Relocating to Memphis Area with elementary aged kids... (Bartlett, Germantown: rentals, low crime)

[tag333]

My husband will be working at St. Jude and we are moving there in January with two girls that will need schooling (I'd rather pay for an area with good public schools than pay for private schooling). I am looking for an area within a 45-minute drive to Memphis that has good schools (esp. the elementary and middle schools). We prefer a smaller town. I want to live in a place that has a good neighborhood feeling where you could go for a run at night if you wanted to (low/no crime). We enjoy the outdoors, hiking, camping, and parks...a well-educated small town or rural area fits us best. We're willing to live in an urban sprawl area if the smaller town area doesn't exist around Memphis. We are also more liberal if that makes a difference. We want to rent a single home with a fenced yard with a price of around or under $1500 a month. Do you have any suggestions of areas that might fit out large want list? We're also willing to live across the state lines. I am very unfamiliar with the TN areas so please be as specific as you can with any recommendations. Thanks so much!

[brickpatio]

Hernando Hills and Lewisburg Elementary schools in DeSoto County are ranked 19th and 25th of 432 elementary schools in Mississippi. Hernando is a charming small town about 25 minutes south of downtown Memphis. Lewisburg is a rural area with some suburban subdivisions and large lot homes about 10 minutes east of Hernando. I'm not sure if liberal is the right description of these areas, although I'm sure there is some diversity in that regard. It's definitely safe and an up and coming area.

As an alternative, Harbor Town on Mud Island in downtown Memphis is about a one minute drive from St. Jude and is beautiful, along the Mississippi River, and very safe. You would need private schools there. For traditional suburbs, you would probably want Collierville which is very nice as suburbs go and is about 30 to 45 minutes from downtown.

[(901)]

Downtown Elementary/Downtown

Snowden Elementary/Midtown

Idlewild Elementary/Midtown

Gramhwood Elementary/Midtown

[tag333]

Thank you guys for the feedback. I am looking into Collierville and the above mentioned MS towns!

[thoward30_3]

Hi Tag 333-
My husband and I are relocating to Memphis TN with our three kids 3,10, &16. I'm in a similar situation as you so I figured since your alittle ahead than I am on my research do you have any information on low crime and safe areas or neighborhoods. How about any good elemetary and high schools? I was also wondering if Memphis TN offer magnet schools thats what my 10yrs daughter in now. If you have any information please let me know. Thanks.

[sally.white]

We are also moving to area and have decided on Germantown or Collierville.

My kids are very involved in sports so we are undecided which high school attend.

[strumpeace]

Don't sell Bartlett short, guys. It's a nice little town with (imo) an easier drive to Midtown, Downtown, etc. Schools are good for the most part, though I think the zones on the west side are not quite as good as the ones further east. Much more house for the money in Bartlett, too.

Best wishes.

[thoward30_3]

Someone else told me about Bartlett and Millington because we're relocating there for the new Nike plant on Frayser area of Memphis known as Northridge. Do you have and suggestion on these area such as low crime and names of good elementry schools and high schools. My daughter currently attends a Magnet Communication /Technology School. Further more, we're into a more family orientated neighborhood with sports activities.

[Tigertate]

I am not very familiar with the primary schools in Bartlett as far as the names and stuff, but I know that they are all pretty good. The schools would be Shelby County Schools, which is the suburban school district. If you live in Bartlett you probably want to make sure your are away from the south and west borders closest to Memphis. The reason I say this is because those sides of Bartlett are adjacent to some of the rougher, higher crime areas of Memphis. Some of that crime trickles into Bartlett. It would not be terribly unsafe or anything, but you would probably see a lot of property crime in those areas. The Bartlett police are really good and keep all crime to a minimum. The city has very little crime. The High Schools in Bartlett are Bartlett High and Bolton High. They are both good schools with good test scores. The city is one of the older suburbs of Memphis, so it is very stable and family oriented. Millington is a nice safe military town (former home of a military base). It is less dense and more rural than Bartlett. The High School in Millington is Millington Central High School. It is a pretty good school, but is has lower test scores than Bartlett and Bolton. It actually has some of the lower scores in the suburban system, but it is still better than most Memphis City Schools as far as test scores and grad. rate. There are other people here who know much more about those areas than me so I will let them give you more detail.

[UofMGrad92]

Originally Posted by thoward30_3

Someone else told me about Bartlett and Millington because we're relocating there for the new Nike plant on Frayser area of Memphis known as Northridge. Do you have and suggestion on these area such as low crime and names of good elementry schools and high schools. My daughter currently attends a Magnet Communication /Technology School. Further more, we're into a more family orientated neighborhood with sports activities.

The Northwest side of Bartlett would be closer to the Nike plant. The main elementary schools on that side of town are Rivercrest and Barlett Elementary. The high school would be Bartlett High or Bolton High. The middle schools would be Elmore Park and Shadowlawn. The next point I'm going to make has much less of an effect on Elmore Park Middle and Bartlett and Bolton High than it does on Rivercrest and Bartlett Elemenatary and Shadowlawn Middle.

All of these schools get some students from areas in the Memphis annexation reserve that have not yet been annexed, predominantly on the northern edge of Raleigh and the north east edge of Frayser. This has led to some issues at the schools in the past, but I think most of that has been addressed through good leadership at the schools. The biggest issue is that people move to Bartlett to live in the suburbs and have suburban type schools. The kids from Raleigh/Frayser do not have the same background (lower income, not much stability in the family, have been in bad city schools in the past), and many have been in several different schools over their last two or three years in school (lots of rentals in these areas of Raleigh/Frayser). All that being said, I have friends who have children in all the schools I have mentioned. Every one of them is happy with the administration and faculty at the school and feel that their children are learning and progressing.

The whole thing is an odd situation. Many of these students are bussed pretty long distances because these schools are the closest county schools to their homes. The county doesn't want to build new schools closer to them because of two reasons. The first is that when and if Memphis annexes the area, the schools will be turned over to the city. The city has a long history of jumping in and annexing right after the county builds up some facilities and at one time the county said they would never build another school in the Memphis annexation reserve. This changed with Southwind High, but I think only becuase there was some cooperative agreement with the city school system.

The second concern is that the county has just come out from under a desegregation lawsuit. New schools built in these areas would be predominantly black and the schools in the western part of Bartlett would become mostly white (they are now fairly mixed with some being 60 to 65 % black, some being 60 to 80 % white, and some close to 50/50). I'm sure the county fears that doing this (even though the students would be in neighborhood schools) would lead to another lawsuit.

Millington has similar issues in the public schools with the more northern and western parts of the Memphis annexation reserve. I don't know a whole lot about the schools in Millington, but I believe in general they are fine but probably not as good as Bartlett.

I wouldn't hesitate to put my children in any of the Bartlett area county schools, but if I were buying a house I'd probably pick the central area (around Altruria and Stage up to the Kirby-Whitten-Egypt Central area) or the eastern and north eastern side. You can get a better price on the western side of Bartlett, it would be safe, the schools would be fine, and it would be closer to work at the Nike plant. Resale would be lower, but that is kind of factored into the prices in those areas already.