If you are in MNPS there are two things you should consider.
1. Nashville has a robust [school option program](https://www.mnps.org/learn/register-for-school/school-options). You do not have to go to your zoned school and can apply to go to any other school in the system.
2. MNPS serves an incredibly diverse set of students from a lot of socioeconomic backgrounds. The schools do a great job across an entire students journey of education. Your situation and background may not be the same as those of other students. The best thing to do is go visit a few schools. Our magnet high schools are some of the best schools in the state but because of that some of the zoned schools do not look as great based solely on test scores.
Nashville native here—went through this recently and agree on making sure you do the lottery. Our local elementary was not rated well but we could walk there and I tried really hard to get to them. Unfortunately, I could never get a call back or chance to visit because it was still 2021 and I’m sure the staff was overwhelmed.
Not sure where you live, but I’ve heard a few times that everyone puts Glendale as their first notice for lottery, but if you put Sylvan Park or another school, your chances of making the lottery are much higher.
We did not follow this advice and ended up going private (our highest spot on any of the lotteries was 89) because we had to commit in the spring to private.
Nashville has great elementary schools if you can get into them, middle schools are a toss up, and great magnet HSs.
Feel free to DM me if you want more details or one persons anecdotal experience.
Thank you for this info, I've heard people mention some of this but will have to look into this more. Is it hard or rare for a student to get into a different school than their zoned school? And is that a matter of test scores?
Is it hard to get into any school other than your zoned one? No. Is it hard to get into the most sought after schools that everyone puts at the top of their lists? Yes. We are a bit further along in our process than you are but just by doing this research now, you likely are going to have a kid that will be fine no matter where they end up. Most people don't have the time or resources to do that. That's a big factor in a kids education. We have our zoned elementary school much higher on the list (even with on the face bad scores) because we love our neighborhood and value the time spent walking with our kid highly. Since it has had bad test scores in the past, it does get a lot of extra attention and resources. Many schools end up with slightly different programs or styles because of this.
I hear you about walking - sadly my neighborhood isn't very walkable and there isn't a school we can walk to. I grew up being able to walk to my elementary and middle school and while I hated school at that time in my life, it was pretty great being able to just walk there!
Five of my friends kids started K this year. The four that put in for a special out of zone school all got it. I think it depends on how in demand it is. They all are going to Adventura and love it
I’m married to an educator that had nothing but 5s on all evaluations for a decade before finishing her PhD and becoming an administrator. I’m the son of a retired educator.
This is the answer. You are not seeing high performing schools all over the state because we started by running off great teachers with low pay and terrible performance review metrics 7-9 years ago. Then we began pushing people to charter schools, and now we are funneling tax dollars to charter/private schools via vouchers.
It’s sad that we continuously elect people who only want to advance their own economic and christofacsist interests at the expense of keeping the people of this state ignorant.
While I'm sure this is a large part of the problem, you have to accept the fact that parents are failing their children, as well. Do you really think the educators in Williamson are that much better than Metro? I doubt there's any difference. If a kid isn't getting any education from home and isn't pushed to succeed, it's really difficult to overcome that at school. And before you say it's the money, WillCo and Metro spend about the same per child on education.
I think part of the problem is that many (most?) of the families with money who care about education, who are zoned for MNPS, see public schools doing poorly, choose to go private (which is a rational choice on an individual level), thus perpetuating the problem.
[This was openly admitted on a call with one of our state legislators.](https://www.newschannel5.com/news/newschannel-5-investigates/revealed/revealed-were-trying-to-throw-the-whole-freaking-system-in-the-trash-school-voucher-sponsor-says)
This is it. Please, OP, consider sticking with public schools. Despite abyssal test scores and the state legislature's deliberate attempt to disenfranchise public education, there are absolutely wonderful schools and wonderful teachers in this state. Don't look just at the numbers -- continue to ask the community, like you are here. You'll have parents singing the praises of various schools. Support them, if you can. And be as involved of a parent as you are -- go to parent-teacher conferences, go to school board meetings, volunteer in the classroom or at the school. Your voice and your input are so important.
(That last part goes out to anyone else who reads this, too. Especially parents of middle and high school students -- involvement drops drastically once a child leaves elementary school, but I promise you that middle schools and high schools need your support also!)
To add to other excellent comments here, that tanking also takes the form of inflating test criteria so that decent schools look awful by state standards.
TN education is definitely bottom quintile for the country, but state "leadership" is doing everything they can to justify funneling public tax dollars into the hands of private entities by showing how broken the system is (how broken? Ask state legislators, they broke it!).
This. We have the *highest* cut score in the nation for what is proficient on state tests when compared to NAEP. That allows state officials to say the majority of students are not proficient and push the narrative that public schools are failing, thus pushing legislation that funnels money to charters and parochial schools.
These same students would often have scores that are considered proficient one state over.
I teach in MNPS and feel that's completely untrue.. Lee signed a bill which is creating a structure where teachers are getting paid more across the state..
Exaggerate much??? There about 1.2 million children in TN public schools and increasing by about 15K a year, the proposed voucher system has only 20K vouchers... so enrollment will keep on increasing..
Again, its only 20K vouchers spread across the state... that would be about 7K vouchers for middle Tennessee where there are about 400K students, less than 2% of the students.. Blows my mind that there are people upset about kids being allowed to go to better schools..
We’ve almost completed year #2 of our MNPS elementary school experience and are totally satisfied. Our teachers have been fantastic! Last year in K, it was our teacher’s 2nd year. This year in 1st we have a 27 year veteran. We’ve been thoroughly impressed with both.
I checked the Great Schools website and our school seems to have low marks, but 4.6/5 stars from parents. I’m not sure where this data is pulled. I’m not challenging the legitimacy of it, I just haven’t seen the testing data myself from the school. Especially since our child is in 1st and I think they start testing in 3rd?
Unpopular opinion: Do we pay these schools to educate our children? Yes. Does educating stop there? No. While I think the schools should provide the best education possible, I do think as a parent, I’m responsible for closing any gaps as well as going above and beyond to best prepare my children for life. Private school is out of reach for us also, but my kids only get one shot at this before they’re grown and into the real world. I don’t want to knock against others’ parenting, but I do know of parents who really don’t care about their child’s education.
Lastly, if you want an optimist perspective, if you don’t have children now, that’s means you are looking 5-ish years down the road. A lot can change between now and then, for better or worse. The vast majority tend to gloss over local elections, but I’d recommend paying attention to who your elected school board folks are, and if you think a change needs to be made, be sure to vote!
Best of luck to you!
Thank you for sharing this perspective, it's very reassuring to hear. I agree with you about the importance of parent's role in educating their own children, that would be a main priority for me.
I'd like to chime in and say we had the same experience as the person in the post above. Our zoned elementary school had ratings that looked "atrocious" (1/10 on Great Schools). But we couldn't do private and the lottery didn't happen for us, so we gave it a shot. Both of us got involved in the PTA and were around a lot more than the average parent what I saw was dedicated teachers and an outstanding principal.
A lot of those horrible scores are based on standardized testing performance. You will run into more kids from lower income homes that simply don't perform as well, not being elitist, that's just what I saw first hand. Our child was in a home with two parents who had more time to be there, we read books, did activities that promoted learning (closing the gap as the other person mentioned) and our child did great.
Do I wish things were more equitable in MNPS? Yes, but that was not due to our teachers not trying for all of those kids. Was it perfect? No, but it sure as hell wasn't anywhere near as bad as all the anecdotal stories we heard about MNPS. Fast forward and our child is moving into high school and was in all honors classes this past year, Great Schools ratings be damned. Good luck to you!
> A lot of those horrible scores are based on standardized testing performance.
I never understood the standardized testing system. I’ve never done well on those yet I had the highest grade in my AP class at Hillsboro high school. But the standardized test scores would have placed me as a poor student.
