What are Williamson County High Schools REALLY like? (Franklin, Hendersonville: public schools, universities)

[jaybee13]

We are contemplating a work-related move to Williamson County with our two high school age kids (incoming Junior and Freshman). We really like the areas that feed Ravenwood High, but are open to anything in the district.

Our boys are smart, not smug, progressive-minded, courteous, friendly and even funny sometimes

They are also at-times insecure (like most teenagers), non-athletic and pretty ordinary. One is really into music, learning guitar — the other is really into computers (coding, gaming, building PCs).

It’s hard to find recent information on what it’s like at the high schools and the reviews on other websites are dated and leave the impression that “it’s all about the jocks.” Their current public high school is decidedly NOT that way— not perfect by any stretch, the nerd stigma just isn’t there and jocks don’t typically have the over-inflated ego nor instant popularity.

What’s it like for average kids at WCS? Based on my limited description, will they be outcasts? Welcomed? Granted they are friendly but sometimes that backfires.

Secondly, any tips for some summer activities that might help meet some other high school age kids? We will move as soon as June.

Thanks!

[BirdieBelle]

Originally Posted by jaybee13

We are contemplating a work-related move to Williamson County with our two high school age kids (incoming Junior and Freshman). We really like the areas that feed Ravenwood High, but are open to anything in the district.

Our boys are smart, not smug, progressive-minded, courteous, friendly and even funny sometimes

They are also at-times insecure (like most teenagers), non-athletic and pretty ordinary. One is really into music, learning guitar — the other is really into computers (coding, gaming, building PCs).

It’s hard to find recent information on what it’s like at the high schools and the reviews on other websites are dated and leave the impression that “it’s all about the jocks.” Their current public high school is decidedly NOT that way— not perfect by any stretch, the nerd stigma just isn’t there and jocks don’t typically have the over-inflated ego nor instant popularity.

What’s it like for average kids at WCS? Based on my limited description, will they be outcasts? Welcomed? Granted they are friendly but sometimes that backfires.

Secondly, any tips for some summer activities that might help meet some other high school age kids? We will move as soon as June.

Thanks!

I'm sure you know that no one can really answer that question.

I have had three sons go through WCS from K-12, with one still at Brentwood High. In general, if your kids are friendly and open, they should not have a problem.

There isn't a "jocks vs. nerds" stigma that I've noticed because, especially at Brentwood and Ravenwood which are the schools I have the most personal experience with, the athletes aren't "dumb jocks." Academic achievement is the standard in WCS schools.

Sure, there are groups, but that's because kids are naturally grouped in high schools according to classes and activities like band, student govt, etc. But it's not like they're not allowed to "cross the border" and hang with kids who have other interests.

As for summer activities, there are tons of options in Middle TN, almost too many to list here, even tech camps at the universities in the area. You can Google the various interests and find lots of choices.

Also, mine worked part-time through high school, so finding a job at a local smoothie place or other Cool Springs spot that hires teens part-time would be another way to meet other kids.

[Nashville_Native]

I went through the K-8 public school system in Brentwood, before going private for high school. From a local's perspective, I highly recommend Ravenwood over Brentwood HS. Ravenwood has newer facilities, younger/fresh-faced faculty, better sports programs, better elite college admissions rate, and better test scores than BHS. For some reason, BHS was always ranked above Ravenwood while I was in school, although that may have changed by now. The kids at Ravenwood always seemed more down to Earth and less influenced by "new money" status than the kids at Brentwood High School. Just my two cents

[brentwoodgirl]

We live in the BHS district, and there is definitely not a “nerd” stigma. My oldest is in college now, but his friend group had a bunch of National Merit Finalists and at least 5-6 perfect ACT scores between them. Their group was also the class officers, HoCo Queen and King, etc. They were very well liked and smart.

