Jackson Academy & Madison/Ridgeland Academy, MS...

[Terry36]

I am thinking about sending DD to one of these schools but would love to hear from someone who has kids enrolled there.

Thanks

 

[DeeInMS]

Both are very good schools, however the public schools are also very good in that area.

 

[gaelic grace]

They are really good schools but a little pricey. There are some other excellent private schools that aren't as expensive. We have friends who have sent their children to Prep and were extremely happy. One set still has their kids there and the others kept them there for the lower elementary grades to get a good foundation.

 

[pigget74]

My SIL sends my nephew to JA and they LOVE it. Yes, it is very pricey, but they live in Jackson--so this is where he goes.

 

[Terry36]

Thanks everyone for your responses. My family will be moving to the Jackson area before the end of this year and I wanted to get some insight on the schools before we get there. DD currently attends a private school here which is in the same price range as these two so price does not matter.

They are really good schools but a little pricey. There are some other excellent private schools that aren't as expensive. We have friends who have sent their children to Prep and were extremely happy. One set still has their kids there and the others kept them there for the lower elementary grades to get a good foundation.

Can you please tell me what's Prep?

My SIL sends my nephew to JA and they LOVE it. Yes, it is very pricey, but they live in Jackson--so this is where he goes.

Is your SIL a member of these boards? If so, and if you do not mind, can you please ask her to PM me? If not, I can PM you my email address. I would really like to hear from parents of their kids experience at these schools.

 

[goofyisinphilly]

The education is fine. The majority of the people are snobs. Now this is coming from someone who went to a similiar school in the area and then went to a private college with alot of these same kids. I am not saying everyone is a snob but it definately leaves an impression.

As far as educational choices some of the public schools might offer a bigger variety of classes. Good luck.

 

[u2katie]

Jackson Prep is definitely better than Ridgeland Academy as far as academics go. That being said, the public schools in Madison County are really awesome and really there's no need for private school. If you live in Jackson, though, it's another story. Do you know where you'll be living yet? Madison (the city) is the most desirable place to live and there are many, MANY new, nice neighborhoods to choose from. Ridgeland is also fine, but closer to Jackson. I've lived in Ridgeland for 3 years and have had no problems and would send my daughter to the public schools without question (she's only 2 right now). Good luck!

Edited to add - just noticed you asked about Jackson Academy. From my experience, JA is the more "elitist", traditional school. Like a PP said, there really is a lot of snobbery that surrounds these schools.

 

[Terry36]

Jackson Prep is definitely better than Ridgeland Academy as far as academics go. That being said, the public schools in Madison County are really awesome and really there's no need for private school. If you live in Jackson, though, it's another story. Do you know where you'll be living yet? Madison (the city) is the most desirable place to live and there are many, MANY new, nice neighborhoods to choose from. Ridgeland is also fine, but closer to Jackson. I've lived in Ridgeland for 3 years and have had no problems and would send my daughter to the public schools without question (she's only 2 right now). Good luck!

Edited to add - just noticed you asked about Jackson Academy. From my experience, JA is the more "elitist", traditional school. Like a PP said, there really is a lot of snobbery that surrounds these schools.

We are interested in living in Brandon, Ridgleland or Madison. I am a member of another board in which they have been trashing the public schools. So now I am quite concerned. I would love to send her to a good public school but I would be remiss if I did not say I am very weary about it. DD(9) has gone to the same private school all of her life and I am afraid she would not fit in or will be bored at a public school. What are the names of good schools in Madison County?

 

[Jetstorm]

Terry36,
We too are moving to this area and are looking for info. on the public schools. I had heard from realtors and people who live there that the Madison City schools are great and the Northwest Rankin schools in Brandon are really good. Can anyone confirm this? What can you tell us about the Pisgah middle and high schools?

To those of you that live in the area, if you had to choose an area to live in, which would you choose and why. Mainly Madison, Ridgeland and Brandon. I'm looking at good schools, distance to shopping for everyday items like groceries, and Dh's work which is in Flowood, but also an area of homes that would have a quicker re-sell rate if we were to get transferred again.

Does anyone know if there are future plans for a Super Target in this area? I know there are reg. Target stores already. What other shopping malls are there for bargain people like me (not high end stores)?

