Huntsville Schools (Madison, Valley, Butler: home, transfer, school districts)

[ebinca]

Hi all. My family will be relocating to Huntsville at the end of the summer. Now that the decision has been made to come to Al., we need to decide which part of Huntsville will be best for us. We would like to have our children attend the best public schools available. Any opinions on which schools are the best? (My oldest will be starting Kindergarten in the fall.) Maybe any links to help me do my own research and not be a questioning burden on the forum ? I've seen a lot of positive remarks about the schools in the SE parts but am not quite sure which schools are actually in this area. Thanks to anyone and everyone who replies.

[nalabama]

In no particular order: Blossomwood, Jones Valley, Weatherly, Challenger, Mountain Gap, Farley, Whitesburg, Chaffee, Monte Sano, and Hampton Cove are all good elementary schools and are all in the SE parts. They all feed into good middle/high schools as well.

[sugarmillclan]

I live in SE huntsville and my girls go to Challenger Elementary and Middle schools. If you check out this link, it will take you to the Huntsville City School hompage.
http://www.hsv.k12.al.us/index.php
Good Luck with your search.

[dbkeel1]

I think you'll find most if not all schools here to be exceptional. There are so many degreed professionals working in engineering and related fields here that they don't settle for inferior schools. Now, that said, some are certainly some older schools in each system and I can't speak for the technology challenges those might face as a result (if any). You'd need to check that out.

Huntsville, Madison, Madison County are all separate school systems with their own websites. I'd suggest you Google them and research the things that are important to you. For example, I have a client at the moment who wanted a solid after-school program since she and her husband would be working. That's available in certain schools and not in others. We found them a great home only 3 minutes from one of those schools.

I'd suggest you look at acceptable commute times, too. Some areas might seem closer to work than others but the traffic can be trying. Still, Huntsville and Madison are certainly NOT northern VA; rush hour here is like 3:00 AM beltway traffic...

[Charles]

Here's an article on a proposal to limit or eliminate the transferring of kids from poor performing schools to higher performing schools. Several Huntsville schools were mentioned. (I had to read this twice to understand it - if I understood it....)

Are kids being bused in to your school? Out of your school? Does it impact school quality? Is your school overcrowded? Undercrowded? Underfunded? These are the questions I would be asking.

"State school officials await a federal waiver that would end the option under No Child Left Behind that lets students transfer from schools with consistently low marks. Those schools could offer extra tutoring in lieu of a bus ride to a classroom across town. "

"Five schools in Huntsville now must offer all students the chance to request another school. They are Butler High School and Chapman, Davis Hills, Stone and Westlawn middle schools. "

Schools awaiting word on studenttransfer waiver- al.com

[Huntsville_secede]

Originally Posted by dbkeel1

I think you'll find most if not all schools here to be exceptional. There are so many degreed professionals working in engineering and related fields here that they don't settle for inferior schools. Now, that said, some are certainly some older schools in each system and I can't speak for the technology challenges those might face as a result (if any). You'd need to check that out.

Huntsville, Madison, Madison County are all separate school systems with their own websites. I'd suggest you Google them and research the things that are important to you. For example, I have a client at the moment who wanted a solid after-school program since she and her husband would be working. That's available in certain schools and not in others. We found them a great home only 3 minutes from one of those schools.

I'd suggest you look at acceptable commute times, too. Some areas might seem closer to work than others but the traffic can be trying. Still, Huntsville and Madison are certainly NOT northern VA; rush hour here is like 3:00 AM beltway traffic...

Well thats not entirely true, Madison County residents have settled for having overcrowded schools. If new schools aren't built in Madison city they may start to see crowding to the extent that Madison County has.

[ionlife]

We're very happy with the Madison City Schools and the people/teachers have been exceptional--google and check out www.greatschools.com for info. Again, numbers are not the only indicator of a great school district, but they do offer a solid start. And then when you add in the human factor, all I can say is we feel we are in a win-win situation. The crowding is an issue here as well as in other school districts, but compared to FX County NoVA, this is a step up as far as that is concerned. Today we toured our daughter's MS again because she won't be here for orientation--everyone from Principal to front desk treated us so well. Couldn't ask for a more positive experience.

[dance5678]

Buckhorn High School is a county school but one of the best in the state! It is located on Winchester Rd. You should definitely check it out!

[Charles]

Two very good and important articles in the web version of the Huntsville Times:

Impact of flight also poses future black school closings - al.com

Board to vote on merger of 10 schools - al.com

[Charles]

According to

Huntsville school board news and notes - Breaking News from The Huntsville Times - al.com

"July 2010 is the estimated date of completion for the new elementary school in Big Cove."