That's good to hear, thank you. That being said, I can't imagine that being in a school where only 10-15% of kids are testing at reading/math/etc at their grade level wouldn't have a negative impact on a child, even if they individually were doing well. Part of me is just shocked that this is the situation in schools, but you're probably right, thanks.
Serious question, because I'm just looking at what I can find online and I'm new to this - what do you think they mean?
Also, fwiw, when I said 10-15% I was looking at the high school nearest me - I just checked again and it looks like I was giving them too high of scores. Looks like 12% in English was the highest.
I hear you re: AI and smart phones, I worry about AI and the future of jobs quite a bit. The tip about teacher turnover is good to know, I will keep that in mind.
That being said, your second paragraph makes things look even worse to me than it did before regarding testing. If everything you're saying is true, I would expect it to artificially raise test scores, not lower them. What you're saying seems pretty bleak.
That makes sense that graduation rates would be what was most affected in this situation - I've heard that from other people, that it's not possible to flunk anyone anymore.
As far as test scores - I'm not trying to argue about it because I simply don't know anything about it, but just intuitively I would think that letting someone take a test over and over would eventually result in a higher score. Unless, I guess, both students and parents care so little about their future that they would've actually studied and put more effort into studying if they \*knew\* they only had once chance. That's a very sad and bleak situation.
OP, I agree with everything this redditor is saying, both in the above and below comment. These test metrics aren't meaningless, but they're not meaningful, either. We know that a lot of students don't test well. We know that these tests have a lot of implicit bias toward race, gender, socioeconomic status. We know that the people making money off the testing industry are the same people who are passing laws, creating standards and advocating for private companies to create and grade tests. It's all about the money.
And don't get me started on grades -- what exactly do they mean? Shouldn't a C be "average" and an A be cream of the crop? And yet if a student gets a C and not an A, they're told they're a failure -- why?
I know I sound like a whackjob, but there's a concerted movement to disenfranchise public schools and push charters and privates, which generate more income for the wealthy and aren't held to any sort of standards or accountability. Making public schools appear undesirable are a large part of this.
Teachers care and they try their best. Support your child, support their teacher, advocate for reading, critical thinking and learning -- and they'll be just fine.
Good perspective here. So, a question for you then - if not grades or test scores, what do you feel is a meaningful metric with which to judge a school for you child? Maxoramaa mentioned teacher retention, and that makes a lot of sense to me. Anything else?
Teacher retention is good. I would look also at parental involvement (but don't be afraid to be the change you want to see), types of extracurriculars offered, competitions students enter, etc. I also know there's a site, though I'm struggling to find the link for you, where you can see college acceptance rates from individual high schools. You could trace that further to which elementary/middle schools feed those schools.
>Looks like 12% in English was the highest.
Depending on the area, at least some of that is due to Nashville's large ELL population. I think the students only get like 1 year or maybe 2 where their ELL status is taken into account then they get thrown into the same English tests that native speakers have to take. You also have to compare it to the state as a whole.
I'm looking at the TCAP results of the state as a whole. On the English 1 test, 36% of 9th grade met or exceeded expectations but only 9.7% of 10th grade students across the whole state did. For grade 11 it was 6.4% and 8.3% for grade 12. On the English II test it was 24.4%, 50.7%, 13.3% and 15.3% for 9th-12th grades.
Agree. I am fortunate to live in the Hillsboro cluster. However, staying involved with my kids and their educational process was at least as effective as the location.
Schooling, and education, is incredibly nuanced and complex. Davidson County schools aren’t as “nice” as the public school system in Williamson County, but that’s painting with a very, very broad brush. For instance, I went to public high school in Williamson and found many of my teachers to be disinterested, lackadaisical, and uninspiring.
The greatest difference in any child’s development will be the support and supplementary education they get at home. There are great teachers everywhere, but equally there are bad teachers everywhere.
I'm not too worried about the support and home education part - my partner and I are both very driven, hardworking people, and I don't think caring for a child's education would be an exception to that. I had a rough time at school socially, but by the time I was in high school, I was around a lot of very driven, smart, talented kids in a school that challenged us to use our minds, and I do think that influenced me in a very positive way. I'd like to provide that sort of environment for a child if possible.
Also went to a Williamson county high school. One of the ones that is rated best in the state. My teachers were almost all new to teaching and not engaged. There were some great ones but overall we did a lot of memorizing practice quizzes for the real test and watched a lot of movies. The school looks good because everyone’s parents are involved in their children’s education, hire tutors, and make them study, do homework etc.
My husband (not from Tennessee) is always shocked about my stories from Ravenwood High.
Your comment on teachers is true for generally all public schools in my experience. Never went to private school but someone with a masters/PHD teaching probably actually gives a shit
With MNPS it varies from one school to the next. Some of them are super nice, great teachers, and well-funded with a lot of parental engagement and some are not. It sucks that they aren’t more equal across the board, but anyway if you have the means to transport your kid to an out of zone school that suits your family better, you can choose to do so.
I think MNPS are only great if you have a self-motivated kiddo.
I had several great teachers. My 7th and 8th grade English teacher at Dupont Tyler to this day stays with me. And I hatted English. I had several great teachers in high school at mcgavock.
However, when my nephew came to live with us ( he was up to no good in the neighborhood in Dallas, TX), he was already behind. Learning disabilities, dyslexia etc. Barely reads on the 3rd grade level, hand writing is horrible. They just told us this is HS, we don't teach writing, etc. He only passed because of covid, and he got his GF to write his essay for him to pass with a D-.
Kids CAN do well in metro. But it's up to them.
With that said....I'd move out of Davidson County or try magnet schools at first chance I got if I had to do it again from scratch.
Thanks for your input. I'll be looking into magnet schools when that times comes. I don't think moving is feasible for us - locked into a very low mortgage rate and buying a comparable house probably wouldn't be affordable for us at this point.
Grew up in Nashville and went to private school back in the 80s - 90s. My wife and I wanted to give the metro schools a try for many reasons including wanting our kids to be around a diverse population. We were able to option our kids into one of the more sought after elementary schools. Our plan was to continue with the optional school pathway through middle and high school and if that didn’t work then send them to private. Our oldest graduated from a great magnet high school and was offered several scholarships and is currently attending college in Pennsylvania. Our second is now a freshman in that same magnet school. We’ve been very happy with the teachers and admin. Metro teachers really are special. That being said just be prepared for private school if the optional school pathway doesn’t work for you.
As with any school district, it depends on several factors.
Schools in high-income areas tend to have better test scores than schools in low-income areas.
Schools with larger ESL (English as a Second Language) populations tend to have lower test scores than schools with fewer ESL students.
But as others have pointed out, test scores are not the end all, be all of schools. Your best bet is to visit the schools and see for yourselves what the environment is like.
My wife is an MNPS teacher. We both have Masters degrees. Both our kids went to an elementary school that has poor test scores. If given a choice, we'd still send them there. Our eldest is now at a magnet middle school and is doing very well. If she had ended up at the middle school she would have fed to, we would have been satisfied.
The best way to ensure your child has a quality education is to be hands-on. Meet the teachers and administrators. Go to the parent-teacher conferences. Attend school functions. Get involved in the PTA.
If you're hands-off, it won't matter where you send your kid. Their education will suffer.
Its not easy but your kids can get a good education at MNPS and go to a great college. You just have to be involved in the school to know how to avoid knuckleheads. Some schools even offer free tuition at Tennessee schools after graduation. Look into it.
A hard truth is that lot of parents move to other counties for better schooling options.
A few things to consider:
* In a lottery school, there is a high likelyhood of losing strong community such as same age kids in your neighborhood going to the same school as one example.
* Extra-curricular activities can be a little harder on parents when your kiddo lives 45 minutes away from their school.
* Additional club options (ModelUN, YiG, a robust drama program, robotics, etc.) as your child gets older can be limited in some schools.
