Normal Park Museum Magnet School’s skyrocketing in-zone attendance creates questions

The 18-unit Fairmount Apartments, a public housing development of the Chattanooga Housing Authority set to open in March, overlooks Normal Park Museum Magnet Upper School.

A new high-end subdivision planned for a North Chattanooga hilltop is yet another nod to the desirability of the area and the popularity of nearby Normal Park Museum Magnet School.

In the last decade, teachers and parents at Normal Park have built from scratch a reputation of a high-performing school where many parents now want to send their kids. That’s a stark difference from before, when school officials went door to door asking families to enroll.

Today the school is in such demand that a house in the attendance zone can sell for $50,000 more than a comparable home in other areas, and parent groups have petitioned the school board in attempts to get their children admitted.

The result has been an influx of students. In the past five years, the school has more than doubled attendance and added a second campus and three grade levels.