Questions about magnet schools/pathways in MNPS (Forest Hills: crime, roughest)
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I'm trying to figure out this complex MNPS thing, more out of curiosity than real necessity. If you read my other thread, we don't have kids and none are in the works, but if we do move to Nashville it will very likely be a permanent move. I'd like to get an idea of what neighborhoods we would potentially buy a house in.
From my research, I'd like our kids to go to a middle school with a pathway to one of the two academic magnets: MLK High or Hume Fogg. That means Rose Park, Head (both MLK) or Meigs (Hume Fogg). Obviously there's the lottery, but one way to try and get a better shot is to live in the GPZ zone of one of these feeder middle schools.
So from what I am seeing, it looks like if you send your child to any of the elementary schools on those lists, you have a chance at the seat? And do the labels "Hillsboro Cluster" and so forth mean that is the "Default" high school if you don't make it? How do you make the first 30%?
We really like Sylvan Park, maybe not right when we move but possibly after a baby. From the looks of this we could do: Sylvan Park Elem --> Head Middle --> MLK without having to do the lottery (assuming our kid(s) make the grades & the 30%). Am I right?
Also, say you were planning on trying to get your kid into the 30% at Head. Can you still play the lotto for Meigs? Same for the pathway to MLK -- could you play the lotto for Hume Fogg while at the same time planning to have your kid attend MLK, or do you have to pick?
Sorry if these are dumb questions, and I know I am an overplanner, but it's fun to think out the possibilities
I hate it when a choice becomes so narrow that it is hardly a choice at all.
Your assessment of the magnet process is generally correct. The only way to "guarantee" placement in the magnet schools is to live in that school's zone - if the school is not 100% magnet. For those that are not 100%, if you start at the elementary level and your child makes the grade all the way through, you should be able to slide into one of the magnet high school slots.
Keep in mind, though, that just because a school is called a "magnet" school doesn't mean it's a better school. Some of the schools are classified around a particular theme in order to interest more students and indirectly manipulate enrollment.
Also, yes the "cluster" high school is your default high school. Ethnic makeup of the student body is also considered in the lottery process.
We have good friends who live in south Nashville and had two boys attend Granbery Elementary. When the oldest was to enter middle school, they wanted to stay in public school and entered the lottery, hoping for Croft Middle. They were selected for Head Middle. These friends are very open-minded and tolerant of other cultures and income levels. I say this to indicate that they are not suburban snobs or afraid of something or someone who is different from them.
At Christmas break, after only 4 months, they pulled their child out of Head and enrolled him at a local private school. He had experienced theft of personal property from other students on a weekly basis, and the parents felt that the teachers held an "us vs. them" attitude against the students. They liked the principal, but did not have a good experience at all.
I guess it's like anything: There is a reason those schools allow 30% of "unzoned" kids to apply. It't not always the best and brightest.
I don't want to paint a depressing picture, but you may need to sacrifice your ideal neighborhood for a different one in Nashville that will give your future kids a more enjoyable path through school. But really, if you don't even have kids, I would just choose the house and neighborhood you like and worry about all that school stuff when the time comes. Living here, you will get a better idea of what will work for you when you expand your family and a better idea of how the system works.
They're probably liable to change it in 5 years anyway, looking for the next great solution.
Last edited by Wmsn4Life; 12-05-2011 at 12:53 PM..
Since you currently don't have children and no immediate plans for them, I would pick an area with a very stable elementary school and settle there. School zones, admittance requirements, etc. change all the time. If you had a baby tomorrow, you would still be 10 years from sending him/her to middle school. Plus what if you child turned out to have an artistic gift and wanted to go to the arts magnet? Or a sports star who was offered a scholarship to a private school? There are so many variables that can happen with each child. Picking an area with a good elementary school and good resale will prepare you for the next 10-12 years, assuming of course that the school stayed good and the zoning didn't change.
If you buy a house for high school zoning, and then in 5 years MNPS decides to redo the zoning in that area, you might be stuck in a house you can't resale with 2 year old who never spent a minute in public school.
For those that are not 100%, if you start at the elementary level and your child makes the grade all the way through, you should be able to slide into one of the magnet high school slots.
Cool, that's what I hope to do!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life
Keep in mind, though, that just because a school is called a "magnet" school doesn't mean it's a better school. Some of the schools are classified around a particular theme in order to interest more students and indirectly manipulate enrollment.
Yep, I figured that out. The high school magnets I have in mind are the Blue Ribbon schools with a rating of 10 out of 10 on greatschools.org.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life
Also, yes the "cluster" high school is your default high school. Ethnic makeup of the student body is also considered in the lottery process.
Does it lean in favor of African-American kids? Our kids will be half-black.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life
We have good friends who live in south Nashville and had two boys attend Granbery Elementary. When the oldest was to enter middle school, they wanted to stay in public school and entered the lottery, hoping for Croft Middle. They were selected for Head Middle. These friends are very open-minded and tolerant of other cultures and income levels. I say this to indicate that they are not suburban snobs or afraid of something or someone who is different from them.