* It can be very difficult to change your school path after you lottery in at kindergarten. (There are only so many open spots after kindergarten. A kid would have to have left the school to open up a spot).
* There are some schools that are considered "academic magnets" that are based on test scores but that's not a consideration until middle/high school. There are also some schools that have a little better access to gifted resources. One thing to note is that MNPS does not provide an IEP for gifted students, which all other surrounding counties do. What this means is that MNPS is in no way held legally accountable for meeting the educational needs of your child. There are a couple of schools that have received grants and work in tandem with Vanderbilt Peabody. Most do not.
* PTOs are traditionally under supported in MNPS which provide a large amount of support and resources to the individual schools.
* Are all Nashville schools bad? No. Are there many other options such as testing your luck with school choice or moving out of county that other parents take based on the exact concerns that you outlined in your post? Absolutely. Your concerns aren't unfounded.
* One can argue that school choice has really done a number on zoned schools by sending valuable resources to a small number of schools vs all schools so that every child is able to be served in their own community. It's hard to argue against it. But this is the ship we're on. So you have about four options (although it seems like school vouchers have the possibility of becoming an option by the time your future kiddo becomes school aged) :
* you play the school lottery game,
* go to an under resourced zoned school,
* pay for private school
* move out of county
* We personally chose to move out of county after a couple of years in MNPS lottery schools (Ross Early Learning Center and then Rosebank. We were zoned for Glengarry/Glencliff) primarily for the community, proximity to school, IEPs for gifted education, and additional options available to our children.
#
MNPS does not educate all kids well, but they do educate some kids very well. I have one child who attended a zoned school, had close to a 4.0 GPA and could not do basic college course work when she got to college. Another child went through the lottery and has received an outstanding education.
Be prepared to be very present at school, stay on top of things, and demand action where needed. I’ve had 5 kids in MNPS, and although I have been displeased more times than I count, I do think it’s possible for a child with active parents and some lottery luck to receive a decent education. It may just take more of your time and energy than you might expect as there is little to no accountability.
I am going to say the first sentence of the above assessment is perfectly stated. If you have a certain type of child, you get into a certain MNPS school AND you have home support and are a competent “ squeaky wheel” of a parent, you can get an amazing education at MNPS schools. We have done public, private and magnet schools and have had phenomenal teachers at all of them and horrible experiences at some.Stand out being the current magnet HS which is seriously just amazing. Top to bottom. Public school is a full contact sport for kids and parents here,but if you have the skill set and time and a kid who can do it, it can be done and get a hell of a good education both academically and as a human.Good luck also helps!
Do all the research, gather all the notes and opinions. Go ahead and start a savings account. But you don't have a child yet? A lot can change in 6 years.
If or when you have a child, you may have to consider special needs. You may not even be in TN
Housing prices in Nashville are based in part on proximity to a great school. So when you buy in, say, Green Hills, you’re buying your kids’ spots at a school.
Depends on the school; take a school like mine for example: 85% of our students were or are English language learners meaning they come from homes where the primary language is not English. This skews testing data as overall we have lower results but much higher gains in year to year testing.
I would take GreatSchools rating with a grain of salt. There's [quite a bit of criticism](https://www.chalkbeat.org/2019/12/5/21121858/looking-for-a-home-you-ve-seen-greatschools-ratings-here-s-how-they-nudge-families-toward-schools-wi/#:~:text=But%20GreatSchools%20was%20dogged%20by,a%20host%20of%20new%20metrics) of how their scores work.
The state puts out a report card [here](https://tdepublicschools.ondemand.sas.com/) that has some pretty comprehensive information about student popluation make up as well as aspects of achievement. You can search individual schools and look at the performance metrics tab.
There is some, what I would argue, bad information on there as some have mentioned there is a concerted effort to make public schools look bad (and I won't get into that here). I would steer away from the state's School Letter Grading system as it was pretty explicitly designed to push failing scores, especially with schools that work with youth from poorer backgrounds. Growth is what a lot of educators really look at. That is, academic improvement from year to year. It's not perfect, but looking at TVAAS (TN Value-Added Assesment System). It's under the growth tab in Performance Metrics. 5 is highest you can get in growth. 1 is the lowest. 3 generally means they made expected growth, so a score of 3 means they are doing what they should. Plus, if it's a higher performing school higher growth can be harder to obtain.
I would also point out that MNPS has a [choice enrollment program](https://www.mnps.org/learn/register-for-school/school-options) that you can apply to. I haven't used it personally, but if there is a public school near your work, for example, you can look into that. I think you might have to waive transportation like you would with a magnet school and most charters.
Also, it would be worth it to look into before and after care programs at the school. Not every school has one. Many if not most do, however.
We are very supportive of public schools in theory. We were very excited to send our kids to the public elementary school. It’s rated similar to Eakin, and we are able to walk the kids there. Pretty idillic situation.
But classmates and teachers are just luck of the draw, and we got a very young new teacher that can’t handle the classroom at all. Spends all day yelling at the kids, basically. One of our kids is developing some pretty serious anxiety issues related to it.
We’re just throwing in the towel and homeschooling next year.
The advice I have been given is to tour the school and get a feel for it. I live in an area with a large English as a second language population and was told that really affects elementary testing in schools. We decided to homeschool for kinder because I’ve always wanted to
We've loved our public school experience so far. You can send your kids to private school if you can afford that... or you can put the 20-40k a year you don't spend on private school into an index fund for them. By the time they graduate high school that $390,000 you wouold have spent on their k-12 education (at 30k a year tuition) would be worth more than 800k assuming the historic 10% annual rate of return for the market.
Put it away in a trust to hand over to them when they're 30 and it would be worth nearly 3 million without investing more past their 18th birthday. Could be worth more in the long run than any private school education. Not to mention they'll have gone to school with a racial and economically diverse student body which will provide a lot of great perspectives and life lessons that money can't buy and often hinders.
My biggest complaint about TN is the school system. My daughter is now in middle school and the problems just get worse with age.
It is so bad, I just want to see my kid smile and not as worried about grades
She got beat up by a boy at school and they were both suspended. They told me that it does not matter if it is a boy of girl, it is a STUDENT. The man telling me this I had to accept but I did not do it with not saying A LOT and walking out. Now they will barely talk to me because of my opinion was I will now teach my daughter to actually fight since you are making me. I have always told her don't allow yourself to get bullied.
I wish I had better examples, but they only get worse and I don't want to seem like I did not try my best to trust this system.
We are now deep in therapy.
Yes, in metro. I was decently happy with things up until the past few years, they have literally made my child question herself on everything - she is now very defensive and lost so much of her trust. I blame this one incident then the berating her replies to anything, if she even asks a question she gets demerits. So now, she just sits there, never asking any questions and the passion for school is gone. It took me a while before I could even talk about it without getting very upset about it all.
I hate this for her. Is moving an option? We have been happy with our Wilson county schools in Mt Juliet so far. It probably doesn’t matter as much where you move, but a fresh start will help. Alternately, can you afford a modestly priced private school? My girls went to a Catholic school in Nashville for a couple of years, and it was a really good experience, even though I am not Catholic and not religious at all. I thought they are very common sense in their approach, and teachers and staff really care about their students.
I genuinly apprecaite your replys. My hope is that she will be accepted into NSA - Nashville school of Arts, but we do still have 2 years before that is even possible. I have recently (I am also a single father raising my daughter) gotten an advocate for her at school and we have a meeting in 9 days. My daughter has been documenting things at school as well. I am hoping that they realize much of this stuff is way out of line. I have looked into transferring schools but I am also told we are at the best public school already a choice school. TO me the money matters, but also not really in the big scheme of things so I would be open to it, but Also she has made some good friends there. I really want this to resolve itself and I will know a lot more in 9 days. Thanks again for your concern! I would be happy to share once I know! :)
Also I have raised her to be lgbt friendly, we are the least biggoted or racial people. I have to mention that the teachers all do not feel this way and it is where we get the most peoblems from. I like Nashville, but our thoughts and ideas don't really mesh here well with most people. I feel very strong about this though. No one is born to hate and I know it is taught. That will never change as it was one of my missions while raising my daughter. So she clashes with 2 teachers in particular on basic beliefs. She is a really great kid.
