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Recommend East Memphis Area SCS Public Schools

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Looking to enroll your child in a public school? There are good options within Shelby County Schools, but you have to do your homework and work at getting your child into some of them. For reviews and more details on public schools visit the EMM Memphis School Guide.

In-District Schools are for kids who live within a specific geographic area, and everyone in the school is in the same program.  If you don’t live in the school area but want to transfer in you can apply during Open Enrollment.  In 2013 this was done online on February 15 with the school system saying parents would find out if their child got a spot on April 1.  This deadline wasn’t met.  For details see this post.

Optional Schools run programs that are more focused in certain areas than in-district programs.  Exactly what is focused on varies by school.  Most kids are tested to get into these programs, and all of their parents applied to the school.  Some schools are 100% Optional and some are split between Optional and In-district programs.  To learn more about Optional schools visit the SCS Optional Schools website.

Optional School Applications available at 6:30am on Monday, January 27 (according to the CA)

As a public school mom, my recommendation is to tour several schools and ask around for opinions regarding each school.  Look into the PTA (involved parents are important) and find current parents to talk with regarding the school.  The more you study your options the clearer things will become.  For tips on evaluating a school check this post.

Here are the public schools in the East Memphis area recommended by the moms:

Elementary Schools

The Campus School
school website | Facebook page
Part of Shelby County Schools and the University of Memphis.  Enrollment preference is given to students of faculty, siblings, then opened up to families that live nearby. Contact the school for more info.  The new parent information meeting is Friday, January 10 from 9-11am. The registration period is January 27-30. More info in this PDF.
We LOVE campus school – to best chance to get in is for first grade and you need to live pretty close to U of M.

Grahamwood Elementary
school website | PTO website | PTO Facebook Page | PTO Twitter
“Enriched Academics” optional program for grades 1-5 and an “in district” school for grades K-5.
Optional Open Houses: January 21 & 23 at 9am & 6pm

  • Grahamwood has a very active parents association, a very large CLUE (gifted and talented) program, extracurricular programs, enthusiastic teachers, dedicated staff members, an outdoor classroom and more.  Many Optional students live out-of-district, so if you’re in Memphis and are interested in this school you have a great chance of getting in….we moved here in June and my son got a spot, so be patient if you are on the waiting list.
  • Grahamwood’s Optional Program has been fabulous, I truly can not say enough positive things about our experience there. This is our second year at Grahamwood. We actually switched our daughter out of private school due to finances and she wasn’t learning enough. She has caught up and exceeded expectations since we switched. She is now in 3rd grade and I’m ready to test for optional. I also have a son who is in special ed pre-k at g’wood. We love it there!! The teachers and staff are awesome!
Students (including mine) in a Grahamwood Optional ad

Idlewild Elementary
school website  | PTO website | PTO Facebook page
A K-5th grade “Science and Technology” Optional school, no in-district program
Optional Open Houses: January 21-24, 9am-noon.
We have loved our year at Idlewild! They have optional kindergarten! 

Idlewild K, 1st and 2nd graders at field day

Peabody Elementary
school website | PTO website | PTO Twitter
A 1st-5th grade “Enriched Academics/International Studies” Optional school with a PreK-5th grade In-district school.
Optional Open House: January 9 at 8:30am & 6pm
It is a small Optional School with a focus on International Studies with a Russian immersion language program. Because it is small (3 classes/grade level and only one optional class/grade level), and is highly sought after by the neighborhood, we only have a few spots for out of district students. But if you feel like camping out in line, your child will get an incredible education! Great school (Optional or Not) Definitely worth the line to get my daughter in three years ago.

Richland Elementary
school website | PTO website | PTO Facebook page | PTO Twitter
K-5th grades, not an optional school

