Private schools for child of same-sex parents (Franklin, Green Hill: university, camps)

[campsis81]

Our family is moving to Nashville this summer and we are looking into schools for our child who will be starting 2nd grade. We are zoned for Harpeth Valley Elementary, and we don't know anything about it. Does anyone have children there now or have some experiences to share? Is it a school that you are happy with?

We are also applying to various private schools in the area, as well. We are sensitive to the fact that many Christian independent schools are right-of-center and may not be welcoming of our child and our same-sex parent family. Not hating on their right to do so, I just would like to know if there are any schools that we should avoid. Not having lived in TN for over 20 years, we are not "in the know."

Here are the schools we are looking at (in random order)

Christ Presbyterian Academy
Harding Academy
Battle Ground Academy
Franklin Road Academy
Linden Waldorf
University School of Nashville
St. Matthew's Catholic School in Franklin
Holy Trinity Montessori
Ensworth Academy

If anyone has any thoughts on which schools we should stay away from, our family would very much appreciate your advice. Most schools have very limited space at this point, so we want to apply broadly.

Many thanks for your thoughts and advice.

[edwardscissorfeet]

Your most welcoming schools will be University School and Linden Waldorf. You'll likely have a much easier shot at getting into Linden Waldorf. It's extremely progressive - outdoor learning, very little, if any, electronics.

Harding/Ensworth are not religious, so they can be considered left of center in Nashville terms.

Franklin Road is likely as progressive as a religious school can be in this town. While they're very upfront about being religious, they're also very accepting, and they don't insist that students/parents are religious.

Christ Presbyterian will be more conservative than you would like. I suspect the same for Battle Ground and St Matthews, but I can't say with any experience.

I'm not familiar with Holy Trinity.

[septimus]

From your list

USN, Holy Trinity and Linden Waldorf are most progressive

Is there a reason Harpeth Hall/MBA aren't on your list? I know same sex parents with kids there.

[campsis81]

Thank you so much for the replies! Harpeth Hall/MBA aren't on our list bc we are applying for 2nd grade, but that is great to know for the future! Holy Trinity Montessori stopped responding to our emails and phone calls, so I was worried that maybe when they saw from our application that we are a same-sex parent family that they cut off communication. But maybe they are just super busy!

Does anyone have any experience with Linden Waldorf? I don't know very much about the school but had heard some encouraging things, and they do seem to have some openings.

Many thanks again.

[septimus]

Originally Posted by campsis81

Thank you so much for the replies! Harpeth Hall/MBA aren't on our list bc we are applying for 2nd grade, but that is great to know for the future! Holy Trinity Montessori stopped responding to our emails and phone calls, so I was worried that maybe when they saw from our application that we are a same-sex parent family that they cut off communication. But maybe they are just super busy!

Does anyone have any experience with Linden Waldorf? I don't know very much about the school but had heard some encouraging things, and they do seem to have some openings.

Many thanks again.

Holy Trinity is very popular so they may not have space If you are looking for Montessori also try Abintra. (my co-worker has her son there).

My old neighbors were at Linden Waldorf and seemed happy. Just be prepared for the Waldorf method, some love it but others have a hard transition if they move to traditional school (I know there are a few kids that go on to HH/MBA for middle and high school so not a huge concern).

Also if you are in Green Hills/Belle Meade/12S do not rule out MNPS. My youngest went to Julia Green which was "okay" I know people love it but compared to JT Moore the leadership was meh. My kids and I loved JT Moore. It has fabulous staff and principal. Most of my youngest kid's friends at JTM went to Glendale or Waverly-Belmont and JTM feeds a good number each year to MBA (less to HH since HH starts at 5th).

[shinestx]

Just curious as to why private schools? You'll get far more diversity from Metro schools.

[campsis81]

Hi shinestx, we aren’t necessarily. In my first post I mentioned the MNPS we are zoned for and asked for any insights regarding it. So far no one has given any.

We’ve done both public and private before and generally have found smaller independent schools better to be a better fit for our family. But it really does depend on the school. A great public school beats a mediocre independent one. I wonder if anyone has experience with Harpeth Valley who reads this post?

[septimus]

I just noticed you posted you are zoned for Harpeth Valley. I have a friend whose kids went there are are now at Meigs and MLK. Her older kid did 2 years at Bellevue Middle before MLK and she's had a positive experience. She is an active and engaged parent. The assistant principal from our time at JTM went to Bellevue Middle and he is fantastic. Also Bellevue is getting a really swanky new high school.