Lebanon / Mt Juliet/Old Hickory (school district, zoning, prices)

[LI2South]

I was wondering if I could get some opinion on Mt. Juliet/Old Hickory Schools vs. Lebanon Schools. All are in the same County - why are opinions so different?

[ExIslander]

There are two main factors influencing a school's reputation: the perceived quality of the educating done there, and the perceived quality of the students attending there.

Now, I'm not going to pretend some schools don't do a better job of teaching than others, because they do. But within a particular school district, the second factor, which usually boils down to socioeconomics, plays a huge role. In just about any school district I can think of, if you overlaid a school zoning map on a socioeconomic-profile map, you could predict the reputations of the various schools with a high degree of accuracy (with the usual allowance for specific extenuating circumstances) even if you've never heard of any of them. There's a degree of self-perpetuation built into that, since schools get good reputations because of the kids who go there, and it increases demand for property in that school zone, driving up housing prices.

Getting back to Wilson County specifically, those socioeconomic factors that predict a school's performance and reputation tilt in favor of the western end of the county. But once again, it's important to remember that averages are just that, and are not proof that they'll do a better job with YOUR child.