where to live in Nashville with good public schools?

[vivelafrance]

Originally Posted by CountryGirl2b=

Why do you want to live in Davidson County, may I ask???? Schools are better in Williamson . . . . you must have a reason? That reason might help us suggest someplace in Davidson County . . .

While the school system overall is better in Williamson, Nashville does have individual schools that actually are rated better. It's a bit more of a risk but, as already stated, you can start at one of the good elementary schools and you can either hope for a magnet school or save enough money to go private by middle/high school.

Not to discredit Williamson which does have the best system overall, but there are good schools in other areas and plenty of people who could afford Williamson make the choice to live in these other areas.

[brentwoodgirl]

Originally Posted by Hey_Hey

People always talk about Williamson being the best schools, and that's true in terms of top to bottom schools. The reality, though, is that there are higher achieving elementary schools (and high schools) in Nashville than there are in Williamson county. For elementary schools Percy Priest And Julia Green are without a doubt higher scoring than any school in Williamson, and Eakin is better than the majority of Williamson elementary schools. Now the caveat is that for every Percy Priest there are 10 schools that score horribly in Nashville...the top is better but the average is lower. The two magnet high schools (MLK and Hume-Fogg) in Nashville offer amazing educations and are ranked higher than every other high school in Tennessee. But again, on the average, Williamson high schools will far exceed nashvilles.

Now the problem is going to be affording a place to live in those school zones in nashville. Good luck!

That's not actually true. Percy Priest scores are lower than at least Scales, (I didn't check the rest of them), and Julia Green has worse scores than all the elementary schools in Brentwood, plus some of the Franklin elementaries. Julia Green scores in the 60s in every TCAP catergory. Brentwood elementaries and some of the Franklin elementaries score in 70s in most areas.
Eakin scores are all between 59-61, so it is 10-15 points behind many of the Brentwood and Franklin schools.
They are all good schools, so I feel a little bad quibbling between the A rated schools, but for people moving into the area, I think it is important to give the correct information. I wouldn't have a problem sending my kids to Percy Priest, Julia Green, Eakin, or even Granbery or possibly Harpeth Valley. And there may be more that good schools that we would consider.
We used to live in Oak Hill and loved that part of town. But the real problem with Davidson County is the middle and high schools. There is not nearly enough room in the academic magnets, and since it is done on a lottery, some of the highest achieving kids get left out. I would love to see Nashville open up another academic magnet school. We moved out of Davidson County to not have to make the decision between hoping for a lottery or paying $20K+ per year per child. Life has been a lot less stressful since moving to Williamson County. We aren't worrying about where our kids will go to school next. We've been thrilled with Brentwood Middle. That is the big advantage to me.

For the OP-To stay in Davidson County, I would look in Bellevue and maybe around the Nipper's Corner area. Try to find apartments or houses zoned for Harpeth Valley (Bellevue) or Granbery (Nipper's Corner). I think you could find an apartment close to your budget in either. Keystone Farms (Nipper's Corner) has a 3 bedroom for $1100 a month, and it is a gated community with a pool.

[skyblueNashville]

You can also check in the Shayne Elementary zone. It's a great school, and I don't really care what the numbers from a test show. I know from my own personal experience with a child there. Oliver Middle is also another great Davidson County school. Again, I don't care what the numbers on a standardized test show. We have a tremendous amount of diversity in Davidson County, and that experience has been fantastic for my girls. Overton High School prepared my older daughter very well for college. She's had some of the best teachers and classmates. The marching band experience there was tremendously good for her. Are there issues? Yes. If you are bothered by diversity, I'd suggest an outlying county for sure. I get really tired of people acting like no one in their right mind sends their children to school in Nashville. It's simply not true. I know many average, middle-class families who do and are pleased! Anyway, sorry for the mini rant. I wish you well in your search.

[BirdieBelle]

Nice post, Skyblue.

I would look in these elementary school zones:

Harpeth Valley
Gower
Julia Green
Percy Priest
Eakin
Shayne
Crieve Hall
Granbery
Glendale (Spanish immersion)

These are schools where we have friends who have/do attend and report positive experiences.

The question is how to find a rental there in your price range.

[SoCalGirl74]

Thank you all so much!

Davidson County has much more diversity - we prefer that for sure, coming from California. And the bluer, the better for us, so Davidson County seems like the best option there too. Also, I am a public school teacher and know several public school teachers in Metro as well. I have gotten their opinion but wanted to hear from the public too. This has been very helpful!

My experience has shown that test scores don't say much. I much prefer to hear from parents who have had positive and negative experiences. So again, thank you!