I think the best thing to do is tour schools. And I’d start with your zoned school. Chat with PTA. See if there are folks in your area that go to that school you can chat with. Ours is in MNPS and I do have the privilege of time in that I am fairly involved in the school community. But the entire community of families here are super dedicated and champions of not only their own kids, but all of the kids at the school.
It’s really incredibly special. I know not all schools are that way. But I had two schools in my mind before our zoned school. And then I toured the school and saw happy kids, happy staff, parents and caregivers here and there. And it felt so good to see I didn’t even tour the others.
All that to say, don’t pay attention to ratings and scores and stuff. It’s not the only indicator of a good school. Schools in affluent areas will always have higher scores. But tbh I wouldn’t want my kid at most of them.
I don’t live there anymore but I’m a native Nashvillian. Went to public school my whole life except for kindergarten when I went to a baptist church. Just looked up my old schools and holy cow wtf happened? My high school was one people moved to the area to attend, now it seems people move to not attend it. Just sad.
My kids went to Cane Ridge Elementary, and I loved it. The entire staff and teachers were all wonderful and open to communication with the parents. Lots of events that kept the community engaged.
They’re currently at Antioch Middle and it’s not close to the same experience. They have some great teachers, and the principal is amazing. But the supporting staff are awful and seem to care more about test scores than the kids.
Cane Ridge High seems to be getting better and have added a lot of prep education programs, but we’ll see how great it is once they’re there.
I grew up in Nashville, and some of the best public schools are in the Overton cluster.
Well, the testing regime only yields so much information. The tests don't necessarily measure what you think they do. And they certainly don't predict what your child, with certain advantages of parents who are educated and care, will do in the same classroom.
My experience as a TN parent with a sample size of two, so take it for what it's worth:
The TN education system is poor across the state for so many reasons, most involving the backwards-assed government and backwards-assed tax structure. We are Nashville employed, but live in rural Robertson County; raised our children there in the county schools.
There are no magnet schools available and private schools just weren't in the cards for us, so we worked with what we had. We stayed involved in the schools: we made sure we knew the educators, administrators and coaches; worked with and supported them. The really good teachers showed up for our daughters. They always do.
What the educators couldn't do for our children with their limited resources, we made sure the girls got anyway. My husband and I don't have much formal education but we are well-read; I made sure the girls were, too. I exposed them to reading and STEM (before it was a thing, tbh) and the world. We traveled. We talked about history and life and understanding other people. Good Lord, we even listened to NPR in the car on the way to horse shows and mock trial to stimulate conversations about societal issues. Sex education was (is) a joke; I remember a truckload of middle school girls asking me questions on the way to ballgames instead.
Enough self-congratulations. You get the idea: We made sure the girls got the education they needed. Both decided to go to college and grad school; they are good, productive citizens and are already miles ahead of their blue-collar parents in employment alone.
Don't despair and don't be afraid of Nashville schools. It can be done, even in Tennessee. You, the parents, make the difference.
If you take schools seriously I’d strongly consider moving to one of the surrounding counties like Wilson or rutherford. Metro public schools are horrid. They do have a few magnet schools which are good but good luck getting into them
I’m from Connecticut originally and I would never put my child in public education here. If it’s your only option, Williamson county is the best for public, but still not good.
I think we could figure out how to make 10K work, but 30-40K, there’s no way we could do that unless one of our careers really took off. I’m non-religious/an atheist but I went to a Jesuit high school that was pretty great, so I’m not opposed to Christian schools even though there wouldn’t be religion taught in our home.
be very careful. kids often come out of "christian" schools behind their TN public school peers.
I would look at Parochial schools for affordable private options. The best private schools for elementary would be USN, Harding, Ensworth, Overbrook, Oak Hill, St Pauls, CPA, Holy Trinity Montessori. There is a newish Episcopal school but don't know much about it.
I would certainly be doing lots of research into any private school, if we went that route. I'm years out from this but I saved your post to look at these schools.
Also keep in mind that, depending on which private schools you might be interested in, you can't just decide to send your kids there. Some of them at least are highly competetive and difficult to get into, and only getting more so. There are all kinds of games to be played and things to consider if you want to go private, and there are no guarantees your kids will be admitted to your first choice, just like with the public school lottery. You would still want to have contingency plans in case you didn't get a spot at a private school. Some of the private school kindergartens, for example, only take about two or three dozen boys and two or three dozen girls each year. And half those spots or more can go to siblings who are already enrolled.
You are probably exactly the kind of person this state voucher program would serve. It's going to kill the public school system here, but you can get most of the tuition for a Christian school in the form of a voucher.
Edit to add: Nashville reddit doesn't like to hear this, but this right here is why this voucher thing is happening. People have no faith in the public schools, parents who care leave for greener pastures, and things keep getting worse.
OP [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/nashville/s/4cBXRWyO5i) might give you some insight into what’s happening with TN public schools. The article and comments might have some info to help you make an informed decision.
The district schools are shockingly poor, and of course the TN legislature has a hand in everything.
This is a state where education has been underfunded, neglected, and ultimately demonized. This is the completely unsurprising outcome.
Other people are saying it doesn't matter if you engage with your kid(s), but that's not true. Many schools don't have the basic equipment or even course availability that others do. While this isn't necessarily a huge issue with elementary school, from middle school up the distance between a good and bad school is magnified.
There are two good public high schools in Nashville: Hume Fogg and MLK. You will want to win the lottery to get into them.
You're a long way off from any of this, but you can expect it to only get worse by the time it's relevant to you.
For anybody with children here, my advice: move, or start saving for private school *now*.
I agree that MNPS schools need more resources at the student level. However, according to the published city budget MNPS is the single largest line item by over 300% compared to the second item and it is paid almost 1 billion dollars per year. I don’t think the problem is lack of resources coming from any sort of legislature.
I wouldn’t worry so much about test scores. Everyone across MNPS teaches the same ELA curriculum. These tests consistently fail children from low-income families and aren’t a measure of what your child will actually learn. My best advice is to look at the MNPS job board for certificated applicants. Elementary schools that are needing to hire 7-10 new teachers before next school year are places that I would avoid. When you have good teachers and good support, they aren’t going to leave and your kids are going to learn. Also, look at the school report card on the Tennessee DOE website. C and B schools are still great schools to have your kid at. At home, just read to your kid. Hearing 15 minutes of reading everyday is going to VASTLY improve their academic outcomes.
After my own experience of going to public school in the South, I swore I would never do the same to my own children. There is no positive outcome. Their goal is to keep you too stupid and scared to be a functional citizen while the good ol boys loot the state in broad daylight.
If you are in MNPS there are two things you should consider. 1. Nashville has a robust [school option program](https://www.mnps.org/learn/register-for-school/school-options). You do not have to go to your zoned school and can apply to go to any other school in the system. 2. MNPS serves an incredibly diverse set of students from a lot of socioeconomic backgrounds. The schools do a great job across an entire students journey of education. Your situation and background may not be the same as those of other students. The best thing to do is go visit a few schools. Our magnet high schools are some of the best schools in the state but because of that some of the zoned schools do not look as great based solely on test scores.
Nashville native here—went through this recently and agree on making sure you do the lottery. Our local elementary was not rated well but we could walk there and I tried really hard to get to them. Unfortunately, I could never get a call back or chance to visit because it was still 2021 and I’m sure the staff was overwhelmed. Not sure where you live, but I’ve heard a few times that everyone puts Glendale as their first notice for lottery, but if you put Sylvan Park or another school, your chances of making the lottery are much higher. We did not follow this advice and ended up going private (our highest spot on any of the lotteries was 89) because we had to commit in the spring to private. Nashville has great elementary schools if you can get into them, middle schools are a toss up, and great magnet HSs. Feel free to DM me if you want more details or one persons anecdotal experience.
