Brentwood Academy, Nashville TN

Academic school with a national football reputation

Address:   219 Granny White Pike, Brentwood, TN, United States

Phone number:  +1 615-373-0611
Website:  www.brentwoodacademy.com
Total number of students: 745
Gender: co-ed
Religious Affiliation: Christian
Grades: 6-12
Teacher/Student ratio: 1/10

Brentwood Academy is in Brentwood, about 25 minutes to the south of central Nashville.

It has a strongly Christian orientation, though it is not affiliated with any one denomination.

Their mission statement says: "our expressed priority is nurturing a strong academic work ethic to develop life-long learners."

Brentwood has a solid academic program with a good range of options. Their big draw, however, is their football reputation and world class training facilities. If your child is into sports, then Brentwood Academy would probably be a good choice for a rounded education. 

Like Father Ryan, though, the school does not offer a lot of diversity in their student population, and may not be the best choice if your child needs to develop talents in other areas. 

Father Ryan High School

Catholic School with a strong academic emphasis and community spirit

Address:   700 Norwood Dr, Nashville, TN 37204

Phone number:  +1 615.383.4200
Website:  www.fatherryan.org
Total number of students: 894
Gender: co-ed
Religious Affiliation: Catholic
Grades: 9-12
Teacher/Student ratio: 1/11

Father Ryan High School is located about 15 minutes south of Nashville, going towards Brentwood, in a neighborhood off Franklin Road. It has an excellent academic reputation, with comments from many of their students (on various review sites) about how well prepared they were for college. This school also prides itself on its strong community spirit.

Father Ryan offers a well-rounded education, including a variety of arts and music options (with a very fine brass band), a range of sports, and many activities related to faith, service and social justice.

Their mission statement includes  "challenging students to reach their spiritual, academic, and personal potential." As a Catholic school, they also have a strong emphasis on Christian education and Christian values.

One criticism of this school is that is does not offer much diversity in their student body.
It's also a very large school, especially when you consider that it only offers grades 9-12 (though the teacher-student ratio is very good). 

If any of these are important to you, read on...

Harpeth Hall School

A progressive girls' school

Address:   3801 Hobbs Road Nashville, TN 37215  United States

Phone number:  +1 615-297.9543
Website:  http://www.harpethhall.org/
Total number of students: 645
Gender: girls only
Religious Affiliation: non-sectarian
Grades: 5-12
Teacher/Student ratio: 1/9

Harpeth Hall School is one of the top schools in middle Tennessee, and arguably one of the best girls' schools in the country. They take pride in graduating young women who "know how to think critically, lead confidently, and live honorably."
This school rates highly for its  academic performance, and places college preparation as a high priority. 

As well as academic excellence, Harpeth Hall School offers a full education for its students, with community service activities and leadership opportunities, signature programs in athletics and dance, as well as programs in other visual and performing arts. They also promote self-awareness and life skills, integrated as part of the curriculum.

There are many reasons why you might want to choose a girls-only school for your daughter. For girls, research shows over and over that they tend to do better academically in a single gender environment, and especially so when it comes to science, maths, computer studies and technical subjects. Overall, girls are able to thrive and develop more confidence personally and socially in this type of setting. And Harpeth Hall School has oriented its programs to the needs of girls, to help them develop according to their own strengths and abilities.

Harpeth Hall is a very fine school with a strong academic tradition, in the broadest sense. It would be a good choice for your daughter if you value this type of academic education and the associated development that it offers for a girl.

Montgomery Bell Academy

A traditional boys school

Address:   4001 Harding Road Nashville, Tennessee 37205

Phone number:  +1 615-298-5514
Website:  montgomerybell.edu
Total number of students: 712
Gender: all boys
Religious Affiliation: Nil
Grades: 7-12
Teacher/Student ratio: 1/7

Montgomery Bell Academy is the only boys-only school in middle Tennessee. It's located in the West End part of Nashville, close to the town center. 

Montgomery Bell is a traditional school with a 146 year history. It values and promotes "initiative, independence, and resourcefulness as the means to pursue self-discovery, develop leadership skills, and claim a sense of self-worth."

Montgomery Bell is a college preparatory school, with no apologies for its strong academic focus. That said, the school is also very active with its sports program, offering 14 varsity sports with state championships in basketball, baseball, cross country, football, lacrosse, rifle, swimming, tennis, and track.

For the arts, they have a top theatre program, and are proud to say that they have more of their students in the Nashville Youth Symphony than any other school in Nashville.

The school also has an active community service program, with a Service Club that offers a variety of tutoring programs in the community.