  • We have loved Richland Elementary- the parent involvement is so great and academically it seems pretty challenging. My Kindergardener can speak more Japanese than I ever thought possible. They have tours once a month. (901) 416-2148
  • We’re so happy with Richland Elementary!
  • You’ll have the best chance of getting onto Richland as a kindergartener. Richland is indeed best elementary ( not optional) and both my kids are / were prepared for optional middle schools.
  • Richland is the best. And I was not zoned for it. I got there about 30-45 minutes before the doors opened. Got in line and waited until the very last moment for them to call. We did get in and my son LOVES it! It doesn’t matter the age, it matters where you are in line when you go and how many spots are opened! I will say, Grahamwood would have been my 2nd choice, but we never got a call from them. My daughter is a 4th grader at Richland and has received a top-notch education there since kindergarten. She started out with Spanish in kindergarten and 1st grade then Japanese was incorporated into the curriculum. She is on her 3rd year… of Japanese and loves it. She recently had an opportunity to use her language skills with native Japanese tourists visiting downtown Memphis. They were impressed. The teachers work hard to make sure these kids are prepared for White Station Middle. The parental involvement is awesome! Being a White Station (optional student) alum myself, I can vouch for the incredible quality of education at both White Station Middle School and White Station High School. Grahamwood has always had a terrific optional program, as well.

Riverwood Elementary
school website | PTO website
An optional school of “Community Service and Global Awareness” and an in-district school, K-5th grades
Optional Open Houses: January 21 at 9am & 6pm

  • Riverwood Elementary School is the Best!!!!
  • Riverwood Elementry. Great MCS, great location, family atmosphere and the principal has gotten several state awards. On top of all of this the school is OPTIONAL.  And the school is only two years old!!!

Sea Isle Elementary
school website | school Facebook 
A PreK-5th grade school, not an optional school

  • We are at Sea Isle and have been pleased so far. Small school (only 4 first grade classes.)
  • That is my only wish for Sea Isle too (a foreign language program), but the teachers are great, and there is a great feeling of community there that I love. We love Sea Isle! We’ve had a great experience there…very active PTA and great teachers K-2..My daughter will be starting 3rd grade there this year and we’re very excited!

Snowden Elementary/Middle
school website | PTO Facebook page | Snowden School Foundation
A PreK-8th grade school, optional program for grades 1-8.
Optional Open Houses: January 14 at 6pm and January 14-16 from 8:30-10:30 (elementary only)

White Station Elementary
school website 
K-5th grade in district school, not an optional school

  • I’ve been pretty happy with White Station Elementary. This is our first year (I have a Kindergartener and 1st Grader) and I like our teachers, PTO is great and so is the rest of the staff. I only wish that there was a foreign language program was offered.
  • Could not speak more highly of this school! My child is in kindergarten and has learned so incredibly much there! He is now able to read “Level 2” books (could not read when he started) and can add double digits. There are 19 kids in his class and everything is so organized and well-run. The school building is like new (6 or 7 years old). It is not overcrowded at all. There is an awesome gym and space to play, huge music room where each kid plays a xylophone or drum or other instrument, a huge art room, etc. Our child feels loved there and loves all if his friends. We knew no one going into it and have met so many awesome parents since. It is THE best kept secret in Memphis.
  • All three of my boys went there, and I could not speak highly enough of WSE!! Great teachers, and I understand that the new principal is fantastic!
  • Ms. Thomas, the principal IS fantastic!……and yes, the teachers are great

Middle Schools

WSMS

White Station Middle School
school website | PTO Facebook page
6th-8th grade optional and in district programs.
Optional Open House:  January 16 at 6pm

  • White Station Middle is a great school!
  • A proud and happy parent of both Grahamwood Elementary and White Station Middle!

Maxine Smith STEAM Academy
school website | PTO Facebook page
The NEW midtown middle school (formerly Fairview Middle School, new name TBD) is offering an ALL optional STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Mathematics) program.  This is a new Optional school that will run in partnership with Christian Brothers University.  According to this CA article, the school plans to open with 100 qualified sixth graders and 100 qualified seventh graders.  They will add an eighth grade for the 2015-16 school year.
Open House: at Christian Brothers University Buckman Hall – Spain Auditorium on January 13 at 6pm.

High Schools

White Station High School
school website  | school Facebook page | school Twitter
9th-12th grade optional and in district programs
Optional Open House: January 9 at 6pm

The Run for Sparta 5K
The Run for Sparta 5K for White Station High School

Kingsbury High School
school website
Open House: January 30 at 6pm
Kingsbury has some good things going on re: foreign language, international studies. And they are a truly diverse student body. Look at their stats. 