Sorry Terry36,for hijacking this thread and sorry for asking so many questions, but I have a lot to research and little time to do it. Thanks to you all.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

I'm going to move this thread over to the Community Board where more people from MS can see it and offer valuable input. Good luck with your move, OP!

 

[pigget74]

My SIL and BIL live in Jackson to be closer to their jobs. My nephew is still young so I do not know if they could help that much. I do know their reason for where they live: If they would have bought in Madison it would have cost more for the house and it would not have been as big and then they would both have to commute to work in downtown Jackson. If they would have bought in Madison then their son would have gone to public school. They bought in Jackson b/c they found a great house for them-huge-close to work and everything they do. B/c of this they will send there child to JA.

 

[Jetstorm]

pigget74,
Thank you for replying. I can certainly understanding wanting to get the most house for your money and being close to your job.
I hope to hear from the rest of you on why you would choose a certain area over overs.

 

[mkr]

Madison Schools are wonderful. The high school never fails to have many National Merit Finalist and very high ACT and SAT scores.

 

[Terry36]

Thank you everyone for you comments. These have been very helpful.

 

[5Slays]

We are interested in living in Brandon, Ridgleland or Madison. I am a member of another board in which they have been trashing the public schools. So now I am quite concerned. I would love to send her to a good public school but I would be remiss if I did not say I am very weary about it. DD(9) has gone to the same private school all of her life and I am afraid she would not fit in or will be bored at a public school. What are the names of good schools in Madison County?

My MIL is Special Services Director for Madison County Schools, they are wonderful schools. Madison especially. We live in Brandon and I can tell you Rankin County Schools are great as well. My DH and I both graduated from BHS and our children currently go to the elementary schools. If you are looking in the Madison area and are set on private, St. Richard elemenatry/St. Joe high is a great school as well. My Dsis will be a senior there this year.

 

[5Slays]

Terry36,
We too are moving to this area and are looking for info. on the public schools. I had heard from realtors and people who live there that the Madison City schools are great and the Northwest Rankin schools in Brandon are really good. Can anyone confirm this? What can you tell us about the Pisgah middle and high schools?

To those of you that live in the area, if you had to choose an area to live in, which would you choose and why. Mainly Madison, Ridgeland and Brandon. I'm looking at good schools, distance to shopping for everyday items like groceries, and Dh's work which is in Flowood, but also an area of homes that would have a quicker re-sell rate if we were to get transferred again.

Does anyone know if there are future plans for a Super Target in this area? I know there are reg. Target stores already. What other shopping malls are there for bargain people like me (not high end stores)?

Sorry Terry36,for hijacking this thread and sorry for asking so many questions, but I have a lot to research and little time to do it. Thanks to you all.

Northwest Rankin is a really good school as is Brandon High. Flowood has tons of shopping, no worries there. If you moved to Flowood or Brandon zip code of 39047 your children would go the Nortwest Rankin. If you lived in Brandon, zip code 39042, your children would go to Brandon. Brandon and Flowood back up to each other, so you can't really go wrong in either place. As I have said before we live in Brandon (39042) and our children go to the schools. Pisgah is a much smaller school and in a pretty rural area. It would be at least a 20 - 30 minute drive for your DH to get to work in Flowood.

As a PP stated living in Jackson is much cheaper but the crime rate is high, so it really is a personal choice. However, compared to other parts of the country, MS is still really cheap, you can get a house for about $90 - $125/sq ft. in any of the areas that you are interested in.

If you need any more info, I will be happy to help!

 

[u2katie]

All of the elementary schools in Madison are brand new. Last year I taught at Madison Station Elementary, which focuses on incorporating the arts into every area of instruction. Trust me, your child will NOT be bored at this school. The curriculum is VERY rigorous and the teachers are awesome. Other schools in Madison are Madison Avenue and Madison Crossing. Another elementary school is also being built and should open next year sometime. I also believe that Madison Middle and High are also fairly new, but I haven't been in them.

Where you want to live really depends on where you'll be working. It is about a 15 minute commute from Madison all on the Interstate to central Jackson, depending on traffic. Coming from the Brandon/Flowood area can be a bit tricker because traffic is HORRIBLE on Lakeland Drive during the morning/evening times. Brandon is farther out than Flowood.

