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If anyone happens to have any detailed, insider information about these two elementary schools and how they might compare to each other in terms of general atmosphere, we would greatly appreciate it if you could steer us in one direction or or another.
After all the narrowing down we could do on available rental properties in East Cobb, it is coming down to two houses that meet our needs equally well (as house in and of itself). So it is down to the school - which is very important to us, not just academically, but also in terms of how safe, friendly, personal and bullying-free it will be.
We will be renting for a couple of years but we want to get the school area right as we would like to try to buy in the same district when time comes.
East Side Elementary is in the Walton district, Davis is in Lassiter.
They are both rated a 10 by greatschools.org and they both won the Gold in the state-wide testing for the NCLB accountability system (or whatever the heck they are testing there). So academically, they seem to be on par.
At first, we leaned towards the house belonging to East Side Elem. because of its apparent location: closer to the metro area, to Merchant's Walk, area with a slightly more urban feel (if you can even talk about urbanity in suburbia), etc. It also seems more diverse/international (with Asians making up a large percentage of the minority population).
Then we read some parent reviews about East Side that were less than flattering and this is when we began to lean towards Davis. A few of those negative reviews seem to echo the same themes so it sounds like there is at least a bit of real fire causing that smoke to come out.
These parents claim that the school is more hype than substance, overcrowded, overrun with volunteerista moms causing lots of distraction in the classrooms and hallways every day, a place to socialize for non-working "involved" mothers, a lot of emphasis on frilly activities but not enough on academic basics; bullying is commonplace, parent-teacher communication is poor and they harass you like crazy for fund-raising. Again, this is what I got from some parent reviews.
Needless to say, these reviews are hardly inviting, despite the great reputation of the school, despite the top test scores, etc. The school is also quite large (almost 1000 students) and we are not even sure whether that is a good thing or a bad thing.
By contrast, we only read positive reviews about the more modestly located (further out) and smaller sized Davis (about 500 students).
No parent had anything negative to say about it; but then again, there were much fewer reviews available for this one in the first place.
Davis seems to be less diverse/international and with fewer extra-curriculum activities (which we don't care that much about anyway).
We want to nail the school that is more personal, friendlier, where bullying is less likely to happen and where ACADEMICS are an absolute priority.
If you have any information about these two schools, we would appreciate any input/opinion a great deal (regardless of how "biased").
My daughter was at a different elementary school but has been with Davis graduates for middle and high school. The Davis kids in the class of 2012 are a great group - smart and nice. If the families now at Davis are like them, I think they'd suit your values, syracusa. About East Side, I know nothing.
My daughter was at a different elementary school but has been with Davis graduates for middle and high school. The Davis kids in the class of 2012 are a great group - smart and nice. If the families now at Davis are like them, I think they'd suit your values, syracusa. About East Side, I know nothing.
Thank you, RainyDay. It doesn't look like anyone else knows much about comparing these two school, so the mystery remains.
I am torn between the location of East Side and its possibly more international feel on the one hand, and the smaller-size of Davis and its complete lack of negative parental reviews - on the other hand.
We don't have time to visit the schools because we are doing the search from a distance.
Would you say that Davis lacks in diversity?
By diversity I don't just mean "racial/ethnic" but rather lifestyle, culture, outlook, even politics, etc.
Certainly, I'd guess Davis lacks diversity. Mind you, I observe that East Side is a Walton feeder, and I wouldn't say Walton is exactly reputed for diversity of any of the kinds you mention, either. The whole of East Cobb, including both areas you're considering, is probably majority white, conservative, Republican with plenty of stay at home moms. However this is an overall generalization, and there is probably variation between pockets. I'm not a good enough source of information for you.
To tie this to another thread on which I see you've participated, at the moment I guess Davis is one-up for libraries. Many if not all homes in its catchment area would probably have the Mountain View branch as their closest branch, and Mountain View is not slated for closing. East Cobb branch (closest to East Side, I'm surmising) is not so lucky.
Certainly, I'd guess Davis lacks diversity. Mind you, I observe that East Side is a Walton feeder, and I wouldn't say Walton is exactly reputed for diversity of any of the kinds you mention, either. The whole of East Cobb, including both areas you're considering, is probably majority white, conservative, Republican with plenty of stay at home moms. However this is an overall generalization, and there is probably variation between pockets. I'm not a good enough source of information for you.
To tie this to another thread on which I see you've participated, at the moment I guess Davis is one-up for libraries. Many if not all homes in its catchment area would probably have the Mountain View branch as their closest branch, and Mountain View is not slated for closing. East Cobb branch (closest to East Side, I'm surmising) is not so lucky.
East Side does seem to have a relatively large Asian population;
more than any other elementary school in East Cobb.
Yes, just like your international-couple-next-door, we have been dreaming about AIS; but the cash is not there.
East Cobb is a compromise and the lack of diversity in lifestyle, mindset, etc. is not a big draw.
