Schools in East memphis and Germantown... (Central: to rent, house, transfer to)

[Statecho]

My family is relocating to Memphis in December and we are in the process to rent a single family house in a good neighberhood with the best public school possible. We have a 5th and a 8th grade, looking for public shool for at least 1 year, then to decide if need to transfer to a privite school. My work is in Southhaven, MS, and I don't want commute more than 35 min one way.

After a lot research includ. reading this forum, we have narrowed down to zip 38120 and 38138. Here are a few questions regarding the schools:

1. In zip 38120, Richland elementry seems to be the best, but how about Shady Grove and Balmoral ? are they comparable?

2. For Germantown, 38138, how would you rank their elementries: Dogwood, Farmington, Germantown and Riverdale?

3. How do you rank Germantown, Houston and White station Middle school? are they comparable?

Thanks in advanc for any input, I know it is a lot to ask.

Statecho.

[DubbleT]

AFAIK Richland has the best rep for elementary, followed by the Grahamwood optional (magnet) program. Most of the kids from White station Middle optional program come from Richland and Grahamwood optional. Shady Grove would be also be a good choice but doesn't have quite the same rep as those two.
Don't know anything about Balmoral, but the IB program at Ridgeway that Balmoral feeds into is a fairly recent addition, might be kind of early yet to know how well that program is doing so far. (I'd love to hear if anyone has more feedback on how the IB program is going there.)

As far as the middle schools go you don't want to compare White Station to the others unless you are talking about the optional (magnet) program at White station, which is very good. The non optional program at White Station is fair but probably doesn't compare to the other two schools. WSMS feeds into White Station High with a magnet program that usually produces the most Nat'l Merit semifinalist of any school in the state.

[Statecho]

Thanks, Double T for the information.

How can one get into the optional program, it there a exam? Is that possible for a student just move to Memphis to get into the optional program right away? or he/she has to study in non-optional program for a while before enroll into optional program.

[DubbleT]

Need to meet the requirements (links posted below) and the school needs to have available slots, which might be tough to find mid year. Never hurts to call and ask though because sometimes students are dropped if their grades or conduct become unsatisfactory, causing a slot to open up.

The optional programs pull students from all over the city and sometimes from the county. Students living in the boundaries get priority acceptance over out of boundary students. Memphis City Schools - Boundaries (http://www.mcsk12.net/temp.asp - broken link)

If schools have more applications than openings a percentage are filled first come first serve and the rest are selected by lottery. I don't believe the lottery system has to be used very often, at least it wasn't when my kids attended several years ago.
If you apply and aren't accepted for any reason your child is assigned to the school in the boundary area you live in.

If your child meets the requirements and there is an opening they can be put in the program immediately, no need to attend/study in non optional first.

If for whatever reason you don't have the necessary test scores for reference I know the child can be tested for admittance. I don't know if the school does the testing or if you have to pay for it. The only time I had to have a child tested it was for re-admittance to the program and I had to take my child to a private psychologist and paid for it out of my pocket.

MCS -Optional Schools - Grahamwood Elementary (http://www.mcsk12.net/optional_schools/detalis.asp?tblSchools.ID=15&Submit=Submit - broken link)
MCS -Optional Schools - White Station Middle

[Snake Plissken]

2. For Germantown, 38138, how would you rank their elementries: Dogwood, Farmington, Germantown and Riverdale?

3. How do you rank Germantown, Houston and White station Middle school? are they comparable?

2. Dogwood is the best, followed by Farmington, followed by the other two.

3. Germantown is the least desirable of those three. IMO Houston is the best, though some might put White Station's optional program ahead. I would prefer Houston simply because of the school atmosphere. It's mostly well-to-do white kids with supportive families and expectations of going to college. White Station, on the other hand, is going to have a huge population of typical inner city lowlives surrounding the special kids.

Not to mention it's just better to live in Germantown than East Memphis. Nicer homes for less money, less crime, lower property taxes, excellent public services.

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by Snake Plissken

It's mostly _____ kids with supportive families and expectations of going to college.

Same for the families using the optional programs

White Station, on the other hand, is going to have a huge population of typical inner city lowlives surrounding the special kids.