There is a ton of shopping in Flowood and Madison/Ridgeland. There are two Targets in the area, one in Ridgeland and one in Flowood (no SuperTargets, tho). There is Northpark Mall in Ridgeland with about every store you could want, and lots of upscale stores like Williams Sonoma, Ann Taylor, etc. In Flowood, there Dogwood Festival, which is basically a huge strip mall with a Gymboree, Victoria's Secret, TCP, Belk (dept. store), and many other stores. There is less "branded" shopping in Madison, however a new shopping center has just been built off the Interstate in Ridgeland that is pretty awesome!
Madison has a ton of boutique type stores that can be fun.

As far as the "personality" of the towns - Madison has the highest per capita income of any town in MS, and lots of people are very proud of this. Many people consider this the "best" suburb of Jackson, and some people can be kind of snobby about living in Madison, but mostly not. Brandon is more working-class than either Madison or Flowood, but does have a lot of nice neighborhoods. The downside to Brandon, IMO, is that the commute would not be fun. Flowood is kind of in the middle of the spectrum.

Let me know if you have any more questions!

 

[u2katie]

Just noticed that you asked about bargain shopping. There is a chain of stores called Hudson's that is sort of like Big Lots that you can get good deals at. There's one in Ridgeland and one in Pearl. IMO, the one in Ridgeland is nicer. Other than that, there's of course Wal-Mart. There's also Kohl's in Flowood that usually has good clearance.

 

[Terry36]

All of the elementary schools in Madison are brand new. Last year I taught at Madison Station Elementary, which focuses on incorporating the arts into every area of instruction. Trust me, your child will NOT be bored at this school. The curriculum is VERY rigorous and the teachers are awesome. Other schools in Madison are Madison Avenue and Madison Crossing. Another elementary school is also being built and should open next year sometime. I also believe that Madison Middle and High are also fairly new, but I haven't been in them.

Let me know if you have any more questions!

Please tell me more about Madison Station Elem.

Why did you leave? Was it due to the school? If personal say N/A.
What grade did you teach?
R their honors classes?
R the teachers certified? How many have Master's degree's?
Is the school SACS and Blue Ribbon Accredited?
What is the teacher/student ratio?
What is the zoning for this school?

Sorry I have a very big decision to make and I want to be sure it is the right one.

 

[u2katie]

Please tell me more about Madison Station Elem.

Why did you leave? Was it due to the school? If personal say N/A.
What grade did you teach?
R their honors classes?
R the teachers certified? How many have Master's degree's?
Is the school SACS and Blue Ribbon Accredited?
What is the teacher/student ratio?
What is the zoning for this school?

Sorry I have a very big decision to make and I want to be sure it is the right one.

I did an internship in 4th grade there last spring for four months. I was offered to interview for a full-time position, but couldn't because we are moving out of state for family reasons.

Honors classes - there is a gifted program called Pathways (PA). It is a pull-out program that serves 3-5 grade. The kids leave their homeroom for one morning a week and one afternoon a week. To get into this program, you'll need to request to have your children tested. The kids really all love this program and the PA teachers are great!

Teachers - all of the teachers are certified! Many have Master's degrees and I know there are several National Board Certified teachers in the school. The school district offers a big financial incentive for teachers to get Nationally certified, so quite a few take advantage of it.

I'm not sure of SACS or Blue Ribbon info. I DO know that it is a model school for the Mississippi Arts Commission, which they are very proud of.

Student/Teacher Ratio - There were 28 kids in my 4th grade class last year. Keep in mind that this will be drastically reduced by the impact of the new elementary school being built this year. I think about 40% of the students will end up at the new school, so ratios should be much lower soon. It is a big school, which is intimidating to some people, but each grade has its own wing, so it really feels smaller. There were nine 4th grade teachers last year, and a similar number in 3-5. I don't have first hand experience with the lower grades, though.

Zoning - There is a list of neighborhoods and a map on the Station website. Also, every teacher has their own website that they are required to update weekly. The school site is www (dot) madisonstation.com


Other things you might be interested in - MSE offers a Strings program for 2-5 grades. There is also an after school Drama program. It really is an awesome school! I have never seen kids so excited to learn in my life. Any more questions, let me know!