My family moved to Reno 3 years ago and we live in what's considered SE Reno. It's the Donner Springs area just north of South Meadows and Damonte Ranch. We love living in this area. We are zoned for Donner Springs elementary which is not my favorite. If you look at the school report cards the older grades don't do so good there. My daughter is starting kindergarten though and we have met the teacher and talked to other parents at the school and the kindergarten program with Ms.Tibbits is supposed to be great. One of the top schools in the area is Huffaker Elementary. It is also in South Reno, but we just missed the boundaries for it. It's a yr round school, but doesn't deal with all the tracks so that is a plus. You need t live on the West side of S.Virginia, by Huffaker and Lakeside to be in that zoning. Damonte Ranch Elem. also got high educational rankings...this could all change by the time your guy is in school though.
As for Sparks...my daughters best friends lives in the newer part up off Pyramid highway (Spanish Springs)and if we ever did move to Sparks that's the only part I'd consider. We're going to be looking for a house soon and have been scoping neighborhoods and honestly don't really want to leave S.Reno. It is more central to everything than Sparks is. Only 5 minutes from the mall, great parks, schools, etc. My husband is a letter carrier t the post office and has worked in all over Reno and knows the neighborhoods and he wouldn't pick anywhere else either. Houses are cheaper in the N.Valleys, but some of the areas aren't that great no matter what the pictures show and you'll get more snow..if you have to travel on 1 of the 2 freeways during traffic expect at least a 20-30 minute delay to get across town. Luckily with Reno being so small (we're from San Diego) you can avoid the freeways most of the time. I'm more than happy to give you any more info if you want it. Good luck!