At Christmas break, after only 4 months, they pulled their child out of Head and enrolled him at a local private school. He had experienced theft of personal property from other students on a weekly basis, and the parents felt that the teachers held an "us vs. them" attitude against the students. They liked the principal, but did not have a good experience at all.
That's interesting - Head has better reviews and test scores than Croft. Good to know, though. My main reason for being interested in Head is that it is a pathway to MLK, an excellent MNPS high school.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life
I guess it's like anything: There is a reason those schools allow 30% of "unzoned" kids to apply. It't not always the best and brightest.
I'm confused by what you mean. Do you mean the 70% unzoned, as 30% ARE zoned? I understand that there will be some kids from rough backgrounds... we actually want to expose our kids to that somewhat, while still providing a great education, which is why we're looking into magnets (again, very prematurely!)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life
They're probably liable to change it in 5 years anyway, looking for the next great solution.
I know this is very true Like I said, this is more out of curiosity for how it works than actual decision making. If/when we move to Nashville we won't be making these kind of decisions for a couple years.
Quote:
Originally Posted by brentwoodgirl
Since you currently don't have children and no immediate plans for them, I would pick an area with a very stable elementary school and settle there. School zones, admittance requirements, etc. change all the time. If you had a baby tomorrow, you would still be 10 years from sending him/her to middle school. Plus what if you child turned out to have an artistic gift and wanted to go to the arts magnet? Or a sports star who was offered a scholarship to a private school? There are so many variables that can happen with each child. Picking an area with a good elementary school and good resale will prepare you for the next 10-12 years, assuming of course that the school stayed good and the zoning didn't change.
If you buy a house for high school zoning, and then in 5 years MNPS decides to redo the zoning in that area, you might be stuck in a house you can't resale with 2 year old who never spent a minute in public school.
That's a really good point - thank you! Again, this was all kind of hypothetical anyway, but you're right that nothing is for sure. Thankfully, the "feeder" schools for the magnet middle schools I was looking at (and therefore the pathway to the great high schools) include the good elementary schools I've heard about on here and greatschools.org. These would be Eakin, Julia Green, Percy Priest, & Sylvan Park. The two others on my list that don't feed into the magnet middles are Glendale & Lockeland which are apparently very hard to get into anyway.
EDITED TO ADD: Also, we really like the Sylvan Park/Hillsboro/West End area, and that's where Eakin, Julia Green, Glendale and Sylvan Park Elementary schools happen to be, so its not like we would be making our decision just because of the schools. Lockeland is in East Nashville, which is on our list too. Not sure what neighborhood Percy Priest is in and what that's like?
Keep the advice coming - you guys are so helpful!
Last edited by makingamove24; 12-05-2011 at 02:51 PM..
At Christmas break, after only 4 months, they pulled their child out of Head and enrolled him at a local private school. He had experienced theft of personal property from other students on a weekly basis, and the parents felt that the teachers held an "us vs. them" attitude against the students. They liked the principal, but did not have a good experience at all.
I wonder when your friends' child attended head? Before Head became the feeder school for MLK it was one of the roughest middle schools in the district, but when I volunteered there last year, the students were some of the best behaved middle schoolers I have ever met...in large part because they knew they could be sent back to their zoned schools for excessive infractions.
Of course, that point reinforces the previous point that MNPS may completely restructure the middle school system by the time it is relevant to you, though presumably they will avoid dramatic changes to the success of MLK and Hume Fogg.
Regarding the 30% of seats held for students in the GPZ: while those seats are available on a first come, first served basis, they are not always filled. I don't know the historical values, but they did not fill the full 30% at Head last year.
Regarding the discussion about the demographics of the 30%: After each academic year, the faculty do collectively decide if students should be sent back to their zoned schools, either for academic or disciplinary reasons. As a result, the 'local population' does not seem to adversely affect the climate in my experience.
Volunteering in a school and living as a student there are two very different experiences. Even so, this was one typical family's reality. Like the OP, they are a family that isn't gun-shy and likes to expose their kids to diversity. They gave it a shot, had a terrible experience, and decided Head wasn't for them.
Regarding the discussion about the demographics of the 30%: After each academic year, the faculty do collectively decide if students should be sent back to their zoned schools, either for academic or disciplinary reasons. As a result, the 'local population' does not seem to adversely affect the climate in my experience.
Are the areas that feed into Head that bad? Because they seem to be at least in large part the areas surrounding Vanderbilt, which I thought were "good" neighborhoods...
If you refer to the map you linked to in your first post, you will notice that the priority zone for Head, the area outlined with a bold line, includes some of the highest-crime areas of Nashville.
If you refer to the map you linked to in your first post, you will notice that the priority zone for Head, the area outlined with a bold line, includes some of the highest-crime areas of Nashville.
So I've been doing some looking around - Is it possible to buy a home in the Hillsboro High School cluster (Sylvan Park/Hillsboro West End/Forest Hills area) under $500K?
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