Collierville High, Houston, Germantown ranked top in nation. (Memphis: transplants, house)

[ColliervilleMom]

The Commercial Appeal doesn't print this, so I thought I'd share it--Three Shelby County high schools - Collierville High, Germantown High and Houston High - made Newsweek's annual list of the nation's top 1,000 high schools. (The schools are ranked on how well students are prepared students to enter college.)

Collierville is ranked 530, Houston is ranked 765, and Germantown is ranked 990.

Great news for all schools! Collierville has been on the list for 5 years, Houston for 3, and this is Germantown's first year!

The schools' graduation rate, college-acceptance rate, number of AP and honors exams per student, SAT/ACT, and AP scores are all factored in.

Way to go!

[My_home_town]

I heard about Germantown, glad to read about Collierville and Houston. All fine schools. Thanks for the story.

[one opinion]

As this board serves as a major source of information for people moving to the area, I think a more complete picture is required.

First, the reason the city's optional schools aren't on the list is likely because a distinction is not drawn between the optional/magnet program and standard programs at these schools; given the criteria laid out, I am quite sure that the top high school optional program would rank higher than all these suburban schools with others not far behind
Second, this list is a ranking of public schools only; there are several exceptional private schools in the city that would also score better.

Not trying to bust anyone's bubble; just trying to keep potential transplants well-informed

[ColliervilleMom]

Originally Posted by one opinion

As this board serves as a major source of information for people moving to the area, I think a more complete picture is required.

First, the reason the city's optional schools aren't on the list is likely because a distinction is not drawn between the optional/magnet program and standard programs at these schools; given the criteria laid out, I am quite sure that the top high school optional program would rank higher than all these suburban schools with others not far behind
Second, this list is a ranking of public schools only; there are several exceptional private schools in the city that would also score better.

Not trying to bust anyone's bubble; just trying to keep potential transplants well-informed

Not everyone can get into optional schools.
Not everyone can afford private schools.

It's nice to know a quality education is available for everyone who simply lives in a home zoned for one of these schools.

[My_home_town]

Let's keep our eye on the ball here. The story is not about optional schools, but big props to the 3 schools in the Shelby county area mentioned: Collierville, Houston, and Germantown.

[Bowyer]

Seriously, instead of jumping through hoops and 'hoping for the best' and waiting in line for hours to get into a decent Memphis public school (is that an oxymoron?), these three schools have excelled in the public school category.

Just curious, how many good optional schools are there? White Station can only house so many kids. Anytime someone wants a quality public education in Memphis, White Station, and perhaps Ridgeway, is the immediate answer. Surely they can't accommodate the huge demand.

Yes, many of the private schools will outperform the public schools. Of course they cost a lot of money, but that comes with the territory.

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by Bowyer

Just curious, how many good optional schools are there? White Station can only house so many kids. Anytime someone wants a quality public education in Memphis, White Station, and perhaps Ridgeway, is the immediate answer. Surely they can't accommodate the huge demand.

44 optional schools, 10 are high schools, of those one or two are vo-tech, one is a performing arts, a couple of others have a focus other than college prep. White Station and Ridgeway are the top two for college prep, and probably the only two I'd consider really good.- you asked

The demand is not huge, most people feel as you do. They don't want to have the hassle of getting into an optional program (which is usually exaggerated btw), or they simply believe they can do better by moving to the burbs. The strict entrance requirements reduce the demand even further.
The optional programs can accommodate most of the demand, few kids are turned away due to lack of space.

This isn't a this vs that thread about schools either.
I think one opinion just wanted to point out that there are more choices for parents who might look at this thread trying to get info about good schools in the Memphis area. Sometimes Memphis City School programs are shortchanged when it comes to things like national rankings, because of the odd school- within- a- school structure used for the optional schools. Not everybody wants to live in one of the suburbs, or can afford private schools, so it's nice for those people to know that there are other decent alternatives for them, even if those schools don't make the 'lists'.

[009811]

No White Station?

[rinojg]

Congrats and good story,