We are at a school near Davis, so I can't talk for Davis specifically, but the area is where we live, and our school feeds into Lassiter. You will actually find quite a bit of diversity....but.....that does not neccessarily translate to inclusion or any genuine tolerance, IMO. Mindset is going to be an issue in the burbs regardless of where. If you want true tolerance and diversity you will have to move ITP. I do think things are changing quite rapidly, and are quite different to even a few years ago, and of course every person who moves into an area who brings positive change with them is a good thing. Also worth noting is the East Cobb PTA is very serious about raising awareness of diversity (all diversity; religion, heritage, race, family status, home language, culture, etc).
We are at a school near Davis, so I can't talk for Davis specifically, but the area is where we live, and our school feeds into Lassiter. You will actually find quite a bit of diversity....but.....that does not neccessarily translate to inclusion or any genuine tolerance, IMO. Mindset is going to be an issue in the burbs regardless of where. If you want true tolerance and diversity you will have to move ITP. I do think things are changing quite rapidly, and are quite different to even a few years ago, and of course every person who moves into an area who brings positive change with them is a good thing. Also worth noting is the East Cobb PTA is very serious about raising awareness of diversity (all diversity; religion, heritage, race, family status, home language, culture, etc).
Zimbochick,
I don't want to open any cans of worms...but would you mind if I asked you what/who may be less "included or tolerated", despite the apparent diversity?
Also, I don't know where exactly I originally got the impression that East Side may be more diverse/cosmopolitan in orientation. Maybe because they have a high number of Asians students but also because I think I read somewhere on their site that X languages are spoken at the school (they were clearly using this as a selling point).
For whatever reason, I thought that the more you go out there (towards Lassiter) the less the diversity/cosmopolitan outlook. But I may be wrong as it sounds like the Walton/Merchant's Walk area may not be any more "international" in feel.
If anyone happens to have any detailed, insider information about these two elementary schools and how they might compare to each other in terms of general atmosphere, we would greatly appreciate it if you could steer us in one direction or or another.
After all the narrowing down we could do on available rental properties in East Cobb, it is coming down to two houses that meet our needs equally well (as house in and of itself). So it is down to the school - which is very important to us, not just academically, but also in terms of how safe, friendly, personal and bullying-free it will be.
We will be renting for a couple of years but we want to get the school area right as we would like to try to buy in the same district when time comes.
East Side Elementary is in the Walton district, Davis is in Lassiter.
They are both rated a 10 by greatschools.org and they both won the Gold in the state-wide testing for the NCLB accountability system (or whatever the heck they are testing there). So academically, they seem to be on par.
At first, we leaned towards the house belonging to East Side Elem. because of its apparent location: closer to the metro area, to Merchant's Walk, area with a slightly more urban feel (if you can even talk about urbanity in suburbia), etc. It also seems more diverse/international (with Asians making up a large percentage of the minority population).
Then we read some parent reviews about East Side that were less than flattering and this is when we began to lean towards Davis. A few of those negative reviews seem to echo the same themes so it sounds like there is at least a bit of real fire causing that smoke to come out.
These parents claim that the school is more hype than substance, overcrowded, overrun with volunteerista moms causing lots of distraction in the classrooms and hallways every day, a place to socialize for non-working "involved" mothers, a lot of emphasis on frilly activities but not enough on academic basics; bullying is commonplace, parent-teacher communication is poor and they harass you like crazy for fund-raising. Again, this is what I got from some parent reviews.
Needless to say, these reviews are hardly inviting, despite the great reputation of the school, despite the top test scores, etc. The school is also quite large (almost 1000 students) and we are not even sure whether that is a good thing or a bad thing.
By contrast, we only read positive reviews about the more modestly located (further out) and smaller sized Davis (about 500 students).
No parent had anything negative to say about it; but then again, there were much fewer reviews available for this one in the first place.
Davis seems to be less diverse/international and with fewer extra-curriculum activities (which we don't care that much about anyway).
We want to nail the school that is more personal, friendlier, where bullying is less likely to happen and where ACADEMICS are an absolute priority.
If you have any information about these two schools, we would appreciate any input/opinion a great deal (regardless of how "biased").
Thank you so much!
If you are comparing Davis and East Side, they do have some differences--but not much. Yes, East Side may have more "diversity" (Asians), but it will still be a tense environment especially since the school is a main feeder to Walton High.
Advantages of Davis: smaller (the school is a great elementary school size...500 students...this is awesome), more intimate.
Advantages of East Side: closer-in, more surface-level diversity.
After reading your subsequent posts in this thread, syracusa, I still think you should look into two other East Cobb elementary schools that will meet your criteria (1. diversity--in people, opinions, child-raising; 2. closer-in; 3. great/superb academics):
*Kincaid Elementary *Eastvalley Elementary (especially this one)
I've mentioned these schools to you before in your earliest threads.
With your need to be in an ultimate/top school district based on scores/rankings, plus your other criteria, you really will not find what you are looking for--unless you relinquish the desire to be in "Walton/Pope/Lassiter."
