College Prep School Franklin Area? (Brentwood: homes, neighborhoods, private schools)

[MayMove]

We are considering a move to Franklin. Can someone recommend an excellent College Prep HS? Along with thoughts on the school you are suggesting. Private vrs. Public. Waiting lists? We would need a slot by fall 10.

Public is still an option. If we so decided, it looks like it will be Franklin High. I see many homes of interest in Franklin, but many more outside of the Franklin High area. If we went private, perhaps we could have a larger selection of homes.


Thank you.

[gbone]

Originally Posted by MayMove

We are considering a move to Franklin. Can someone recommend an excellent College Prep HS? Along with thoughts on the school you are suggesting. Private vrs. Public. Waiting lists? We would need a slot by fall 10.

Public is still an option. If we so decided, it looks like it will be Franklin High. I see many homes of interest in Franklin, but many more outside of the Franklin High area. If we went private, perhaps we could have a larger selection of homes.


Thank you.

For a private high school, your best bet is probably Battle Ground Academy in Franklin. You can also check out Private School Review - Profiles of USA Private Schools and then connect to the links to Tennessee and Williamson County.
Hope this helps.

[brentwoodgirl]

Why Franklin High School vs. Brentwood? Our kids are in a Brentwood elementary, and our plan is to send them to Brentwood Middle & Brentwood High. I saw a stat last year that 96% of kids in Brentwood attend publc school. I think that says a lot about the schools considering that most people here could afford any private school they wanted. I also like that the community is involved in the schools & supports them.
For Franklin private schools, I agree about BGA. Franklin also has Franklin Classical School, which is supposed to be a great academic school, but you wouldn't get the "typical" high school experience there.

One other note, have you visited yet? Westhaven is amazing, but it is really far out. I would look around & see which location is a best fit for you. If you or your husband is commuting into Nashville, I would definitely drive from the neighborhoods you are considering to work at rush hour before deciding,
If my husband worked in Brentwood or Franklin, we would have considered Franklin neighborhoods. But he works in Nashville, so we stayed in Brentwood to avoid a long commute. So I would definitely consider your commute.
If ya'll are working in Brentwood or Franklin, then Westhaven would not be a bad commute. We know several families who live there and they all love it. (Although 2 of them send their kids to private school in Nashville, which makes me question the zoned schools. I wouldn't want to drive my kids 40 minutes to school each day.)

[MayMove]

Thank you again GBone!

Couple of reasons we would not move to Brentwood. We will be boarding our horse in Franklin. Daily visits. Would like to be within a few miles of the stable.

There are HS rezoning issues in Brentwood. Read somewhere no guarantees on Brentwood HS zoning. "Even if you live across the street"! Don't want to take a chance. We don't have time on our side to deal with this. We will be moving with an incoming freshman.

Franklin appears to be a sound HS with IB and AP courses. I don't think Brentwood offers IB?

[brentwoodgirl]

Brentwood doesn't offer IB. Brentwood High School zoning is pretty stable, it's Ravenwood that has had some zoning issues. Plus most neighborhoods around Brentwood HS are built out, so there shouldn't be much change in the zoning in the future.
Williamson County doesn't guarantee zoning at any of the schools, it's a disclaimer on the front page of their websote. Brentwood High is probably your best bet for a stable zoning area. The zoned area for BHS is pretty much completely built out. There are large undeveloped & being developed areas within the Franklin High district.
Brentwood HS is smaller than Franklin HS by more than 300 hundred students. They have better test scores on both ACT & Gateway. Both schools are good, but based on test scores & comments from parents we know from both schools, BHS is a better school IMO.
There is a small stable across from Edmondson Elementary in Brentwood. I don't know if that would work for you, but we have friends who board a horse there so they can go by every day.
But if you went private, you wouldn't have to worry about the zoning issues.

[septimus]

Just my 0.02 but the college placement of the private schools in Williamson isn't any better than the public high schools so I'm not sure what you are paying for. There are so truly northeast quality private schools in Nashville proper (University School, Harpeth Hall, Montgomery Bell and Ensworth).

[ExIslander]

Originally Posted by septimus

Just my 0.02 but the college placement of the private schools in Williamson isn't any better than the public high schools so I'm not sure what you are paying for. There are so truly northeast quality private schools in Nashville proper (University School, Harpeth Hall, Montgomery Bell and Ensworth).

I'd heard the same thing from a friend who worked some local college fairs. If you want the Ivy League to nod in recognition and approval, those are the schools. Otherwise, you're not giving away anything by sending them to Brentwood, Ravenswood or Franklin versus a private school.

[BirdieBelle]

It's true. Franklin High is a perfectly fine school for college prep. They always have some National Merit Scholars, and most of the graduates go to college. It is the total package for a high school experience, with great community support.
If you go to the schools in Nashville mentioned above, you will get the prestige but also the lifestyle that comes with attending school with kids of the elite names of Nashville. If that's for you, it's an option. Franklin is a choice you can feel good about, though. With a new superintendent, I would not relax about ANY school zoning for the next couple of years. He wants to review the whole system, and he will consider every option.

[jenntenn]

I am personally a fan of Battle Ground Academy myself...i am an alum!
I might get slammed for this but here it goes... If you child has plans on attending college, wants to learn, is acidemically focused, wants to be involved in activities and has no interest in the vo-tech stuff..then i would opt for BGA over FHS. I hate to say this but i really would not want my child to have the option of taking a "child care" class...not really sure how that prepares you for college and all it does is give the pregnent girls who attend the high school a place to drop their kids off after they give birth. It is things of that nature that bother me about some public schools. BGA is all academics, i mean i graudated in the 90's but i will say that back then we did not have much of a choice on what we took...they have a few more options now...but none of the easy A class crap. Then again, i know a school is what you make it and there are academic tracks at the public schools around here, i just think its easier to get side tracked.

Anyway, that is my 2 cents...my vote is BGA.

[akm4]

I don't think you'll get slammed. You have first-hand experience, and that's always helpful. I do think it's ironic, however, that you extol the virtues of your academic background, yet your post and headline contain misspellings. What can I say- I'm a word geek. I find that stuff interesting