Private Christian vs Public Schools in Franklin, TN (Fairview, Oak Hill: neighborhood, top school)

[Soonergirl98]

Hello! My husband and I are considering a move to Franklin, TN this summer. We are going for our second trip to visit in a few weeks. We have not decided on a specific area of town. We love west near Liepers Fork, but also love the area north of downtown and east (Clovercroft area). Our primary concern is finding the right school for our little boy. He will be going in to 3rd grade (looking at elementary all the way through high school). We currently live in Douglas county, Colorado (also one of the top school districts in the nation). We moved our son to private Christian school this past year (primarily because of issues in the district but also very few Christians). We have loved the Christian education; however, we ended up in a very affluent school. Unfortunately, we have seen our son's confidence drop this past year. For the most part, kids have not been friendly or open to a new student. There's also significant pretentious issues. So, what are the schools like in Franklin? I know they are all rated high, but I'm more concerned about the culture. Since the area is predominantly Christian, do you see more like-minded kiddos & teachers in the public schools? Are the private Christian schools pretentious? Thank you!!

[septimus]

The public schools are a lot more academically rigorous in Williamson County than the "christian" schools in Williamson County. When kids return to the public schools they are often behind.

Also some of the Christian school kids have reputation of being sent there because they are out of control or their parents won't or don't know how parent/set boundaries.

Williamson County is growing so fast that he won't be the only new kid at school if he shows up at Clovercroft in August. People tend to be very friendly.

If you you want academics and Christian education you'll need to look to the schools in Nashville like Christ Presbyterian Academy, Franklin Road Academy, Oak Hill and St. Pauls.

[Thrifty99]

If you research a specific school in the East Franklin area keep in mind they are doing some boundary changes for schools to take effect in the 2018-19 school year. You can go to the Williamson County Schools website to see how the elementary school boundaries will change.

I agree with the prior post that the area is growing quickly so there will be many new students starting school in the Fall.

We moved here from Chicago suburbs 2 years ago. Our kids are grown, but our daughter teaches here in one of the schools. In general, I see the kids as better behaved here than back in IL. Parents tend to do a better job of expecting their kids to treat others better. But kids will be kids and there are still issues with bullying here. The schools do a pretty good job of trying to educate and prevent bullying. But if a kid is a bully and the parents don't care, it will continue.

Good luck with your potential move to Franklin. We absolutely love it here.

[Soonergirl98]

Wow Septimus, that's great to know! I know most of the public schools are highly ranked in Williamson County. I'm more concerned about the middle school and high school that we feed in to. Are there certain middle/high schools that are known to be a little smaller, have a bunch of good kids, and less problems than others? Any schools with a reputation of more drugs or pretentiousness that we should avoid? Thank you so much!! ��

Thrifty99, thank you for the advice and encouragement! I know no school is perfect. We've had a huge influx from the west and many are very self-focused. People are not super friendly or open to authentic relationships. I'm from OK and my husband is from NC (we met in STL, so Midwest). We are hoping to find more "salt of the earth" type folks. Praying if this is the right move, but lots of signs that it is!!

[nashdesignguy]

Hi Soonergirl...

We just moved to Franklin from another part of Nashville and specifically chose to be zoned for Page Middle and Page High School. They're a little 'further out' and still have a smaller feel, which we like about them.

That said... it's not likely we'll always be zoned for them by the time my kids are in middle/high school, unless they do a major expansion of the Page schools by that time. I'd put my money on them building another set of schools closer to us. There are already new elementary schools planned for the area.

No one is safe!

Here's a great article that breaks down what is currently going on:
How rezoning will impact Williamson Schools

[HaleyinNashville]

None of the WCS high schools are small, with maybe the exception of Fairview? I think they aren't even too small though, and most people for some reason don't include this one (lol) when talking about WCS high schools.

[Soonergirl98]

Thank you Nashdesignguy and HaleyinNashville! We are going for our second trip to look at areas this weekend. So excited!! We are leaning towards the "neighborhood" public schools. Appreciate everyone's feedback!

[septimus]

to answer your question about smaller middle schools. Hillsboro and Sunset are currently on the smaller side for county middle schools. There are pluses and minuses to the smaller schools. There may not be enough kids to make a cohort for your child at a smaller school and at the larger schools they can get lost in the shuffle.

[Soonergirl98]

Thank you Septimus!