Moving to Atlanta and in need of school advice (Sandy Springs: rental, house)

[Beadlover]

I've been reading this forum for several months now, and have found a ton of great advice, but I need some current, relevant advice on our upcoming relocation to Atlanta. We currently live in the Cincinnati area. My husband is a pilot for Delta and they are closing his category here, so we will be relocating to Atlanta after school is out in the spring.

Our biggest challenge is finding a good school fit for our children. They are currently in an outstanding Montessori program here, entering 4th and 5th grade in a few weeks. They have been in this school since age 3. They are highly gifted--scary smart kids and believe it or not this is a difficult thing to deal with! They love learning and love school, and we want to keep it that way. The older one is a sensitive soul, and change and transition are not as easy. That's why we are giving them almost a year to get used to the idea of moving. They will be entering 5th and 6th grades in Atlanta.

We want to keep them in private school through 8th grade, and had really wanted to transition to public for high school. (My thought was that by then the variety of course options and AP classes would be sufficiently challenging.) We visited several schools and areas and had narrowed it down to First Montessori School in Sandy Springs, and Shreiner Academy in Marietta. We had targeted East Cobb for the house hunt with Walton High School as the goal.

However, it has recently been suggested to me that they may do better in private high school as well, with only one transition (the move) and then they would be in the same school until they graduate.

I have since discovered Paideia, Galloway, and the Arbor Montessori, but these are ITP, which was totally off of our radar. Do people spend 30-45 minutes twice a day every day to take their kids to these schools, or do they live right around there? Is there busing?

We would like to be where the public school is still an option for us, in case something happens and we can't afford private tuition at the high school level. (You never know...)

For the house our budget is $600-$700K. My husband would like a wooded backyard. I would like a terrace level and 4 beds/3 baths. A neighborhood pool would be great, especially for the kids for socialization. Work commute is not an issue because he only has to go to work 4 times a month. We have only ever known suburban life, so I have no idea if we would like an urban lifestyle.

We are pretty moderate/liberal-leaning in our political beliefs, and would like to stay away from a religious school. What we are concerned with is having an individualized education for our kids with the ability to work at the level they are capable, not be stuck within a predetermined “grade level”. We also have a need for musical and choral activity. They both sing for the Cincinnati Children’s Choir and one plays piano and the other violin.
Sorry for the long post! I tried not to ramble too much….Any and all advice is greatly welcome-thanks!

[Georgia]

If your husband is a PILOT for Delta then live where they do, Peach Tree City!
Good schools and a good area.
Tell him to ask his brethern, they will provide direction.

[RainyRainyDay]

If you're moderate/liberal-leaning you'll find the like-minded people ITP. East Cobb is predominantly conservative. I'm in East Cobb myself and only know the intown areas from accounts on this forum but I suspect you'd find the surroundings and lifestyle congenial in Decatur, Candler Park et al. - close to Padeia and Galloway. Some people with more intown knowledge will likely contribute advice soon.

The public high schools that you would likely be looking at, ITP, would be Decatur HS and Henry Grady HS. Both seem to get enthusiastic testimonials. On the other hand, the public schools ITP have more demographically mixed intake than the East Cobb schools and this drags down the average SAT scores. Some parents favor the exposure to a broader cross-section of the community, along with academically stimulating opportunities that you can find ITP. Others prefer to put their children into a more uniformly upper-income, high-expectations setting such as Walton. It depends on what feels right for your family.

Speaking for myself, my child is a rising junior and high-achieving student at Lassiter, an East Cobb high school that's a little north of Walton and a little less competitive. She's getting a great education, will be in all AP classes this year, and so forth. I do sometimes wonder if she'd have been better served by being in a more socially mixed environment, rather than the lily-white academic hothouse. We're liberal-leaning and she feels isolated at school, where pretty much all the teachers and parents are strong conservative Republicans, and most teens follow that line. But it's a very safe place, and academically demanding, which is a good thing for my child as it likely would be for yours.

