Where are the good schools in Memphis?

[DubbleT]

Just like Grahamwood, the Optional program at Snowden is the program to strive for.
The non-optional program is just like any other Memphis City school, nothing wonderful. If someone was singing the praises of Snowden as a good elementary they were almost certainly talking about the optional program only.
Pre-K and K are not a part of the optional program so I am not surprised that it left you less than impressed.

[Tigertate]

The "School within a School" set up for optional schools is pretty dumb IMHO. Memphis need more optional only schools.

[mommamea4]

Please help!!!
Thinking about moving to Memphis, TN areas.
I keep searching for houses everyday and have found quite a few that I like and my husband likes as well.
Our main concerns are the very high crime rate that I keep reading, and also reading that the schools aren't that great either, whether it be crime/drugs or constant fighting.
We would like to know the BEST towns to look in with the BEST schools.
MY husband would either be working out of the airport area, or by Winchester Rd.
We have 3 kids, one high school, one just starting middle school, and my last one still in elementary.
Looking for the best schools with the least amount of problems but we want their school to be challenging as well.
We would be coming from the suburbs of CT.
Any response would be a great help!!
Thank you,
- a concerned mom

[CristenS]

Germantown.
Collierville.

[Comingtomemphis]

And not the schools that are called "Germantown", which, although they are in Germantown, are part of the Shelby County School system, aka Memphis City Schools. You would need to be in the Germantown district.

[CristenS]

Oops, good point Anything within the Germantown Municipal District. The schools Germantown Elem, Middle, and High are Memphis/Shelby Co schools now. You cannot go wrong with any school within Germantown or Collierville. Especially if you are moving here blindly with no knowledge of the area, that's your safest bet.

I assume you are coming for FedEx. It's easy to get to any of their facilities from Gtown or Cville.

[trevorbirchett]

Originally Posted by mommamea4

Please help!!!
Our main concerns are the very high crime rate that I keep reading, and also reading that the schools aren't

I should note that the crime problem is often blown way out of proportion here. Yes, there are bad areas, but there are bad areas in every large city. Downtown, Midtown, East Memphis, Germantown, Collierville, and Desoto County in Mississippi are all great areas. Most of the worst areas are residential and you probably wouldn't find yourself there anyway. Some of the worst areas are even being turned around and rehabilitated and revived (Crosstown, Broad Avenue, Overton Square). I've never felt unsafe in any of the "popular" (dare I say, "tourist-y") parts of Memphis, which is mostly Downtown, Midtown, and East Memphis.

As the above posters said, G'town and Collierville are good. If he's working near the airport, I would even venture to say Southaven, Mississippi, which is the second largest city in the Memphis metro area and just south of the Memphis city limits. The airport is in the far south portion of Memphis and Southaven is only about 10-15 minutes away. Very nice suburb with good schools (specifically the DeSoto Central schools, where Elementary, Middle, and High school buildings are all on the same campus) and plenty to do. And if you want to visit Downtown for a day or something, it's just a short 20 minute ride up I-55.

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with Memphis. If you've never been, I'd suggest paying a visit before you move and checking out some of the areas in person.

[kyogul]

Best middle school would be Houston Middle in Germantown. It's part of the new municipal district that Germantown created a year ago to separate themselves from the self-destructive Shelby County schools. I go to the high school that's within the system and the education quality from when Houston schools were part of Shelby County (former school merger the city established two years ago) to now (where they're independent) is drastic. Every time there's bad news about Memphis schools on TV news, it's about a Shelby County school. Shelby Co. schools are plagued with under-funding, frequent uproars, and shockingly-bad testing scores.