Nashville School Comparison (Chattanooga, Brentwood, Spring Hill: appointed, transplants, neighborhood)

[BirdieBelle]

The school with the highest test scores and number of AP classes is Brentwood High. Ravenwood is a close second but is very overcrowded because it is on the side of town where most of the newer houses were built.

Tennessee offers no incentives. We are in the bottom five nationally, after all.

You should look around this website:

TN Department of Education Home Page

especially at the Report Card:

TDOE: Report Card on TN Schools

for demographic info on each school.

[brentwoodgirl]

Tennessee has the HOPE scholarship for students who meet certain academic guidelines and go to college in-state (public or private are both included):
College Pays - We Can Get You There.

It's worth $4,000 for 4 year colleges and $2,000 for 2 year colleges. You have to meet certain GPA guidelines in college to continue receiving it each year.

There is also a supplemental $1,000 scholarship that can be earned with higher test scores and GPA:
College Pays - We Can Get You There.

[Eighteen65]

Originally Posted by Shino306

As someone from Denver personally, the schools districts in the Metro Nashville area (including Williamson county) DO NOT compare to Cherry Creek Schools, Douglas County Schools, or Littleton Schools. So, if you're looking for that, I'd suggest moving to a different state, accepting that you'll need to put your kids in private schools, or hoping they get into MLK or Hume Fogg.

Good Luck!

I'm glad someone took the time to actually look up the numbers and prove that not only do Williamson County Schools compare, but they beat Cherry Creek Schools in many instances. Getting on here and posting misleading information just because you're from Denver doesn't help the person that's seeking information.

[Shino306]

Originally Posted by brentwoodgirl

Comparing the top schools in each district (at least by the numbers)

CCHS- Average Act 24.4
Grandview- 22

BHS- Average ACT 25.4
Ravenwood 24.6

Newsweek's Best Highschools List 2010:
CCHS: #328
Grandview: #636

BHS: #218
RHS: #489

Really the comparison should be with with Douglas County Schools or Boulder Schools to be fair and on par with the demographics of the high schools Brentwood Girl chose to contrast them with. Douglas County, Littleton, and Boulder would be an "apples to apples" comparison, which is the only fair way to do it, since obviously demographics, i.e. academic support at home, economic background, etc plays a role in academic success.

And I'd also be interested to see a list where the last 5 graduating classes of BHS and RHS went to college and compare that to Highlands Ranch HS and Boulder HS and then the national rank of those colleges.

One can always find support for their argument if they exclude certain data.

I think for TN and some other Southern states, Williamson County excels in academics, however comparing them to other places, the schools fall short.

My DH went to the 84th best high school in the country per Newsweek and their big rival is ranked # 53, which is where BrentwoodGirl got her data from. So, obviously for him there is no comparison in regards to the HS here and where he came from.

[BirdieBelle]

Originally Posted by Shino306

And I'd also be interested to see a list where the last 5 graduating classes of BHS and RHS went to college and compare that to Highlands Ranch HS and Boulder HS and then the national rank of those colleges.

I don't have the last 5 years. Since I know many of the recent BHS graduates, here is a list of where last year's top graduates went to college:

Washington U., Boston College, UNC Chapel Hill, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Duke, USC, Furman, Iowa, Miami of Ohio, UAB, Harvard, UTK, and Oxford U.

I promise, Shino, it's a really good school, even if it is in Tennessee.

[YallWantHam]

Originally Posted by Shino306

Really the comparison should be with with Douglas County Schools or Boulder Schools to be fair and on par with the demographics of the high schools Brentwood Girl chose to contrast them with. Douglas County, Littleton, and Boulder would be an "apples to apples" comparison, which is the only fair way to do it, since obviously demographics, i.e. academic support at home, economic background, etc plays a role in academic success.

And I'd also be interested to see a list where the last 5 graduating classes of BHS and RHS went to college and compare that to Highlands Ranch HS and Boulder HS and then the national rank of those colleges.

One can always find support for their argument if they exclude certain data.

