diff --git a/scripts/reset-test-db.sh b/scripts/reset-test-db.sh
index 575c578c94..f002f49368 100755
--- a/scripts/reset-test-db.sh
+++ b/scripts/reset-test-db.sh
@@ -28,34 +28,54 @@ DB_CACHE_DIR="common/test/db_cache"
 echo "CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS edxtest;" | mysql -u root
 
 # Clear out the test database
+#
+# We are using the django-extensions's reset_db command which uses "DROP DATABASE" and
+# "CREATE DATABASE" in case the tests are being run in an environment (e.g. devstack
+# or a jenkins worker environment) that already ran tests on another commit that had
+# different migrations that created, dropped, or altered tables.
+#
+# Note that as a side effect, this might render the --serversonly / --testsonly
+# paver options useless or broken.
+echo "Issuing a reset_db command to the bok_choy MySQL database."
 ./manage.py lms --settings bok_choy reset_db --traceback --noinput
 
 # If there are cached database schemas/data, load them
 if [[ -f $DB_CACHE_DIR/bok_choy_schema.sql && -f $DB_CACHE_DIR/bok_choy_migrations_data.sql && -f $DB_CACHE_DIR/bok_choy_data.json ]]; then
 
+    echo "Found the bok_choy DB cache files. Loading them into the database..."
     # Load the schema, then the data (including the migration history)
+    echo "Loading the schema from the filesystem into the MySQL DB."
     mysql -u root edxtest < $DB_CACHE_DIR/bok_choy_schema.sql
+    echo "Loading the migration data from the filesystem into the MySQL DB."
     mysql -u root edxtest < $DB_CACHE_DIR/bok_choy_migrations_data.sql
+    echo "Loading the fixture data from the filesystem into the MySQL DB."
     ./manage.py lms --settings bok_choy loaddata $DB_CACHE_DIR/bok_choy_data.json
 
     # Re-run migrations to ensure we are up-to-date
+    echo "Running the lms migrations on the bok_choy DB."
     ./manage.py lms --settings bok_choy migrate --traceback --noinput
+    echo "Running the cms migrations on the bok_choy DB."
     ./manage.py cms --settings bok_choy migrate --traceback --noinput
 
 # Otherwise, update the test database and update the cache
 else
-
+    echo "Did not find a bok_choy DB cache. Creating a new one from scratch."
     # Clean the cache directory
     rm -rf $DB_CACHE_DIR && mkdir -p $DB_CACHE_DIR
 
     # Re-run migrations on the test database
+    echo "Issuing a migrate command to the bok_choy MySQL database for the lms django apps."
     ./manage.py lms --settings bok_choy migrate --traceback --noinput
+    echo "Issuing a migrate command to the bok_choy MySQL database for the cms django apps."
     ./manage.py cms --settings bok_choy migrate --traceback --noinput
 
     # Dump the schema and data to the cache
+    echo "Using the dumpdata command to save the fixture data to the filesystem."
     ./manage.py lms --settings bok_choy dumpdata > $DB_CACHE_DIR/bok_choy_data.json
     # dump_data does not dump the django_migrations table so we do it separately.
+    echo "Saving the django_migrations table of the bok_choy DB to the filesystem."
     mysqldump -u root --no-create-info edxtest django_migrations > $DB_CACHE_DIR/bok_choy_migrations_data.sql
+    echo "Saving the schema of the bok_choy DB to the filesystem."
     mysqldump -u root --no-data --skip-comments --skip-dump-date edxtest > $DB_CACHE_DIR/bok_choy_schema.sql
 fi