Franklin Schools and Home Prices (for sale, houses, neighborhood)

[Mrsnotes]

Hi,

We are narrowing our search for homes and FINALLY coming to Nashville next week to see the area. Franklin is emerging as the front-runner. We like the idea of the downtown, the proximity to Cool Springs, the manageable commute (although we do wish it were a little closer to Nashville), the variety of home prices (we're in the $250-$300k range), and the safety.

The biggest reason we'd move to Franklin instead of, say, Bellevue, is the public school system. So I have a question: We notice the home prices in the Franklin High School zone to be higher than those in Centennial H.S. zone. Is this an accurate observation? In the Centennial H.S. zone, we see many more homes in the $250k range that meet all of our criteria, whereas we have to jump to the $290k range to find that in Franklin H.S. Why is this? Is Franklin H.S. perceived to be THAT much better than Centennial? If so, do forum users agree that it is actually THAT much better, or is this a matter of perception? Are there other factors that make the area zoned for Centennial less expensive?

Thanks for any insights you all have! 9 days til I finally get to see the city we will call home!!!

[user123455]

I 100% agree with your observations. As someone that is also planning to move to TN I noticed the same things. As for the high schools, Franklin HS gets a 10 on greatschools.net while Centennial gets a 7. Also the 37069 zipcode which coincides with the Franklin HS zone has a much higher median family income (it's 6 figures) than the rest of Franklin.

[Mrsnotes]

Thanks for your response!

After spending some time on the greatschools.net website, I'm not sure I find it a really reliable indicator of very much. I'd love hear from some Franklin residents or others in the area how this is really reflected in their experiences. I suppose since my kids are 5 and 1 I should be looking at the elementary school ratings on greatschools.net, too.

[user123455]

Go to the source..... Williamson County Schools

[septimus]

Franklin High is pretty good and has the only IB program in the county. Centennial High School is the only county school to wear uniforms because there was some gang activity last year. School tests scores are almost directly related to income demographic. More expensive houses, higher test scores. (I'm not a big fan of testing and think a better indicator of how good a school is, is how the free and reduce lunch children do compared to other similar districts).

One thing to watch for in your search is whether you are in FSSD or not. A lot of the FSSD schools feed to Franklin High. I think FSSD is wonderful and better than the county schools, but the taxes are higher and the test scores lower (higher proportion of students on free and reduced lunch).

[Big TR]

We're moving to south Franklin where we are zoned for Independence High. It seems to be good. High school is pretty far off at this point in our family, but from what I've seen it's good.

[akm4]

1. All of Williamson County is a bubble. Our kids are sheltered from much of life's harsher realities. No matter which school you choose, this will be the case. College can be a shock for many kids who enroll in urban universities.

2. Students will get out of high school what they put into it. Bright, hard-working kids will do well in any school. We all want the best for our children, but I'd caution against putting too much emphasis on free-lunch numbers and local income levels.

Just my 2 cents

[septimus]

your kids are so young I wouldn't be thinking of high school yet. Williamson County is growing so quickly that they are constantly changing the school zones. Centennial is fairly new as are Independence and Page. I'm sure by the time your kids are high school aged there will be another high school in the county.

[Big TR]

Another thing...I'm pretty sure you can pay a little more and your kid can go to any school in the county. You just have to be willing to drive them there.

[cityScanner]

We just bought in franklin, but I have lived here for about 4 years. I find no real difference in the quality of people throughout the county... although there are a couple of brighter and dimmer spots. But whether they are poor or rich, most people are pretty great. I have seen both schools and FHS has recently been renovated and downtown is under major reno as well. I would recommend spending some time looking because we spent about 6 months looking and found an outstanding deal in a great neighborhood. under 200 or so. Just keep your eyes open, also i have heard that Mack Hatcher will expand and go through the Rebel Circle area. I would watch that area, noticed a lot of homes for sale because of the possible scare of them bringing that through their yards and having to take some homes down.