Traditional kids are mostly pulled from the neighborhoods around the school itself. Since the school is in a pretty nice, stable area it does not have a "huge population of typical inner city lowlives surrounding the special kids". I will grant that there are some kids bussed in and that they can be rough, but to paint the majority of the kids as undesirable is misleading at best.

[knucklehead_vol]

Originally Posted by Snake Plissken

2. Dogwood is the best, followed by Farmington, followed by the other two.

3. Germantown is the least desirable of those three. IMO Houston is the best, though some might put White Station's optional program ahead. I would prefer Houston simply because of the school atmosphere. It's mostly well-to-do white kids with supportive families and expectations of going to college. White Station, on the other hand, is going to have a huge population of typical inner city lowlives surrounding the special kids.

Not to mention it's just better to live in Germantown than East Memphis. Nicer homes for less money, less crime, lower property taxes, excellent public services.

Do you have issues with blacks? Just curious, a lot of your posts seem to point in that direction.

[lulubrown]

Originally Posted by Statecho

My family is relocating to Memphis in December and we are in the process to rent a single family house in a good neighberhood with the best public school possible. We have a 5th and a 8th grade, looking for public shool for at least 1 year, then to decide if need to transfer to a privite school. My work is in Southhaven, MS, and I don't want commute more than 35 min one way.

After a lot research includ. reading this forum, we have narrowed down to zip 38120 and 38138. Here are a few questions regarding the schools:

1. In zip 38120, Richland elementry seems to be the best, but how about Shady Grove and Balmoral ? are they comparable?

2. For Germantown, 38138, how would you rank their elementries: Dogwood, Farmington, Germantown and Riverdale?

3. How do you rank Germantown, Houston and White station Middle school? are they comparable?

Thanks in advanc for any input, I know it is a lot to ask.

Statecho.

Look over here when you have the time...


TCAP Test Results - Tennessee Department of Education

...these are all of the testing stats and the like for Tennessee

Please also keep in mind something which no one has yet to mention. The public school systems of the county and the city are soon to merge. You can learn more of this by going to the web site for The Memphis Flyer as well as the Memphis Daily News. Both of those are not behind a pay wall and so that way you do not have to foot the bill for anything in order to learn more of this situation with the public schools.

Germantown is a city of its own and they are, as of right now, under the Shelby County Schools. The 38120 is the city of Memphis and they are under the Memphis City Schools.

This is my personal opinion on Germantown public schools...

Germantown High School is an IB (International Baccalaureate) school for the students who would like to enter that academic program. So, for all I should know, whatever Middle School feeds into that would be a darned fine pick for any youngster.

[Statecho]

Thanks!! I really appreciated everyone's input.

I have read more info from web, seems IB programs and optional programs are really excellent if one can get into them. I will call the schools to get a little more infomation.

[Tigertate]

Originally Posted by Snake Plissken

2. Dogwood is the best, followed by Farmington, followed by the other two.

3. Germantown is the least desirable of those three. IMO Houston is the best, though some might put White Station's optional program ahead. I would prefer Houston simply because of the school atmosphere. It's mostly well-to-do white kids with supportive families and expectations of going to college. White Station, on the other hand, is going to have a huge population of typical inner city lowlives surrounding the special kids.

Not to mention it's just better to live in Germantown than East Memphis. Nicer homes for less money, less crime, lower property taxes, excellent public services.

WOW, I do not know where to start.

Have you ever been to White Station High or Middle? I am going to go out on a limb and say no. To describe the traditional kids at the schools as "inner city lowlifes" is ridiculous. Heck, if you would say that about the kids at the WS schools I would hate to hear your description of the kids at Central or Whitehaven (SMH). The White Station schools are not even in areas that you would even consider "inner city", so I do not know where you are getting your information. You really should do some more research before throwing out blanket generalizations. Also, the 38120 zip code is just as nice as anything in Germantown. The only thing you may be correct about in your description is the fact that the taxes are lower in Germantown.



//www.city-data.com/zips/38120.html

//www.city-data.com/zips/38138.html