Davidson County elementary schools (Mount Juliet: buying a house, neighborhood, buying)

[dawgchic]

Hi there,

My husband has taken a job at Vandy and we're moving to Nashville in June. I'm really excited and I've been reading these boards quite a bit.

We are moving with our one-year-old son. It is important to us to find a good public elementary school in Davidson County (I understand it becomes more difficult once you reach middle school -- we're prepared to go private then if need be). From reading these boards, Eakin, Julia Green and Percy Priest come up over and over. These are the same schools that people mentioned to my husband during his Vandy interview.

If you look at greatschools.com, a number of other Davidson schools rank higher than these three (Lockland Elementary Design Center, Harpeth Valley Granbery) and several others rate about the same (Glendale, Crieve Hall, Brookmeade, Sylvan Park Paideia). I realize greatschools.com is hardly a perfect rating system, but it does consider test scores and the results surprised me. I looked achievement ratings on the Tennessee Board of Education web site for a few of these (Lockland, Harpeth Valley -- didn't have time to look at all of them) and they seem pretty comparable to Eakin & Julia Green.

Can anyone give me some insight on these other well-ranking schools? Is it that the rating system is flawed, or is it that people's perceptions are outdated? Is it a socioeconomic thing?

Thanks.

[septimus]

Glendale is good too. I have several friends seriously considering it over private school. Their one concern though is middle school and unfortunately the private schools kind of have you by the nuts on this... Most of the private schools only admit in kindergarten and then as space comes available in the upper grades. Middle school starts in this area at 5th or 6th grade but a lot of the private middle schools don't have another open enrollment period until 7th grade. If you have a daugher you at least have Harpeth Hall that starts in fifth grade, but for some reason which I can't figure out, MBA doesn't start until 7th grade. USN and Ensworth add additional students at 7th grade, etc...

[BirdieBelle]

For the most part, it is a socioeconomic thing. Harpeth Valley is in Bellevue and Granbery is in southern Nashville, very near the Williamson County line. These areas are cheaper than Williamson county but still more upper middle class. Both are pretty crowded. Bellevue is a neat place to live, but it doesn't have a high school. Harpeth Valley kids are zoned for Hillwood, which is in West Meade. In a meeting last night, in fact, a school board rep told the crowd there is no money for a Bellevue high school, which is a shame because it would be a great thing. The other schools mentioned have converted to specialty curricula.

[BirdieBelle]

Also, Brookmeade closed last year, and MNPS put Wharton Elementary there, even though the sign still says Brookmeade.

Please check MNPS.org for the most current school lists.

[Hollyshomes]

Harpeth Valley in Bellevue is a great school and Bellevue Middle has made some major improvements in the last 5 years. Strong parental involvement at both these schools. However, most parents enter the lottery in hopes of getting their child into one of the magnet middle schools.

[EvelynTN]

All the schools you mentioned are decent. I think Julia Green, Percy Priest, and Eakin are the 'safe' answers for good public elementary schools in Davidson county that everyone is familiar with.

My sense is Eakin was the 'hot' school 10 years ago, and then it had a run with an average principal (who is now somewhere else). I think Sylvan Park and Glendale are the up and coming 'hot' schools, with folks scrambling to get in by lottery (the way they did for Eakin 10 years ago). Julia Green, and to a lesser degree, Percy Priest are in pretty expensive areas, so they will always have the parental support to keep them well regarded. East Nashville finally has a critical mass of middle class renovators with school aged kids, so parental involvement is high at Lockeland. Harpeth Valley's catches the Bellevue subdivisions; I imagine it would be similar to the elementary schools in, say, Mount Juliet (Wilson County). Sort of a suburban school that happens to be in Davidson county. I'm not that familiar with Crieve Hall or Granberry, though I'm sure you will find happy parents there, too.

Some of the schools have special designations - like Sylvan Park is a padeia school. when I hear praises of Sylvan Park, it is usually around their great principal, meeting kids for where they are, and parental involvement. Not for the padeia teaching method. And the design in Lockeland design center is fuzzy even to E. Nashville residents. Not saying these schools aren't special - they are- but perhaps not for their designations.

Lastly, the private school system is very strong in Davidson county. I wouldn't draw conclusions about a neighborhood school based on if the zoned kids attend public or private schools. The religious/parochial school system is pretty strong, so many parents make their choices on the type of instruction. Then there are the socioecomic reasons; the $20K schools likely draw from the Julia Green district heavily, and that has nothing to do with the quality of public schools.

Anyhow, welcome to Nashville....

[dawgchic]

This is great information ... thank you!

[brentwoodgirl]

Granbery is excellent and it is no longer over crowded. When they opened Shayne they took about half the kids from Granbery. We have lots of friends who go to Granbery and several who teach there, and they all love it. Last year they had Kindergarten classes with as few as 17 children in them, and there were empty classrooms in the building.

Crieve Hall is a great small neighborhood school and has pros & cons that come with that. It has limited facilities, no gym for example. And gifted children get bussed to another school for gifted programming. But it's a small school with tons of parent involvement. We have friends who attend & teach there also, and we hear great things from them. There are a bunch of portables outside of it right now, so if I were you, I would call & see what's going on before buying a house in that area. Overall Crieve Hall is a great community & school.

Percy Priest has a lot of PTA money, and the PTA funds programs that other Nashville schools don't have. Like a science lab teacher and I think they have Spanish also.

Glendale is a Spanish immersion school. It's excellent. We tried to lottery into Glendale when we lived in Davidson Co. When we didn't get in, we ended up paying for private school & then eventually moving to Williamson County.

Harpeth Valley always ranks high on Davidson County test scores. I think it doesn't get mentioned as often here because people are usually asking about good schools in the city, and Bellevue is considered more of a suburb.

I think you have lots of great options for Davidson County elementary schools.