Central High School
school website
Optional Open House:  January 23 at 6pm
We have neighbors who go to Central…always hear good things about their Optional Program

Overton High School
school website | school Twitter
Optional Open House:  January 21 at 6pm
Overton. My alma mater. Best band director in the city, if your kid’s into that. Also, I believe it’s the only CAPA school in the city now.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jack Maxwell says

    Suzanne:
    I am hoping that you can post some info on upcoming events at Grahamwood Elementary School on East Memphis Moms. First, we are proud to announce that beginning in the 2016-2017 Grahamwood Elementary will be adding a Pre-K CLUE program at our school. To apply for this program, please call Dr. Yelvington at 416.0155. Additionally, we will be hosting our 2016-2017 Optional Open Houses on January 19th @ 6:00 PM, January 20th @ 9:00 AM and January 21st @ 5:00 PM. For additional information, please call Dr. Maxwell at 416-5993. Thanks for hosting this wonderfully informative website!
    Respectfully,
    Dr. D. Jackson Maxwell, NBCT
    Optional Facilitator
    Grahamwood Elementary School

    Reply

  3. Kerri says

    How do you find the boundaries for different schools? It would be great if we could move into an area where our kids would automatically go to a great elementary school. I just can’t seem to figure out how to know which areas are assigned to which schools!

    Reply

  4. Jack Maxwell says

    Hey Suzanne:
    I hope you are doing well. I was hoping you could post a couple of things on the Grahamwood Elementary spot on your website. Grahamwood will be having Open Houses on Thursday, January 15, 2015 at 9:00AM & 1:00PM and Tuesday, January 20, 2015 @ 6:00PM. Also, the link for our website has changed to http://www.sck12.org/grahamwood.es
    Thanks for your time and consideration of my requests.
    Respectfully,
    Dr. D. Jackson Maxwell, NBCT
    Optional Facilitator
    Grahamwood Elementary School

    Reply

  5. AshleyB says

    Just want to point out that Christian Brothers University has pointed out in the media that they will not be “running” the new STEAM middle school, only partnering with SCS.

    Reply

  6. Erin says

    We are new to TN and bought a home in Germantown over the summer. Can anyone comment on Germantown schools? I can’t find any candid information comparing Riverdale ES, Farmington ES and Dogwood ES. We will have a choice for next year on which school to send our daughter (she will be in first grade next year). Currently, we are in a private school and very happy with it, but are concerned about the financial impact of a private education for all three of our children in the long-run. If anyone can tell me their feelings on the three germantown schools listed above, i would greatly appreciate any honest feedback.

    Reply

  7. JCP says

    Note that now the Germantown Elem, Middle, and High schools are optional schools for 2014-2015. They might be a good option for people close to the eastern part of East Memphis and could have a lot of available seats, depending on how the attendance zones get drawn.

    Reply

  9. Valerie says

    Just wondering if there was any more feedback on middle schools? My son will be in sixth grade next year and did extremely well on TCAP, he is in optional and clue. I’m trying to figure out the best place for muddle school.

    Reply

  10. Alicia says

    Hey everyone,

    I was just letting you know that BSC provides optional testing for your children. You get the results that day and they have two offices, one downtown and one now in East Memphis. They have two providers that are on the approved list. Good Luck this school year!

    Reply

  11. Emily says

    We loved white station elementary. Once we made it to the middle school, we became less than impressed. By the time we made it through optional & traditional classes in the high school we were completely disappointed. Our other son will not be attending any of the white station schools (fingers crossed we can afford it!) quite a disappointment considering we moved in the white station school district for the schools!

    Reply

    • ESAU says

      The whole system is paying the price for mistakes made long ago. They had a chance in 1973 to place Optional Programs in all the schools, but instead placed them in only a very few. About a decade later they were expanded a very little bit, then a bit more again later. The still cover only about 25% of the neighborhoods and its been forty years.

      It’s not too late to fix that. I guess we will see what happens over the next decade or so, but who’s gonna wait for that?

      Reply

    • Arnita says

      Emily, why were you disappointed with Whitestation middle and High? I thought they were one of the top producing public schools in the city.

      Reply

  12. Brett says

    I teach at Grahamwood in the optional program. If you put your child in our program, they will be ready for middle school and beyond. My oldest son is also in the program, and I wouldn’t send him anywhere else!