If you are comparing Davis and East Side, they do have some differences--but not much. Yes, East Side may have more "diversity" (Asians), but it will still be a tense environment especially since the school is a main feeder to Walton High.
Advantages of Davis: smaller (the school is a great elementary school size...500 students...this is awesome), more intimate.
Advantages of East Side: closer-in, more surface-level diversity.
After reading your subsequent posts in this thread, syracusa, I still think you should look into two other East Cobb elementary schools that will meet your criteria (1. diversity--in people, opinions, child-raising; 2. closer-in; 3. great/superb academics):
*Kincaid Elementary *Eastvalley Elementary (especially this one)
I've mentioned these schools to you before in your earliest threads.
With your need to be in an ultimate/top school district based on scores/rankings, plus your other criteria, you really will not find what you are looking for--unless you relinquish the desire to be in "Walton/Pope/Lassiter."
I hope this helps some. Good Luck!
Thank you, aries.
Any input helps at this point as we are trying to make a decision from a distance - which is downright frustrating. I will not even go to see the houses/schools as I have no one to leave the kids with here in Massachusetts; so my husband will just go, look and pick - all within a 24 hours + frame. Hence all the questions I am posting here.
By surface-level diversity...do you mean strictly "skin-deep" (racial/ethnic) but not mindset/mentality/lifestyle/politics of families?
It is true we are kind of psychologically stuck on the Walton-Lassiter-Pope triangle - and we MAY be wrong, at the end of the day. But we really do want to see how our children would do in a truly academically challenging environment. The best we can do is a really good public school as we don't have the money to put two children in top notch private schools K-12.
Part of it could be the continual media bashing of GA's public school system, overall, which makes you feel like ONLY the very top districts would do here and that public schools here are more like an "all or nothing" game.
You will not believe how many people from Ma flat out told us that we'd be hard pressed to give our children the same level of education in GA's public school system as what they would have gotten in Mass. Even in very good schools.
I do know this is an exaggeration but given I have never had children in schools in the US, I still don't know who's who and what's what until I try.
It still frustrates me to see that being in a truly academically challenging environment seems to be incompatible with also being in a friendly, laid-back, truly community-oriented atmosphere where children will build close relationships, form good friendships, etc - instead of just "tensely" competing with one another.
Many people (yourself included) seem to say that if the environment is academically top notch it will also be "tense".
I guess this ties into the "Why the push for the superior child" thread on the Education board.
Sigh. Reality is you can't have everything.
What middle-school and high-school does East Valley feed into?
I
Thank you, aries.
Any input helps at this point as we are trying to make a decision from a distance - which is downright frustrating. I will not even go to see the houses/schools as I have no one to leave the kids with here in Massachusetts; so my husband will just go, look and pick - all within a 24 hours + frame. Hence all the questions I am posting here.
By surface-level diversity...do you mean strictly "skin-deep" (racial/ethnic) but not mindset/mentality/lifestyle/politics of families?
It is true we are kind of psychologically stuck on the Walton-Lassiter-Pope triangle - and we MAY be wrong, at the end of the day. But we really do want to see how our children would do in a truly academically challenging environment. The best we can do is a really good public school as we don't have the money to put two children in top notch private schools K-12.
Part of it could be the continual media bashing of GA's public school system, overall, which makes you feel like ONLY the very top districts would do here and that public schools here are more like an "all or nothing" game.
You will not believe how many people from Ma flat out told us that we'd be hard pressed to give our children the same level of education in GA's public school system as what they would have gotten in Mass. Even in very good schools.
I do know this is an exaggeration but given I have never had children in schools in the US, I still don't know who's who and what's what until I try.
It still frustrates me to see that being in a truly academically challenging environment seems to be incompatible with also being in a friendly, laid-back, truly community-oriented atmosphere where children will build close relationships, form good friendships, etc - instead of just "tensely" competing with one another.
Many people (yourself included) seem to say that if the environment is academically top notch it will also be "tense".
I guess this ties into the "Why the push for the superior child" thread on the Education board.
Sigh. Reality is you can't have everything.
What middle-school and high-school does East Valley feed into?
I
1. By "skin-deep," that's exactly what I mean.
2. It's very unfortunate that people in MA are saying this (and I know what you are talking about), especially since almost all of them have never lived in Georgia, nor ever been to Georgia. They do not know what they are talking about--at all.
I am from Georgia, I have lived and worked (in the education system) in Georgia. I have also lived and worked (in the education system ) in Massachusetts. I have deep knowledge and experience in one of those notorious high-flying Massachusetts districts in the Route 128 corridor.
The dirty little secret of Massachusetts is that it is a state (in terms of education districts/towns/cities) that is extremely polarized with an extreme case of have/have-nots. I personally think it will be detrimental to them in the long-run.
3. Unfortunately, the older I get, what you say about academics+community/laid-back is true (in the U.S.) in terms of class and more "free-range" parenting.
4. Eastvalley Elementary feeds into East Cobb Middle School (good/decent), and Wheeler High School (top-notch/excellent...for non-magnet and magnet!).
I hope this helps. Good Luck!
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