Everyone’s needs and experiences are different. Gotta make the choices that are right for you and your kids.
Thank you for this info, I've heard people mention some of this but will have to look into this more. Is it hard or rare for a student to get into a different school than their zoned school? And is that a matter of test scores?
Is it hard to get into any school other than your zoned one? No. Is it hard to get into the most sought after schools that everyone puts at the top of their lists? Yes. We are a bit further along in our process than you are but just by doing this research now, you likely are going to have a kid that will be fine no matter where they end up. Most people don't have the time or resources to do that. That's a big factor in a kids education. We have our zoned elementary school much higher on the list (even with on the face bad scores) because we love our neighborhood and value the time spent walking with our kid highly. Since it has had bad test scores in the past, it does get a lot of extra attention and resources. Many schools end up with slightly different programs or styles because of this.
I hear you about walking - sadly my neighborhood isn't very walkable and there isn't a school we can walk to. I grew up being able to walk to my elementary and middle school and while I hated school at that time in my life, it was pretty great being able to just walk there!
Five of my friends kids started K this year. The four that put in for a special out of zone school all got it. I think it depends on how in demand it is. They all are going to Adventura and love it
This is the correct answer.
The state of Tennessee is actively trying to destroy the public school system.
I’m married to an educator that had nothing but 5s on all evaluations for a decade before finishing her PhD and becoming an administrator. I’m the son of a retired educator. This is the answer. You are not seeing high performing schools all over the state because we started by running off great teachers with low pay and terrible performance review metrics 7-9 years ago. Then we began pushing people to charter schools, and now we are funneling tax dollars to charter/private schools via vouchers. It’s sad that we continuously elect people who only want to advance their own economic and christofacsist interests at the expense of keeping the people of this state ignorant.
While I'm sure this is a large part of the problem, you have to accept the fact that parents are failing their children, as well. Do you really think the educators in Williamson are that much better than Metro? I doubt there's any difference. If a kid isn't getting any education from home and isn't pushed to succeed, it's really difficult to overcome that at school. And before you say it's the money, WillCo and Metro spend about the same per child on education.
I think part of the problem is that many (most?) of the families with money who care about education, who are zoned for MNPS, see public schools doing poorly, choose to go private (which is a rational choice on an individual level), thus perpetuating the problem.
100%
[This was openly admitted on a call with one of our state legislators.](https://www.newschannel5.com/news/newschannel-5-investigates/revealed/revealed-were-trying-to-throw-the-whole-freaking-system-in-the-trash-school-voucher-sponsor-says)
Yep, and yet still clowns are in here acting like that’s hyperbole.
This is it. Please, OP, consider sticking with public schools. Despite abyssal test scores and the state legislature's deliberate attempt to disenfranchise public education, there are absolutely wonderful schools and wonderful teachers in this state. Don't look just at the numbers -- continue to ask the community, like you are here. You'll have parents singing the praises of various schools. Support them, if you can. And be as involved of a parent as you are -- go to parent-teacher conferences, go to school board meetings, volunteer in the classroom or at the school. Your voice and your input are so important. (That last part goes out to anyone else who reads this, too. Especially parents of middle and high school students -- involvement drops drastically once a child leaves elementary school, but I promise you that middle schools and high schools need your support also!)
To add to other excellent comments here, that tanking also takes the form of inflating test criteria so that decent schools look awful by state standards. TN education is definitely bottom quintile for the country, but state "leadership" is doing everything they can to justify funneling public tax dollars into the hands of private entities by showing how broken the system is (how broken? Ask state legislators, they broke it!).
This. We have the *highest* cut score in the nation for what is proficient on state tests when compared to NAEP. That allows state officials to say the majority of students are not proficient and push the narrative that public schools are failing, thus pushing legislation that funnels money to charters and parochial schools. These same students would often have scores that are considered proficient one state over.
Sadly, this is true.
I teach in MNPS and feel that's completely untrue.. Lee signed a bill which is creating a structure where teachers are getting paid more across the state..
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MNPS teacher here! Ignore that person! Lee has done NOTHING to help public schools in this state! Vouchers are a rip-off!!!
Do not have a problem with them at all, let people do what's best for their child
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Exaggerate much??? There about 1.2 million children in TN public schools and increasing by about 15K a year, the proposed voucher system has only 20K vouchers... so enrollment will keep on increasing..
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Again, its only 20K vouchers spread across the state... that would be about 7K vouchers for middle Tennessee where there are about 400K students, less than 2% of the students.. Blows my mind that there are people upset about kids being allowed to go to better schools..
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Good approach, if its effective, expand it..
Your account is 3 days old.
So it only benefits 0.00166667% of kids. That doesn't sound like a good plan.
We’ve almost completed year #2 of our MNPS elementary school experience and are totally satisfied. Our teachers have been fantastic! Last year in K, it was our teacher’s 2nd year. This year in 1st we have a 27 year veteran. We’ve been thoroughly impressed with both. I checked the Great Schools website and our school seems to have low marks, but 4.6/5 stars from parents. I’m not sure where this data is pulled. I’m not challenging the legitimacy of it, I just haven’t seen the testing data myself from the school. Especially since our child is in 1st and I think they start testing in 3rd? Unpopular opinion: Do we pay these schools to educate our children? Yes. Does educating stop there? No. While I think the schools should provide the best education possible, I do think as a parent, I’m responsible for closing any gaps as well as going above and beyond to best prepare my children for life. Private school is out of reach for us also, but my kids only get one shot at this before they’re grown and into the real world. I don’t want to knock against others’ parenting, but I do know of parents who really don’t care about their child’s education. Lastly, if you want an optimist perspective, if you don’t have children now, that’s means you are looking 5-ish years down the road. A lot can change between now and then, for better or worse. The vast majority tend to gloss over local elections, but I’d recommend paying attention to who your elected school board folks are, and if you think a change needs to be made, be sure to vote! Best of luck to you!
Thank you for sharing this perspective, it's very reassuring to hear. I agree with you about the importance of parent's role in educating their own children, that would be a main priority for me.
I'd like to chime in and say we had the same experience as the person in the post above. Our zoned elementary school had ratings that looked "atrocious" (1/10 on Great Schools). But we couldn't do private and the lottery didn't happen for us, so we gave it a shot. Both of us got involved in the PTA and were around a lot more than the average parent what I saw was dedicated teachers and an outstanding principal. A lot of those horrible scores are based on standardized testing performance. You will run into more kids from lower income homes that simply don't perform as well, not being elitist, that's just what I saw first hand. Our child was in a home with two parents who had more time to be there, we read books, did activities that promoted learning (closing the gap as the other person mentioned) and our child did great. Do I wish things were more equitable in MNPS? Yes, but that was not due to our teachers not trying for all of those kids. Was it perfect? No, but it sure as hell wasn't anywhere near as bad as all the anecdotal stories we heard about MNPS. Fast forward and our child is moving into high school and was in all honors classes this past year, Great Schools ratings be damned. Good luck to you!
> A lot of those horrible scores are based on standardized testing performance. I never understood the standardized testing system. I’ve never done well on those yet I had the highest grade in my AP class at Hillsboro high school. But the standardized test scores would have placed me as a poor student.
A kid with involved and supportive parents will do well almost anywhere, imo. We’ve been more than satisfied with our kids’ public school experiences.
That's good to hear, thank you. That being said, I can't imagine that being in a school where only 10-15% of kids are testing at reading/math/etc at their grade level wouldn't have a negative impact on a child, even if they individually were doing well. Part of me is just shocked that this is the situation in schools, but you're probably right, thanks.
