Hampton Cove vs Madison (Huntsville, New Hope: purchasing, elementary school, subdivisions)

[deesonic]

McMansions...

McMansion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[clamoore]

As opposed to MerrimackMansions...

[ionlife]

It would seem that people moving to the area have some tough choices. They can move to HC and have a fully planned community with great amenities and the CC&R free and clear of all developers. But their schools are under Huntsville Schools jurisdiction so they must deal with desegregation and busing issues. In addition, the High School is a hefty hike for the students in HC so that is problematic.

On the flip side, in Madison City, one can buy a community as well, albeit not super planned. And therein lies the risk with the developers and CC&R issues recently brought to light through them media and other venues. However, as a separate school entity, the city maintains control over the schools and there is no busing issue. They are currently getting ready to build another HS and have requested funds to do so. The schools are all very close to the neighborhoods and are easy to access. The community is well located and situated close to two major freeway systems that allow access to Nashville and Birmingham. For those people who love variety, this might be a good location as well.

Given a choice between iffy CC&R with easy access, non school issues of the magnitude facing Huntsville schools, I'm very happy with my choice. Not so much a black and white choice, but the right one for our family.

Ultimately, it is a personal choice. But I wonder, just as we had no clue about CC&R being so tangled, did many of the buyers in HC know about the problems their schools would face?

[Charles]

Originally Posted by ionlife

But their schools are under Huntsville Schools jurisdiction so they must deal with desegregation and busing issues.


In addition, the High School is a hefty hike for the students in HC so that is problematic.



non school issues of the magnitude facing Huntsville schools, I'm very happy with my choice.

did many of the buyers in HC know about the problems their schools would face?

Not sure what you are referring to regarding desegregation issues. There is no forced busing of kids from Big Cove/Hampton Cove.

The only busing issue is a long bus ride, a voluntary, free bus ride to Huntsville High School. (I guess, indirectly, this is a desegregation issue as the federal desegregation order may prevent a new high school being built in the Big Cove area.)

What problems are HC/BC facing other than the long distance to Huntsville High School?

All the schools serving the Hampton Cove Big Cove area are:

Hampton Cove Elementary School, Great Schools 9/10
Hampton Cove Middle School, Great Schools 10/10
Huntsville High School 9/10

Also, Huntsville High School does quite well compared to other high schools in the region.

Here are the Huntsville City, Madison County and Madison City High School 2008 proficiency data sorted by subgroup for both reading and math.

(Click on the image expansion bar at the top of each image.)


Math



Reading

[ionlife]

There is busing. They are busing people from out of your area who want to get a better education based on the NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT. It's not forced, but it does change the dynamic of the schools. I am not saying in a negative way, because the parents of these kids must want a superior education for their kids, but they are coming from a low income neighborhood and the demographics are different than HC.

[ionlife]

HHS had far less National Merit Scholars than BJHS and Grissom as well. I think HHS had only 2 or 3 this year, but I haven't checked the stats. Should be in the paper in the archives. If you have time, go ahead and check it out. BJHS is in the top 5% and has been named by the US World and News Report as a top HS in the nation.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by ionlife

There is busing. They are busing people from out of your area

Out of Hampton Cove?

Edit: I mis-interpreted...yes, this is true, kids are bused from areas other than HC/BC to HCMS.

[friday13]

Originally Posted by Charles

Out of Hampton Cove?

Yes, out of Hampton Cove - from all over Hsv though. He's talking about that "minority attending a school of their choice, by application and review of HCS on case-by-case basis". A couple years back there was this African-American mom in the media (al.com?) that was fighting for her daughter to be accepted a transfer to HHS (they were not zoned for that school) on the premise that her son had previously been accepted there. The caveat was that the boy was very much into sports (I think that may have been the reason he got accepted), but the lady could not understand the HCS refusal, to her it was uncomprehensible that her daughter would not be accepted on the basis of that "minority" rule. And in the article, a representative of HCS was saying that "yes, indeed, they would do these transfers, but that the trend had become increasingly popular and they were trying to cut down on the requests, without a reason readily acceptable by the parents in minority. In the case of the two siblings, HCS weren't budging at that time. I didn't follow the story, I don't know the ending.

http://blog.al.com/breaking/2009/09/...transfers.html
http://blog.al.com/breaking/2009/09/...school_bo.html
http://blog.al.com/breaking/2009/10/...s_huntsvi.html
http://www.al.com/specialreport/hunt...again/sa2.html

[ionlife]

They are busing people from other areas into HCMS/HCELEM.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by ionlife

They are busing people from other areas into HCMS/HCELEM.

No big deal.

There would be a problem (I would think) if kids were forcibly bussed from their neighborhood schools to other schools.