    Reply

  13. CaDaLily says

    All the schools listed here have great reputations. I think it’s about time Shady Grove gets another look. With the new principal, things are really improving. My daughter has been going since Pre-K And we love it. She’s going into 1st next year, we’re looking forward to the new pickup/dropoff lane, learning Japanese, and we can’t wait to see who our new teacher will be. I think it deserves another look if anyone was wondering.

    Reply

    • bebsieboo says

      Yes, I just enrolled my daughter into Shady Grove. I have heard great things about them. My child is in third grade and this is the first year they will have the Japanese program and all students in the school will learn the language 30 min per day. Thanks for your post, Im excited !

      Reply

  14. Anonymous says

    My son will be going into the 7th grade and I’m looking for a middle school that has a good resource program. He currently attends Kingsbury Middle but I’m not happy with their “inclusion” program. We are moving to the midtown area this month, any suggestions?

    Reply

  16. Anonymous says

    I will be moving at the end of the school year out of the Dexter Elementary District into Sea Isle district. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with Sea Isle??? Should I look into private schools?

    Reply

  17. Anonymous says

    I am doing open enrollment not the optional for my child. I was wondering if the open enrollment process is the same. Will I have to camp out or stand in line overnight?

    Reply

  18. Anonymous says

    My 6yr old has ADHD on is currently in a Charter School. I am looking to transfer into a MCS that can accomadate my child. MCS have way more resources then the charter schools. My child has a IEP and get OT and Speech but not enough hours along with resource pullout. What will be a good elementary MCS to look into?

    Reply

  19. Suzanne says

    I asked about CDC on the EMM Facebook page.
    “Sea isle elementary has a great program. My son went to the CDC preschool class for 2 years.”
    “Some schools have a PK CDC, some have primary CDC (age. 5-7), certain schools might have both, etc. iAll schools have resource for any age.”
    “Many of the public schools have excellent CDC programs. Not all of the schools will have a comprehensive hearing impaired program, so definitely look for a program/school that fits your needs. For Memphis city, contact exceptional children office. They should be able to help!”
    “I would contact the exceptional children’s office as well. I would guess it depends on the age of the child. My son is in the special education pre-k class at Grahamwood and it’s for ages 3-5. They will test your child at Colonial and then tell you what they recommend, and what school they will send you to. You can always try to go to what school you prefer, but sometimes that takes a little work.”
    “Kingsbury has a phenomenal program, Grahamwood also has CDC classes.”

    Reply

  21. Anonymous says

    What schools have a good resource/cdc program? I gave gotten a lot of helpful tips from reading this article as far as what I must do for transfering.

    Reply

  22. Anonymous says

    I’ve been teaching for eleven years, and I’ve been at G’Wood for almost three. I love our staff, and the exciting things they do with children. We care about our students, and offer lots of enrichment. I hope to bring my 5 month old there with me one day! I know everyone says this, but Grahamwood students are the best! I love going to work everyday.

    Reply

  23. Anonymous says

    This is our second year at Grahamwood. We actually switched our daughter out of private school due to finances and she wasn’t learning enough. She has caught up and exceeded expectations since we switched. She is now in 3rd grade and Im ready to test for optional. I also have a son who is in special ed pre-k at g’wood. We love it there!! The teachers and staff are awesome!!

    Reply

    • Arnita says

      Just curious about which private school you pulled your child out of because they weren’t learning enough. I am considering independent schools especially at prek3 stage because I do like smaller classrooms and Christian environment.

      Reply

    • Arnita says

      Just curious about which private school you pulled your child out of because they weren’t learning enough. I am considering independent schools especially at prek3 stage because I do like smaller classrooms and Christian environment.

      Reply

  24. Suzanne says

    My son was at G’wood for 1st grade and we are now half-way thru 2nd grade and I have never thought he had too much homework. Last year he did it in around 20 minutes, before school. This year it takes a little longer, and he has a monthly book club (read 8 books) and occasional projects (due in about a week, always at least one weekend to work on them).

    Reply

  25. Catherine says

    Does anyone know if “enriched academics” or other optional programs means more homework? I want an advanced academic environment for my kids, but not the pressure cooker culture that comes with many competitive schools or the homework taking over our lives (it’s pretty bad at our regular school now!). Thanks!

    Reply

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