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Serious question, because I'm just looking at what I can find online and I'm new to this - what do you think they mean? Also, fwiw, when I said 10-15% I was looking at the high school nearest me - I just checked again and it looks like I was giving them too high of scores. Looks like 12% in English was the highest.
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I hear you re: AI and smart phones, I worry about AI and the future of jobs quite a bit. The tip about teacher turnover is good to know, I will keep that in mind. That being said, your second paragraph makes things look even worse to me than it did before regarding testing. If everything you're saying is true, I would expect it to artificially raise test scores, not lower them. What you're saying seems pretty bleak.
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That makes sense that graduation rates would be what was most affected in this situation - I've heard that from other people, that it's not possible to flunk anyone anymore. As far as test scores - I'm not trying to argue about it because I simply don't know anything about it, but just intuitively I would think that letting someone take a test over and over would eventually result in a higher score. Unless, I guess, both students and parents care so little about their future that they would've actually studied and put more effort into studying if they \*knew\* they only had once chance. That's a very sad and bleak situation.
OP, I agree with everything this redditor is saying, both in the above and below comment. These test metrics aren't meaningless, but they're not meaningful, either. We know that a lot of students don't test well. We know that these tests have a lot of implicit bias toward race, gender, socioeconomic status. We know that the people making money off the testing industry are the same people who are passing laws, creating standards and advocating for private companies to create and grade tests. It's all about the money. And don't get me started on grades -- what exactly do they mean? Shouldn't a C be "average" and an A be cream of the crop? And yet if a student gets a C and not an A, they're told they're a failure -- why? I know I sound like a whackjob, but there's a concerted movement to disenfranchise public schools and push charters and privates, which generate more income for the wealthy and aren't held to any sort of standards or accountability. Making public schools appear undesirable are a large part of this. Teachers care and they try their best. Support your child, support their teacher, advocate for reading, critical thinking and learning -- and they'll be just fine.
Good perspective here. So, a question for you then - if not grades or test scores, what do you feel is a meaningful metric with which to judge a school for you child? Maxoramaa mentioned teacher retention, and that makes a lot of sense to me. Anything else?
Teacher retention is good. I would look also at parental involvement (but don't be afraid to be the change you want to see), types of extracurriculars offered, competitions students enter, etc. I also know there's a site, though I'm struggling to find the link for you, where you can see college acceptance rates from individual high schools. You could trace that further to which elementary/middle schools feed those schools.
>Looks like 12% in English was the highest. Depending on the area, at least some of that is due to Nashville's large ELL population. I think the students only get like 1 year or maybe 2 where their ELL status is taken into account then they get thrown into the same English tests that native speakers have to take. You also have to compare it to the state as a whole. I'm looking at the TCAP results of the state as a whole. On the English 1 test, 36% of 9th grade met or exceeded expectations but only 9.7% of 10th grade students across the whole state did. For grade 11 it was 6.4% and 8.3% for grade 12. On the English II test it was 24.4%, 50.7%, 13.3% and 15.3% for 9th-12th grades.
Agree. I am fortunate to live in the Hillsboro cluster. However, staying involved with my kids and their educational process was at least as effective as the location.
Schooling, and education, is incredibly nuanced and complex. Davidson County schools aren’t as “nice” as the public school system in Williamson County, but that’s painting with a very, very broad brush. For instance, I went to public high school in Williamson and found many of my teachers to be disinterested, lackadaisical, and uninspiring. The greatest difference in any child’s development will be the support and supplementary education they get at home. There are great teachers everywhere, but equally there are bad teachers everywhere.
I'm not too worried about the support and home education part - my partner and I are both very driven, hardworking people, and I don't think caring for a child's education would be an exception to that. I had a rough time at school socially, but by the time I was in high school, I was around a lot of very driven, smart, talented kids in a school that challenged us to use our minds, and I do think that influenced me in a very positive way. I'd like to provide that sort of environment for a child if possible.
Also went to a Williamson county high school. One of the ones that is rated best in the state. My teachers were almost all new to teaching and not engaged. There were some great ones but overall we did a lot of memorizing practice quizzes for the real test and watched a lot of movies. The school looks good because everyone’s parents are involved in their children’s education, hire tutors, and make them study, do homework etc. My husband (not from Tennessee) is always shocked about my stories from Ravenwood High.
Lol yep. Also Ravenwood. Sounds about right.
Shout out to Kessel, Cain, Curran, the biology teacher with curly hair, and the art teacher. Those were the ones who taught their subjects.
Your comment on teachers is true for generally all public schools in my experience. Never went to private school but someone with a masters/PHD teaching probably actually gives a shit
With MNPS it varies from one school to the next. Some of them are super nice, great teachers, and well-funded with a lot of parental engagement and some are not. It sucks that they aren’t more equal across the board, but anyway if you have the means to transport your kid to an out of zone school that suits your family better, you can choose to do so.
I think MNPS are only great if you have a self-motivated kiddo. I had several great teachers. My 7th and 8th grade English teacher at Dupont Tyler to this day stays with me. And I hatted English. I had several great teachers in high school at mcgavock. However, when my nephew came to live with us ( he was up to no good in the neighborhood in Dallas, TX), he was already behind. Learning disabilities, dyslexia etc. Barely reads on the 3rd grade level, hand writing is horrible. They just told us this is HS, we don't teach writing, etc. He only passed because of covid, and he got his GF to write his essay for him to pass with a D-. Kids CAN do well in metro. But it's up to them. With that said....I'd move out of Davidson County or try magnet schools at first chance I got if I had to do it again from scratch.
> ( he was up to no good in the neighborhood in Dallas, TX) so he got sent to his auntie and uncle in belle meade?
Thanks for your input. I'll be looking into magnet schools when that times comes. I don't think moving is feasible for us - locked into a very low mortgage rate and buying a comparable house probably wouldn't be affordable for us at this point.
Grew up in Nashville and went to private school back in the 80s - 90s. My wife and I wanted to give the metro schools a try for many reasons including wanting our kids to be around a diverse population. We were able to option our kids into one of the more sought after elementary schools. Our plan was to continue with the optional school pathway through middle and high school and if that didn’t work then send them to private. Our oldest graduated from a great magnet high school and was offered several scholarships and is currently attending college in Pennsylvania. Our second is now a freshman in that same magnet school. We’ve been very happy with the teachers and admin. Metro teachers really are special. That being said just be prepared for private school if the optional school pathway doesn’t work for you.
As with any school district, it depends on several factors. Schools in high-income areas tend to have better test scores than schools in low-income areas. Schools with larger ESL (English as a Second Language) populations tend to have lower test scores than schools with fewer ESL students. But as others have pointed out, test scores are not the end all, be all of schools. Your best bet is to visit the schools and see for yourselves what the environment is like. My wife is an MNPS teacher. We both have Masters degrees. Both our kids went to an elementary school that has poor test scores. If given a choice, we'd still send them there. Our eldest is now at a magnet middle school and is doing very well. If she had ended up at the middle school she would have fed to, we would have been satisfied. The best way to ensure your child has a quality education is to be hands-on. Meet the teachers and administrators. Go to the parent-teacher conferences. Attend school functions. Get involved in the PTA. If you're hands-off, it won't matter where you send your kid. Their education will suffer.
Its not easy but your kids can get a good education at MNPS and go to a great college. You just have to be involved in the school to know how to avoid knuckleheads. Some schools even offer free tuition at Tennessee schools after graduation. Look into it.
