private schools, college, income)

[suzannefj]

I toured Shady Grove and was not impressed. I just didn't get the impression that the place had much "life" to it - the woman who gave me the tour just seemed so "ho hum" about the place...and the students looked uninterested.

White Station Elementary seemed like a good school, so we purchased a house in that area. Then I found out about Grahamwood. We moved to Memphis in June of last year and my son got into the Optional program. So it is possible! The Principal tested him the week after we moved in. His class that first year was full of kids whose parents were paying for them to attend as they lived in Collierville and Cordova.

Careful when you look at TCAP scores.....G'wood is also an extremely diverse school (Richland is not) and there are some "subgroups" (TCAP speak) that pull down the scores of the school as a whole. If you look at things like the % of kids in CLUE (gifted and talented program) Grahamwood comes out on top. That's certainly not to say that Richland is a bad school....just that you need to look beyond the numbers when comparing one school to another.

Suzanne
www.GrahamwoodParentAssociation.com

[Statecho]

Thanks for everyone. I'm leaning toward optional programs in White State. But if this did not work out, I will consider to send my kid to one of the private schools.


Suzanne, for the optional program in Grahamwood, seems it located in 38122, can we still apply and attend there if we lives in 38120, or even 38138? Also, what middle school it feeds to after the student graduating from Grahamwood's optional program?


Regarding Private shools (seems quite a few are located in E.Memphis out side of 240), which ones are less religious but with vigorous academic programs? I know Losanna has IB program, but how about others?

[Snake Plissken]

Originally Posted by Statecho

Thanks for everyone. I'm leaning toward optional programs in White State. But if this did not work out, I will consider to send my kid to one of the private schools.


Suzanne, for the optional program in Grahamwood, seems it located in 38122, can we still apply and attend there if we lives in 38120, or even 38138? Also, what middle school it feeds to after the student graduating from Grahamwood's optional program?


Regarding Private shools (seems quite a few are located in E.Memphis out side of 240), which ones are less religious but with vigorous academic programs? I know Losanna has IB program, but how about others?

If you CAN afford private school then it is worth sending your kids to them no matter where you live. The two best private schools in Memphis are MUS (boys) and St. Mary's (girls). MUS is secular, SMS is Episcopal but attracts a very religiously diverse crowd, and certainly isn't "religious" to the degree that schools like ECS or Briarcrest are.

That said, White Station would be a good choice too. But at the end of the day there is a difference between a public and private school education in Memphis.

[Snake Plissken]

Originally Posted by knucklehead_vol

Do you have issues with blacks? Just curious, a lot of your posts seem to point in that direction.

Every white person in Memphis has issues with blacks, whether they admit it or not. Memphis is a city in which racism flows strongly in both directions. Sorry if you don't like my being blunt about it but someone might as well say it.

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by Statecho

Thanks for everyone. I'm leaning toward optional programs in White State. But if this did not work out, I will consider to send my kid to one of the private schools.


Suzanne, for the optional program in Grahamwood, seems it located in 38122, can we still apply and attend there if we lives in 38120, or even 38138? Also, what middle school it feeds to after the student graduating from Grahamwood's optional program?

Regarding Private shools (seems quite a few are located in E.Memphis out side of 240), which ones are less religious but with vigorous academic programs? I know Losanna has IB program, but how about others?

You can apply to Grahamwood Optional from anywhere in Shelby county. If you live outside Memphis city limits you pay to attend. (That may have changed with the school system consolidation taking place, probably worth a phone call to the school board to find out)
Optional students from Grahamwood usually feed into WSMS, however they can choose to apply to any other optional middle school in the city, some move on to Ridgeway and some move on to other schools.
The optional application has to be renewed every year, usually a simple matter of signing forms and returning them to the school office each year, but a little more complicated when changing from elementary to middle school and again when changing to high school.
With the optional program you aren't tied to a particular path, you are free to choose which school you want to apply to.

Originally Posted by Snake Plissken

If you CAN afford private school then it is worth sending your kids to them no matter where you live. The two best private schools in Memphis are MUS (boys) and St. Mary's (girls). MUS is secular, SMS is Episcopal but attracts a very religiously diverse crowd, and certainly isn't "religious" to the degree that schools like ECS or Briarcrest are.

That said, White Station would be a good choice too. But at the end of the day there is a difference between a public and private school education in Memphis.