Montgomery Bell would be a good choice for your son, if you like the idea of a strong traditional boys education with an excellent academic reputation. By all accounts, it offers a very challenging and competitive environment, which works well for many boys. 

Here's a bit of interesting information to help you get a fuller picture of Montgomery Bell Academy:

It's claimed that the 1989 motion picture, Dead Poets Society, starring Robin Williams, depicts a school patterned on Montgomery Bell Academy. 
The Alumni Department of Montgomery Bell Academy, stated:
"The screenplay for the movie Dead Poets Society was written by Thomas Schulman, a 1968 graduate of Montgomery Bell Academy. The teacher, portrayed by Robin Williams in the movie, was based on one of Schulman's teachers during his time as a student at MBA, Sam Pickering. The events in the movie, however, are fictional."

Though it has an excellent reputation, this school may not be such a good choice if you belong to an ethic minority group, or want your son to grow up in an environment of diversity. It may also not be the best choice for a boy who has special learning or social needs, or needs additional support of any kind.

Franklin Road Academy, Nashville

A balanced program which goes beyond a traditional academic focus

Address: 4700 Franklin Road Nashville, Tennessee 37220

Phone number:  +1 615-832-8845
Website:  franklinroadacademy.com
Total number of students: 934
Gender: co-ed
Religious Affiliation: non-denominational Christian
Grades: pre-K-12
Teacher/Student ratio: 1/10

Franklin Road Academy is located on Franklin Road, Oak Hill, about 15 minutes south of central Nashville.

This school gets great reviews from both parents and students. It has an excellent academic program, with additional strong programs in the arts and in sport.

One of the features of this school is the Center for Philanthropic studies, which offers a wide range of opportunities for community involvement and service.
Franklin Road also have a special learning lab - ASPIRE - which gives individualised support to students who need additional academic input, whether because they are struggling or whether they need additional challenges.

Franklin Road's mission is to produce scholars with integrity and balance - and "balance" includes academic, athletic, artistic and social excellence, together with a spiritual direction.

Another big plus for this school is the way they encourage parent involvement in their community. Overall, I couldn't find any negative comments about this school - parents couldn't praise it highly enough.

It's a large school, but it has a good teacher-student ratio, and appears to be very caring and supportive of all their students (not just the stars), with facilities for meeting special needs.

University School of Nashville

Fostering independent thinking with a well-rounded education

Address:   2000 Edgehill Ave, Nashville, TN 37212, United States

Phone number:  +1 615-321-8000
Website:  www.usn.org
Total number of students: 1,022
Gender: co-ed
Religious Affiliation: none
Grades: K-12
Teacher/Student ratio: 1/11

The University School of Nashville Is located in the heart of Nashville, in the downtown area. It has to be one of the top schools in Nashville (and maybe in the entire USA) for academic excellence. It's not just a narrow definition of academic excellence, either - they pride themselves on giving their students a superbly well-rounded education, offering programs in music, arts (visual and performing arts), science, and a range of languages.

Here is their mission statement:
USN fosters each student's intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.

Although this is a very large school, the teacher-student ratio is very good, and the class sizes are small enough for your child to get personal attention.

Some children might feel overwhelmed, though, at the sheer numbers at this school. If your child is less outgoing or vulnerable in other ways, you might find a smaller school is a better choice... read on!

What is the best school for your child?

If you live in Nashville TN, you already know that some of the schools here rank among the top in the country.
You may be lucky enough to live near one of the good public schools, and happy for your child to go there. But if not, or if your child is not doing so well at his or her public school, here is the result of my research into the private schools of Nashville, to help you find the best one for your child.

Photo credit: Ambro at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Public Or Private School?

Private schools can offer significant advantages for your child. 

We know that private school students in grades 4, 8 and 12 score well above the national average in reading, math, science and writing. (National Center for Education Statistics.)

What's more, students from private schools are consistently shown to have a real edge in getting into college and completing a degree, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

But doing well in national achievement tests is only part of the story. Private schools will generally offer a more interesting and challenging learning environment that helps promote independent thinking and critical reasoning skills for your child, as well as encouraging participation in sports, music and arts to provide well-rounded development of a full range of skills.

Private schools have other advantages too. Whether or not they have a religious affiliation, private schools invariably put more emphasis on imparting values to their students, including social and environmental responsibility, ethical behaviour, respect for others, self-discipline and community involvement.

And unfortunately in this era of increasing school violence, we need to consider the safety of our children and the value of a stable environment in promoting their well-being and development - something much more likely to be found at a private school.

Photo credit: Paul Gooddy at FreeDigitalPhotos.net