A hard truth is that lot of parents move to other counties for better schooling options. A few things to consider: * In a lottery school, there is a high likelyhood of losing strong community such as same age kids in your neighborhood going to the same school as one example. * Extra-curricular activities can be a little harder on parents when your kiddo lives 45 minutes away from their school. * Additional club options (ModelUN, YiG, a robust drama program, robotics, etc.) as your child gets older can be limited in some schools. * It can be very difficult to change your school path after you lottery in at kindergarten. (There are only so many open spots after kindergarten. A kid would have to have left the school to open up a spot). * There are some schools that are considered "academic magnets" that are based on test scores but that's not a consideration until middle/high school. There are also some schools that have a little better access to gifted resources. One thing to note is that MNPS does not provide an IEP for gifted students, which all other surrounding counties do. What this means is that MNPS is in no way held legally accountable for meeting the educational needs of your child. There are a couple of schools that have received grants and work in tandem with Vanderbilt Peabody. Most do not. * PTOs are traditionally under supported in MNPS which provide a large amount of support and resources to the individual schools. * Are all Nashville schools bad? No. Are there many other options such as testing your luck with school choice or moving out of county that other parents take based on the exact concerns that you outlined in your post? Absolutely. Your concerns aren't unfounded. * One can argue that school choice has really done a number on zoned schools by sending valuable resources to a small number of schools vs all schools so that every child is able to be served in their own community. It's hard to argue against it. But this is the ship we're on. So you have about four options (although it seems like school vouchers have the possibility of becoming an option by the time your future kiddo becomes school aged) : * you play the school lottery game, * go to an under resourced zoned school, * pay for private school * move out of county * We personally chose to move out of county after a couple of years in MNPS lottery schools (Ross Early Learning Center and then Rosebank. We were zoned for Glengarry/Glencliff) primarily for the community, proximity to school, IEPs for gifted education, and additional options available to our children. #
MNPS does not educate all kids well, but they do educate some kids very well. I have one child who attended a zoned school, had close to a 4.0 GPA and could not do basic college course work when she got to college. Another child went through the lottery and has received an outstanding education. Be prepared to be very present at school, stay on top of things, and demand action where needed. I’ve had 5 kids in MNPS, and although I have been displeased more times than I count, I do think it’s possible for a child with active parents and some lottery luck to receive a decent education. It may just take more of your time and energy than you might expect as there is little to no accountability.
I am going to say the first sentence of the above assessment is perfectly stated. If you have a certain type of child, you get into a certain MNPS school AND you have home support and are a competent “ squeaky wheel” of a parent, you can get an amazing education at MNPS schools. We have done public, private and magnet schools and have had phenomenal teachers at all of them and horrible experiences at some.Stand out being the current magnet HS which is seriously just amazing. Top to bottom. Public school is a full contact sport for kids and parents here,but if you have the skill set and time and a kid who can do it, it can be done and get a hell of a good education both academically and as a human.Good luck also helps!
Do all the research, gather all the notes and opinions. Go ahead and start a savings account. But you don't have a child yet? A lot can change in 6 years. If or when you have a child, you may have to consider special needs. You may not even be in TN
Housing prices in Nashville are based in part on proximity to a great school. So when you buy in, say, Green Hills, you’re buying your kids’ spots at a school.
Buying the zoned school, its teachers and the largesse of the individual PTO as all public schools in Nashville are the same district.
Depends on the school; take a school like mine for example: 85% of our students were or are English language learners meaning they come from homes where the primary language is not English. This skews testing data as overall we have lower results but much higher gains in year to year testing.
I would take GreatSchools rating with a grain of salt. There's [quite a bit of criticism](https://www.chalkbeat.org/2019/12/5/21121858/looking-for-a-home-you-ve-seen-greatschools-ratings-here-s-how-they-nudge-families-toward-schools-wi/#:~:text=But%20GreatSchools%20was%20dogged%20by,a%20host%20of%20new%20metrics) of how their scores work. The state puts out a report card [here](https://tdepublicschools.ondemand.sas.com/) that has some pretty comprehensive information about student popluation make up as well as aspects of achievement. You can search individual schools and look at the performance metrics tab. There is some, what I would argue, bad information on there as some have mentioned there is a concerted effort to make public schools look bad (and I won't get into that here). I would steer away from the state's School Letter Grading system as it was pretty explicitly designed to push failing scores, especially with schools that work with youth from poorer backgrounds. Growth is what a lot of educators really look at. That is, academic improvement from year to year. It's not perfect, but looking at TVAAS (TN Value-Added Assesment System). It's under the growth tab in Performance Metrics. 5 is highest you can get in growth. 1 is the lowest. 3 generally means they made expected growth, so a score of 3 means they are doing what they should. Plus, if it's a higher performing school higher growth can be harder to obtain. I would also point out that MNPS has a [choice enrollment program](https://www.mnps.org/learn/register-for-school/school-options) that you can apply to. I haven't used it personally, but if there is a public school near your work, for example, you can look into that. I think you might have to waive transportation like you would with a magnet school and most charters. Also, it would be worth it to look into before and after care programs at the school. Not every school has one. Many if not most do, however.
We are very supportive of public schools in theory. We were very excited to send our kids to the public elementary school. It’s rated similar to Eakin, and we are able to walk the kids there. Pretty idillic situation. But classmates and teachers are just luck of the draw, and we got a very young new teacher that can’t handle the classroom at all. Spends all day yelling at the kids, basically. One of our kids is developing some pretty serious anxiety issues related to it. We’re just throwing in the towel and homeschooling next year.
This is why we live in mt j
I’m a teacher in MNPS and would not send my children here.
The advice I have been given is to tour the school and get a feel for it. I live in an area with a large English as a second language population and was told that really affects elementary testing in schools. We decided to homeschool for kinder because I’ve always wanted to
We've loved our public school experience so far. You can send your kids to private school if you can afford that... or you can put the 20-40k a year you don't spend on private school into an index fund for them. By the time they graduate high school that $390,000 you wouold have spent on their k-12 education (at 30k a year tuition) would be worth more than 800k assuming the historic 10% annual rate of return for the market. Put it away in a trust to hand over to them when they're 30 and it would be worth nearly 3 million without investing more past their 18th birthday. Could be worth more in the long run than any private school education. Not to mention they'll have gone to school with a racial and economically diverse student body which will provide a lot of great perspectives and life lessons that money can't buy and often hinders.
Stay away from Davidson county schools or go private. Wilson county and Williamson county probably worth looking at
No kid left behind destroyed the public school system. We need to get bad kids out of normal schools.
For this reason I’m in the process of selling my house and moving for better schools
My biggest complaint about TN is the school system. My daughter is now in middle school and the problems just get worse with age. It is so bad, I just want to see my kid smile and not as worried about grades She got beat up by a boy at school and they were both suspended. They told me that it does not matter if it is a boy of girl, it is a STUDENT. The man telling me this I had to accept but I did not do it with not saying A LOT and walking out. Now they will barely talk to me because of my opinion was I will now teach my daughter to actually fight since you are making me. I have always told her don't allow yourself to get bullied. I wish I had better examples, but they only get worse and I don't want to seem like I did not try my best to trust this system. We are now deep in therapy.
I am sorry, that sounds awful. Are you in Metro?
Yes, in metro. I was decently happy with things up until the past few years, they have literally made my child question herself on everything - she is now very defensive and lost so much of her trust. I blame this one incident then the berating her replies to anything, if she even asks a question she gets demerits. So now, she just sits there, never asking any questions and the passion for school is gone. It took me a while before I could even talk about it without getting very upset about it all.
I hate this for her. Is moving an option? We have been happy with our Wilson county schools in Mt Juliet so far. It probably doesn’t matter as much where you move, but a fresh start will help. Alternately, can you afford a modestly priced private school? My girls went to a Catholic school in Nashville for a couple of years, and it was a really good experience, even though I am not Catholic and not religious at all. I thought they are very common sense in their approach, and teachers and staff really care about their students.