Quite a few of the kids at WSMS and WSHS rotate in and out of the private schools. Many parents that can afford private choose White Station instead, or they choose some combination of of the two. Honestly the biggest difference is in the school atmosphere and not in the academics.

[Geneyus]

Originally Posted by lulubrown

Look over here when you have the time...


TCAP Test Results - Tennessee Department of Education

...these are all of the testing stats and the like for Tennessee

Please also keep in mind something which no one has yet to mention. The public school systems of the county and the city are soon to merge. You can learn more of this by going to the web site for The Memphis Flyer as well as the Memphis Daily News. Both of those are not behind a pay wall and so that way you do not have to foot the bill for anything in order to learn more of this situation with the public schools.

Germantown is a city of its own and they are, as of right now, under the Shelby County Schools. The 38120 is the city of Memphis and they are under the Memphis City Schools.

This is my personal opinion on Germantown public schools...

Germantown High School is an IB (International Baccalaureate) school for the students who would like to enter that academic program. So, for all I should know, whatever Middle School feeds into that would be a darned fine pick for any youngster.

Riverdale Elementary (K-8) and Germantown Elementary and Middle feed into Germantown High School. Farmington Elementary may also. Riverdale would be my top pick. There are areas of Cordova (south of Walnut Grove) that also attend Riverdale Elementary for those who can't afford Gtown. The apartments and houses near Kirby Pkwy (near East Memphis) also attend Riverdale, but I think once you cross the Memphis line you can't.

Originally Posted by Snake Plissken

Every white person in Memphis has issues with blacks, whether they admit it or not. Memphis is a city in which racism flows strongly in both directions. Sorry if you don't like my being blunt about it but someone might as well say it.

Ummmmmm........... No.

[Snake Plissken]

Like I said, whether they admit it or not. This isn't really relevant to the thread so if you feel particularly strongly about it you can start a new thread or PM me.

Quite a few of the kids at WSMS and WSHS rotate in and out of the private schools. Many parents that can afford private choose White Station instead, or they choose some combination of of the two. Honestly the biggest difference is in the school atmosphere and not in the academics.

I'm just sayin, 100% of kids at those schools go to college and more than 10% of each class are National Merit Semifinalists each year. Can't say that about any public schools. I don't know exactly what you mean by "school atmosphere" but it seems that their atmosphere is doing really well academically.

And yeah, some kids might just not fit in with the other kids there. They probably wouldn't fit in at a top private university either.

[strumpeace]

Originally Posted by Snake Plissken

Like I said, whether they admit it or not.

Fascinating. You get to set the parameters of the argument, and you get to arbitrarily decide which answer is correct. I'm not sure whether this is projecting or a god-complex, but there is undoubtedly some appropriate psychological descriptor.

And regarding your remarks about the public schools and private schools...How many children have put through any of these schools? Do you teach in these schools? Have you ever even stepped foot in any of these schools? You seem to have an abundance of 'knowledge' about these schools, and I'm betting you have zero first-hand experience with any of these schools.

Ah, the internets.

[Snake Plissken]

Originally Posted by strumpeace

And regarding your remarks about the public schools and private schools...How many children have put through any of these schools? Do you teach in these schools? Have you ever even stepped foot in any of these schools? You seem to have an abundance of 'knowledge' about these schools, and I'm betting you have zero first-hand experience with any of these schools.

Ah, the internets.

Who has "first-hand" experience with any schools besides the ones they attended or teach in? If I had to guess I'd say most people here probably went to high school somewhere in Memphis (or their kids did), and their "first-hand" experience of the other schools consists of what their friends and family say about them. I went to high school somewhere not in Memphis, and my "first-hand" experience of also consists of what my friends and family have to say about schools in the Memphis area. I'm not really sure what the difference is. Well the difference could be that I'm not biased towards any particular school, as some people on this forum seem to be.

Regarding your other point, as I said before, the topic isn't really relevant to the thread so if you feel particularly strongly about it, or are concerned about my psychological well-being, you can start a new thread or PM me.

[ColliervilleMom]

Well, if white is what you're measuring, then you must think Collierville High is better than Houston:
Shelby County School Listings
(find the school, then click on the school name to get the profile)

Collierville is 82.03% white.
Houston is only 65.7% white.

Why?? I've said it before here- The well to do families in Germantown DO NOT SEND their kids to public schools, THEY GO TO PRIVATE!