Nashville School Comparison (Brentwood: home, buy, magnet schools)

[Shino306]

Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life

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.

See this is interesting because we have people telling us that it's all Ole Miss, Auburn, UT, etc. When we moved back to this area (we lived in Nashville for 6 years, moved away and then moved back this summer), the relocation specialist was talking up BHS since her children had gone there and then they went on to Belmont for u-grad. Not dissing Belmont but I'm pretty sure my husband would cry if our child went there...he's an academic snob and if you saw his resume, you'd understand why.
So, if Williamson county schools ARE good, why do they get such a bad rap from people moving from other locales or people living in Williamson county putting their kids in private school? This is a serious question on my part and not trying to be snide. We're still looking at where to buy a house and had discounted Williamson county because of traffic to work (my dh works LONG hours and ~10 mins is about all he wants) and then since a lot of people had poo-pooed the schools, what was the point of living there and still having to put kids into private school?

[jenntenn]

If your husband is a "school snob" and you do not plan on living in Williamson county then you better be ready to go the private route for at least middle and high school. So he is going to have to decide if his commute or the ability to send your kids to good public schools is more important.

Also, people send their kids to private schools for other reasons than avoiding the public schools.

[BirdieBelle]

I will speak to Brentwood high schools specifically since I live there and my kids attend public schools.
Indeed, there are a ton of WCS kids who attend SEC schools. If you think about it, they represent a scenario much like what they came from: large state schools that offer the total package: academics, social and athletics. A recent trend has been for local kids to go to Bama, Auburn and Ole Miss. But just because "a lot" of kids go to those schools doesn't mean your kids will. Some of it depends on recruiters and counselors. For some reason UT Chattanooga has been attracting a lot of local kids. One year recently, 22 Ravenwood graduates went there.
Interestingly, a lot of Brentwood Academy kids go on to small colleges that are very similar to the environment they left at BA: private schools like Samford and Birmingham Southern.
But I don't happen to think there's anything wrong with state universities. I have three academic degrees and worked two internships and one paid position in Manhattan with everyone from Yalies to Penn alumni. My degrees from two Tennessee universities did not hurt me one bit.
Sure, MBA grads may attend more ivy league schools, and if that's what you want, you need to put your kids there. You can't discount an entire county school system based on number of Ivy Leaguers, though. One thing to remember is that MBA has the same number of students in its entire high school that Ravenwood has in its junior class. The difference is mostly about statistics.
To me, a high school experience is about more than what's printed in the graduation program. My boys could go to MBA, but we all chose BHS for the whole package. There are compelling reasons for each choice, but each family has to choose what fits them best.

[brentwoodgirl]

I don't think WCS get a bad rap from most people moving here- just a few vocal people on CD. Less than 15% of children in Williamson County attend private school, and way more than 15% of people in the county are transplants. Almost all of my neighbors are transplants and none of them attend private school. Of all of our friends/acquaintances, the few we know going to private school are mostly Tennesseans going private for religious reasons.

My children attend Edmondson, and just thinking of their friends' parents, one of graduated from Harvard Busines School, another has his PhD from Penn. These families with highly educated parents have chosen WCS public schools for their children.

About 90% of children in Brentwood attend public school. The majority of these families could easily afford any private school they wanted, but they have chosen public school because the schools are good.

Now the commute is another story. We started out in Green Hills and have moved a little further south with each new child. I have told my husband I refuse to get pregnant again because I don't want to move to Spring Hill.

[septimus]

Originally Posted by Shino306

See this is interesting because we have people telling us that it's all Ole Miss, Auburn, UT, etc. When we moved back to this area (we lived in Nashville for 6 years, moved away and then moved back this summer), the relocation specialist was talking up BHS since her children had gone there and then they went on to Belmont for u-grad. Not dissing Belmont but I'm pretty sure my husband would cry if our child went there...he's an academic snob and if you saw his resume, you'd understand why.
So, if Williamson county schools ARE good, why do they get such a bad rap from people moving from other locales or people living in Williamson county putting their kids in private school? This is a serious question on my part and not trying to be snide. We're still looking at where to buy a house and had discounted Williamson county because of traffic to work (my dh works LONG hours and ~10 mins is about all he wants) and then since a lot of people had poo-pooed the schools, what was the point of living there and still having to put kids into private school?

I ask myself this question regularly. I wish we had done more research before we moved, but our relocation from date of offer (my husband didn't interview for the job it was offered) to moving was all of about 3.5 weeks.

We were told the public schools were "world class" only to be disappointed. We moved from an area where academic prestiges means a lot. We moved to WC figuring we could do public school and then send the kids back east for boarding school. My biggest issues are the focus on the test, the lack of science because of focusing on the math and reading for the test, and the lack of foreign language instruction. Our old school was title 1 and we had foreign language starting in kindergarten as well as options for chinese and spanish immersion programs. Our daughter also did some awesome science projects.

I love my neighborhood, but commuting into Nashville so my daughter can get a good education is frustrating.

From talking with a lot of other parents WCS are good if your kid is average/above average but if you have a very high achieving student you really have to fight for the gift IEP and make the school follow through with it.

A lot of where you apply to college has to do with what the college counselors and your peers suggest. I'm still not sure why I applied to Smith except that 12% of my high school class went there and my mother was probably trying to live vicariously through me. My high school I'd say probably 70% of my class ended up at a 7 sisters college.

[BirdieBelle]

Originally Posted by Shino306

Not dissing Belmont but I'm pretty sure my husband would cry if our child went there...he's an academic snob and if you saw his resume, you'd understand why.

I honestly think this is the most revealing insight in your post. If he will be entering a school situation with this much concern about whether it will be a step down, your instincts to avoid Williamson County were correct.

Though many are high-achieving, not every WCS student is that concerned with their pedigree. Private schools can skim off the top.

[YallWantHam]

Lots of kids from the south go to southern colleges because they enjoy being in the south or want a different experience other than just academics. I was accepted in to U Chicago and George Washington but chose to go to University of Tennessee and it hasn't seem to hurt me at all. Some people want more from a college experience than just a degree that tells where they went.

[Shino306]

For all the posters, thanks for your input. It's food for thought, ultimately I think our housing decision will come down to the commute. We'd already assumed we'd put our child(ren) into private school, due to the area we were looking in.

[Vickie10essee]

I agree with Kevin! Greatschools.net. I give it to all of my clients that are relocating with children! I think you will find it comprehensive. Good luck!

[Eighteen65]

Shino306 you said in another post that you just had your child last year. Well what is your "academic snob" husband going to do if your child isn't smart enough to get into an Ivy League school? Its pretty tough to gauge the mental capacity of a 1 year old. Also way to be proactive and make a big deal out of where your 1 year old will attend high school 11 or 12 years from now.