[lastminutemom]

Riverwood High School (Sandy Springs, Fulton County) is outstanding and that is where I might consider looking if I were you. It gives you far more options for easy access to private schools than even close-in Walton, in my opinion, plus the option for an outstanding public high school if you choose that route. (As a reference, I know of two students who attend Riverwood who scored perfect SAT math scores in 7th grade and have had their needs accommodated beautifully.)

I don't think any of the schools you listed have busing and the private schools that do have it, add a huge amount for the privilege of riding the bus.

You cannot live in E. Cobb and utilize Paideia or Arbor. The commute isn't practical and doesn't make sense socially. (Arbor doesn't have a high school does it?) Galloway is very doable for E. Cobb.

One of the things with smaller private schools is that the tend to draw from a smaller geographic area. You don't want to have the only kids coming from far away.

[SW30303]

You gave a pretty good precise description of what you would like in Atlanta. Many people who work at the airport do live in Fayette County (or some other areas on the Southside).

If you want to go the private school route, getting the children into many private schools mid-year is difficult as most private schools in Atlanta send out acceptance letters in March or April for the Fall year. If you select a small church affiliated private school, you can have more flexibility. There are Montessori schools all over Atlanta, I believe the tuition at them would range about 7K-10K per child for the year, so I don't know if you are in the budget for that or not. I do not know if the Montessori schools accept mid-year, but I did look closely at them myself.

I think you should visit the area before making a house purchase to see for yourself what you might prefer. The best of luck to you.

[cder341]

Originally Posted by Beadlover

We would like to be where the public school is still an option for us, in case something happens and we can't afford private tuition at the high school level. (You never know...)

As you'll find out, the above need will rule out virtually all of Atlanta inside I-285. Atlanta is simply a commuter city.

[peachstatehomegal]

Coming from the south side of Atlanta is a bit of an easier commute to Hartsfield than from the north side (lots of traffic). And yes, outside the 285 perimeter is your best bet. Find a rental in the area that will give you time to check things out while you're here before buying - that way you can make sure you're in the right proximity for schooling, work commute, etc.

[Lilycharm]

I am about to move out of state, but if we ever return I would think about the Riverwood High School district as well. I have a few friends who pay the school to send their kids there since they live out of disctrict. Not sure what the cost is, but could be a fall back option regardless of where you live if true private schools become unaffordable.

Good luck with your move!

[Beadlover]

THANK YOU everyone, for taking the time to respond to my post! For some clarification:
Commute is not an issue for my husband--he is willing to live an hour away. #1 priority for us is schools.
We are not moving mid-year. We will be transitioning the kids to Atlanta schools for the 2011/12 year, so we should be pretty good for timing for private schools applications.
We are certainly not opposed to living ITP, we just don't know where to start as far as neighborhoods, and this would be a lifestyle change for us.
We did visit Atlanta, in fact, for a week and toured 5 different schools. However we focused on East Cobb/Marietta, Alpharetta and Johns Creek, and only schools that went through 8th grade. (and one in Cumming--yikes!) We did not tour any of the private schools that go through high school, or anything ITP.

If we stay with Montessori I think our only options are First Montessori and Arbor. Is there a Montessori school at Emory? (for 5th-8th grades) Montessori would be preferred, but not a must.

Riverwood High School looks very appealing. How does the out-of-district thing work? Am I to understand that we would not have a suitable public school option ITP? (according to the needs I mentioned in my original post)

I REALLY appreciate the comments on Riverwood, Lassiter and Walton. I will have to start looking at the homes available in the Riverwood area to see what is available.

Have I missed any schools? Does anyone have personal knowlege of First Montessori, Shreiner, Arbor, Galloway, Paideia...

Thanks again!

[TakeAhike]

The Galloway School: Home

A colleague of mine taught in the Primary Program and it is an excellent experiental environment. How it might compare to your criteria I don't know.

ITP--the Mary Lin Elementary/Grady HS/Morningside/VA Highland area receives excellent reviews. Not a Montessori type environment--perhaps that is why it wasn't mentioned? I didn't read the entire thread so I'm not certain.