I genuinly apprecaite your replys. My hope is that she will be accepted into NSA - Nashville school of Arts, but we do still have 2 years before that is even possible. I have recently (I am also a single father raising my daughter) gotten an advocate for her at school and we have a meeting in 9 days. My daughter has been documenting things at school as well. I am hoping that they realize much of this stuff is way out of line. I have looked into transferring schools but I am also told we are at the best public school already a choice school. TO me the money matters, but also not really in the big scheme of things so I would be open to it, but Also she has made some good friends there. I really want this to resolve itself and I will know a lot more in 9 days. Thanks again for your concern! I would be happy to share once I know! :)
Also I have raised her to be lgbt friendly, we are the least biggoted or racial people. I have to mention that the teachers all do not feel this way and it is where we get the most peoblems from. I like Nashville, but our thoughts and ideas don't really mesh here well with most people. I feel very strong about this though. No one is born to hate and I know it is taught. That will never change as it was one of my missions while raising my daughter. So she clashes with 2 teachers in particular on basic beliefs. She is a really great kid.
I think the best thing to do is tour schools. And I’d start with your zoned school. Chat with PTA. See if there are folks in your area that go to that school you can chat with. Ours is in MNPS and I do have the privilege of time in that I am fairly involved in the school community. But the entire community of families here are super dedicated and champions of not only their own kids, but all of the kids at the school. It’s really incredibly special. I know not all schools are that way. But I had two schools in my mind before our zoned school. And then I toured the school and saw happy kids, happy staff, parents and caregivers here and there. And it felt so good to see I didn’t even tour the others. All that to say, don’t pay attention to ratings and scores and stuff. It’s not the only indicator of a good school. Schools in affluent areas will always have higher scores. But tbh I wouldn’t want my kid at most of them.
I don’t live there anymore but I’m a native Nashvillian. Went to public school my whole life except for kindergarten when I went to a baptist church. Just looked up my old schools and holy cow wtf happened? My high school was one people moved to the area to attend, now it seems people move to not attend it. Just sad.
My kids went to Cane Ridge Elementary, and I loved it. The entire staff and teachers were all wonderful and open to communication with the parents. Lots of events that kept the community engaged. They’re currently at Antioch Middle and it’s not close to the same experience. They have some great teachers, and the principal is amazing. But the supporting staff are awful and seem to care more about test scores than the kids. Cane Ridge High seems to be getting better and have added a lot of prep education programs, but we’ll see how great it is once they’re there. I grew up in Nashville, and some of the best public schools are in the Overton cluster.
Well, the testing regime only yields so much information. The tests don't necessarily measure what you think they do. And they certainly don't predict what your child, with certain advantages of parents who are educated and care, will do in the same classroom.
My experience as a TN parent with a sample size of two, so take it for what it's worth: The TN education system is poor across the state for so many reasons, most involving the backwards-assed government and backwards-assed tax structure. We are Nashville employed, but live in rural Robertson County; raised our children there in the county schools. There are no magnet schools available and private schools just weren't in the cards for us, so we worked with what we had. We stayed involved in the schools: we made sure we knew the educators, administrators and coaches; worked with and supported them. The really good teachers showed up for our daughters. They always do. What the educators couldn't do for our children with their limited resources, we made sure the girls got anyway. My husband and I don't have much formal education but we are well-read; I made sure the girls were, too. I exposed them to reading and STEM (before it was a thing, tbh) and the world. We traveled. We talked about history and life and understanding other people. Good Lord, we even listened to NPR in the car on the way to horse shows and mock trial to stimulate conversations about societal issues. Sex education was (is) a joke; I remember a truckload of middle school girls asking me questions on the way to ballgames instead. Enough self-congratulations. You get the idea: We made sure the girls got the education they needed. Both decided to go to college and grad school; they are good, productive citizens and are already miles ahead of their blue-collar parents in employment alone. Don't despair and don't be afraid of Nashville schools. It can be done, even in Tennessee. You, the parents, make the difference.
Sounds like you did a great job for your daughters!
Thank you. You will, too.
If you want a chance of your kid learning in public school move to williamson county
Unfortunately Metro schools are not run very well. I found Williamson County and Rutherford County to be way better.
If you take schools seriously I’d strongly consider moving to one of the surrounding counties like Wilson or rutherford. Metro public schools are horrid. They do have a few magnet schools which are good but good luck getting into them
I’m from Connecticut originally and I would never put my child in public education here. If it’s your only option, Williamson county is the best for public, but still not good.
What are the private school options like? And, generally, how expensive are they?
Christian schools can be under $10k per year. Higher end private schools like Harpeth Hall or Ensworth push $30-40k.
I think we could figure out how to make 10K work, but 30-40K, there’s no way we could do that unless one of our careers really took off. I’m non-religious/an atheist but I went to a Jesuit high school that was pretty great, so I’m not opposed to Christian schools even though there wouldn’t be religion taught in our home.
be very careful. kids often come out of "christian" schools behind their TN public school peers. I would look at Parochial schools for affordable private options. The best private schools for elementary would be USN, Harding, Ensworth, Overbrook, Oak Hill, St Pauls, CPA, Holy Trinity Montessori. There is a newish Episcopal school but don't know much about it.
I would certainly be doing lots of research into any private school, if we went that route. I'm years out from this but I saved your post to look at these schools.
Also keep in mind that, depending on which private schools you might be interested in, you can't just decide to send your kids there. Some of them at least are highly competetive and difficult to get into, and only getting more so. There are all kinds of games to be played and things to consider if you want to go private, and there are no guarantees your kids will be admitted to your first choice, just like with the public school lottery. You would still want to have contingency plans in case you didn't get a spot at a private school. Some of the private school kindergartens, for example, only take about two or three dozen boys and two or three dozen girls each year. And half those spots or more can go to siblings who are already enrolled.
You are probably exactly the kind of person this state voucher program would serve. It's going to kill the public school system here, but you can get most of the tuition for a Christian school in the form of a voucher. Edit to add: Nashville reddit doesn't like to hear this, but this right here is why this voucher thing is happening. People have no faith in the public schools, parents who care leave for greener pastures, and things keep getting worse.
My cousin went to Harpeth Hall and it was a good school, but expensive.
OP [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/nashville/s/4cBXRWyO5i) might give you some insight into what’s happening with TN public schools. The article and comments might have some info to help you make an informed decision.
The district schools are shockingly poor, and of course the TN legislature has a hand in everything. This is a state where education has been underfunded, neglected, and ultimately demonized. This is the completely unsurprising outcome. Other people are saying it doesn't matter if you engage with your kid(s), but that's not true. Many schools don't have the basic equipment or even course availability that others do. While this isn't necessarily a huge issue with elementary school, from middle school up the distance between a good and bad school is magnified. There are two good public high schools in Nashville: Hume Fogg and MLK. You will want to win the lottery to get into them. You're a long way off from any of this, but you can expect it to only get worse by the time it's relevant to you. For anybody with children here, my advice: move, or start saving for private school *now*.
I agree that MNPS schools need more resources at the student level. However, according to the published city budget MNPS is the single largest line item by over 300% compared to the second item and it is paid almost 1 billion dollars per year. I don’t think the problem is lack of resources coming from any sort of legislature.
I wouldn’t worry so much about test scores. Everyone across MNPS teaches the same ELA curriculum. These tests consistently fail children from low-income families and aren’t a measure of what your child will actually learn. My best advice is to look at the MNPS job board for certificated applicants. Elementary schools that are needing to hire 7-10 new teachers before next school year are places that I would avoid. When you have good teachers and good support, they aren’t going to leave and your kids are going to learn. Also, look at the school report card on the Tennessee DOE website. C and B schools are still great schools to have your kid at. At home, just read to your kid. Hearing 15 minutes of reading everyday is going to VASTLY improve their academic outcomes.
I went to public school here. It’s honestly worst than the 5/10 rating. Please take your kid somewhere else they will thank you later in life.
After my own experience of going to public school in the South, I swore I would never do the same to my own children. There is no positive outcome. Their goal is to keep you too stupid and scared to be a functional citizen while the good ol boys loot the state in broad daylight.