I think for TN and some other Southern states, Williamson County excels in academics, however comparing them to other places, the schools fall short.

My DH went to the 84th best high school in the country per Newsweek and their big rival is ranked # 53, which is where BrentwoodGirl got her data from. So, obviously for him there is no comparison in regards to the HS here and where he came from.

who cares? You guys are arguing about the top 1% of high schools in the nation, according to Newsweek. You will get out of school what you put into it. Any area that has educated people will place an emphasis on school because they know that is the key to a good future. And for what it's worth, I think Williamson County is Tennessee's best edcuated county and Brentwood is its most educated city with ~65% of people having at least a Bachelor's degree

[brentwoodgirl]

Originally Posted by Shino306

Really the comparison should be with with Douglas County Schools or Boulder Schools to be fair and on par with the demographics of the high schools Brentwood Girl chose to contrast them with. Douglas County, Littleton, and Boulder would be an "apples to apples" comparison, which is the only fair way to do it, since obviously demographics, i.e. academic support at home, economic background, etc plays a role in academic success.

And I'd also be interested to see a list where the last 5 graduating classes of BHS and RHS went to college and compare that to Highlands Ranch HS and Boulder HS and then the national rank of those colleges.

One can always find support for their argument if they exclude certain data.

I think for TN and some other Southern states, Williamson County excels in academics, however comparing them to other places, the schools fall short.

My DH went to the 84th best high school in the country per Newsweek and their big rival is ranked # 53, which is where BrentwoodGirl got her data from. So, obviously for him there is no comparison in regards to the HS here and where he came from.

I wasn't trying to make an argument. I was just curious about the numbers and picked the first district you named. I didn't look up all the info for the others because it was clear the schools were comparable.

I pulled the data from several places, and I don't have time to do all of that again right now.
But based on ACT scores, the other areas you mentioned are actually lower than Cherry Creek and Brentwood both:

Highest schools in Boulder:
Fairview High School – 24.1
Boulder High School (Boulder)– 23.5

Highest Schools in Littleton:
Rock Canyon High School – 23.3
Arapahoe High School – 23.3

Highest school in Douglas County:
Mountain Vista High School- 22.6

http://www1.dcsdk12.org/secondary/hr...hs_profile.pdf
Highlands Ranch High School has an average ACT score os 22.6- 4 points lower than BHS. And .1 lower than the entire average of the Williamson County system.

I saw that briefly yesterday but didn't bother to post the info since it was all worse than Cherry Creek.
On the most objestive measure- standardized national tests that al children take, Brentwood High School and Ravenwood compare very well and are actually 2-3 points higher than Littleton and Douglas County.

I"m not saying Denver schools aren't good, I'm sure they are.
I'm not making any arguments. I am just giving people moving here the statistically information on the schools and they can draw their own conclusions.

[fiskkm]

Great discussion everyone. Thanks for the information. I am not really concerned with Brentwood area schools being better than Cherry Creek, or vice versa. I just want to ensure they are in the same league, and it appears they are. Schools of that caliber are good enough to give a child the framework they need to succeed. My feeling is the rest of the work is done through good parenting.

Does anyone have a recommendation for the best home listings search engine for Brentwood and Franklin?

[BirdieBelle]

Go to RealTracs Real Estate Mid-South Property Finder and you can search by county and even school zone.

[Kevin south of Nashville]

One thing to remember when using Realtracs.com (this is our areas MLS provider, so all of the listings are available there) is that lot sizes below one acre do not get categorized as well as you’d expect, so your automated search indicating .5 acres will actually eliminate a number of homes that have no lot size filled in by the realtor.

Also, when you arrive, the Realtor.com mobile app is excellent up-to-date home search tool with “nearby” searches based on your location and a ‘Draw Mode’ that allows you to simply sketch the area you would like to search. If you are roaming around on a Sunday, it also has the nearby Open Houses feature. Unfortunately, no support for school zone in the latest version but have to think it’s coming soon from them or from a competitor.