School district lines (Murfreesboro, Smyrna, Nolensville: real estate, house, school districts)

[Houzhunter]

We will soon be making the move to the Murfreesboro area and have been painstakingly looking for the "right" house for us. While our daughter is not of school-age yet, she will be soon enough. We were told to look in the Blackman or Siegel school districts. Then my husband and I overheard a couple of real estate agents laughing about how often the schools are redistricted! We we flabbergasted! Is this a big "problem?"

[nashvols]

With high population growth, redistricting is a reality in a lot of school districts. If it wasn't necessary, it wouldn't be done.

It's not foolproof, but the closer you live to a school, the more likely you are to stay zoned for said school.

[septimus]

rezoning is a fact of life here. I'm in Williamson County. We had a big rezoning about 3 years ago which stopped a lot of the yearly rezonings but we will have another big rezoning in 2 years when the new high school is built in Nolensville. There was a small rezoning this year to relieve overcrowding at one elementary school.

Buy a house you like and don't worry too much about rezoning. From my experience the thing that matters most is an involved parent. We were rezoned from what was considered one of the "best" middle schools to one that had some of the worst test scores and high poverty (high for WCS). 3 years later that middle school is a gem. Involved parents raised money, etc.

[Mary_Moon]

Rutherford County's population has been booming for the past several years and every new school opening triggers a rezoning. Word of warning - a new M'boro City elementary school will be opening next fall that will likely affect Blackman to a degree. I would look for homes currently zoned to the 3 Ruth. Co. clustered school complexes in this order:

1. Siegel
2. Stewarts Creek (technically Smyrna, but many M'boro homes zoned here, myself included)
3. Blackman.

Siegel schools are a bit convoluted as the Murfreesboro School District runs the elementary while Rutherford County runs the middle and high schools but it is the more 'upscale' of the three and probably has the best test scores if you live & breathe by that stuff. Stewarts Creek schools are all located on the same large parcel of land only separated by the main road in and out of the school area, unlike Siegel and Blackman, but there is a lot of growth happening in this area and I can see the schools getting crowded within a few years. Blackman schools have been overcrowded for quite a while and more likely to be rezoned in the future.

I can't speak for Siegel but there is a HUGE amount of parent involvement at Stewarts Creek Elementary which is greatly encouraged by our principal. I've heard rumor from several sources that the principal at Blackman doesn't like parent volunteers or respect the PTO, but that's been a couple of years ago and things might (hopefully!) be different there now.