I would disagree with the above post. The old money areas in Brentwood are pretty much all in the BHS zone, while most new building is going on in Ravenwood. In fact, most of the post is the opposite of the actual facts, but the two schools are so similar that it’s not worth quibbling on each thing. But the poster is absolutely correct about the facilities, Ravenwood has a much nicer campus.

As far as the jocks, from my experience, the schools are so big that there isn’t really a “big man on campus” jock status. At smaller schools you might have a couple of kids who are the big football/basketball/baseball stars, but sports are so competitive at BHS that almost no one plays football and also basketball. The HoCo Court is generally class officers, I’ve rarely seen a cheerleader or football player on it in the 6 years we’ve been at BHS. So while sports are super competitive and BHS usually wins some state titles each year, there isn’t a culture of worshipping athletes at the school.

[septimus]

Originally Posted by brentwoodgirl

We live in the BHS district, and there is definitely not a “nerd” stigma. My oldest is in college now, but his friend group had a bunch of National Merit Finalists and at least 5-6 perfect ACT scores between them. Their group was also the class officers, HoCo Queen and King, etc. They were very well liked and smart.

I would disagree with the above post. The old money areas in Brentwood are pretty much all in the BHS zone, while most new building is going on in Ravenwood. In fact, most of the post is the opposite of the actual facts, but the two schools are so similar that it’s not worth quibbling on each thing. But the poster is absolutely correct about the facilities, Ravenwood has a much nicer campus.

As far as the jocks, from my experience, the schools are so big that there isn’t really a “big man on campus” jock status. At smaller schools you might have a couple of kids who are the big football/basketball/baseball stars, but sports are so competitive at BHS that almost no one plays football and also basketball. The HoCo Court is generally class officers, I’ve rarely seen a cheerleader or football player on it in the 6 years we’ve been at BHS. So while sports are super competitive and BHS usually wins some state titles each year, there isn’t a culture of worshipping athletes at the school.

to add to this... both schools are large enough that any kid should be able to find their people but not so large as to get completely lost and overlooked.

[Heidi Matthewman]

From what my kids have told me, there is definitely a high value placed on kids who are athletic and part of the sports teams. Of course, the girls sports and cheerleading make kids popular. My son is a sweet, humous kid who is way into computers and not athletic. He wasn't happy in Brentwood schools.
My daughter is your regular, down-to-earth kid who does well in academics but doesn't care about the designer clothes. She is very happy and has a group of friends. She says some kids are snotty and you can tell they come from the rich are or they're a cheerleader.
In the end, I think most kids will love it and the staff will have their back if there are any struggles or issues.

[Canadian2021]

Same with my kids. They are down to earth. Not care about designer stuff etc. A bit shy and good in academics. Daughter is into soccer and basketball.

[shinestx]

If you're concerned about the snob effect of kids in the Williamson schools, you may consider looking at Wilson, or even Sumner schools. Those counties have healthy economies with more diverse income levels, and many of their schools are highly rated. The Hendersonville schools in particular were bolstered during the 1960-70s by families of Dupont, General Electric, Peterbilt, Oscar Mayer and other large corporations who moved their executives to that area. Lots of their college-educated spouses turned to teaching in the local schools.

Regarding Williamson schools which are no doubt very good in most cases, I know several families who send their children there, and they're all upper income and very focused on the cheer, football, and other similarly cliquish extracurriculars. Most of them are good to very good schools, but even then they're still public schools. Most of the privates in the Nashville MSA are better academically and you can get to them from Wilson and Sumner almost as easily as from Williamson. If you decide to move to Willson or Sumner and you end up deciding that you don't like the schools, then you can commute to Nashville easier than if you had to schlep up I-65 every morning from Franklin or parts south. In my opinion, several of the top Wilson and Sumner schools are actually more All-American in that sense of a hometown feel. I get the feeling that COVID pandemic has caused a lot of parents to realize that their kids are not going to get everything in schools. Plus, you'll probably get more value for your housing dollar in those other counties. I understand that Wilson has been booming for several years now, and Sumner is just starting to blow wide open.