Mill Creek School District?? (Atlanta, Roswell: apartment, new home, neighborhoods)

[NYtoGA]

Looking for some input on the Mill Creek School District. Mostly interested in the High School and Middle School. Seems like a good district based on scores but would love to hear from someone who knows first hand. Good teachers? Helpful administration? Athletic department?

[SaraSatin]

I'm not sure about the schools, but if you go to GreatSchools.net you should be able to find parents reviews of the schools.

[jxu66]

It is very new school (three years old) so there probably won't be a lot of information on that. But it is very large school and it is in rapidly developing area in Hamiliton Mill.

[nibseysgirl]

Originally Posted by NYtoGA

Looking for some input on the Mill Creek School District. Mostly interested in the High School and Middle School. Seems like a good district based on scores but would love to hear from someone who knows first hand. Good teachers? Helpful administration? Athletic department?

I do not have personal knowledge of this school district but I can tell you what I have heard from ppls who have had kids in it as well as from people when we are researching...Have been told it is one of the best school zones around...Teachers are very good and administration is top notch from what I have been told. I only look in that section of the county when searching for homes in my price range based on what I have heard for the particular section of Lawrenceville and surrounding areas that fall into the cluster..Hope it helps...Lisa

[rackensack]

Test scores are generally good, and since it's a new school the facilities are still in good shape and up to date. You'll hear lots of people rave about the school districts in northern and eastern Gwinnett County, and by a lot of objective measures they compare very favorably with other metro Atlanta districts and with other schools nationally.

The downsides, for me -- the reasons we moved to North Fulton instead of NE Gwinnett from our old house in the Norcross-Tucker area -- are the size of the schools and the development policies of the county commission. Right now, many of the Gwinnett County schools are, to my mind, just too big. Mill Creek High School is at 3000 students right now; Collins Hill is down to 3500 from a high around 5000 a few years ago. The new schools that have been built out in the fast-growing areas generally open already overcrowded and remain that way for several years. I just feel that there are things that start breaking down when you have a school larger than 2000 students -- kids have a lot more opportunity to become anonymous, which makes anti-social, destructive behavior that much more prevalent. The size of some Gwinnett high schools means, for instance, that you practically have to be a Division I college prospect to even participate in some sports, as the size of teams doesn't really scale along with the size of the school -- 80 kids on a football team or 12 on a volleyball team encompasses a greater percentage of a student body of 1500 than of 3000. The same can be true of other activities, as those who simply want to participate out of a desire to do something or be involved are crowded out. The middle schools in Gwinnett generally have from 2000 to 3000 students as well, and even the elementary schools mostly have 1200 or so students, and several have 1300-1400.

Our current schools in North Fulton are somewhat smaller (our elementary and middle schools each have around 700 students, though Centennial High is pretty big, around 2K students), but the real difference is that in North Fulton I don't have to worry about several hundred apartment units and a few hundred new homes being added to the school district every couple of years. In the fast-growing areas of Gwinnett, it's a fact of life. Peachtree Ridge, Mill Creek, Dacula, etc., are right in the crosshairs of the same development patterns that have made Meadowcreek, Berkmar, and Norcross what they are today. As nice as they may be now, when the balance tips from owner-occupied single-family residential to multi-family rental, things get difficult quickly (ask the folks around Berkmar).

We certainly have our share of development, both actual and proposed, in East Roswell, but there's a moderate and appropriate ratio of apartment units to single-family homes, and that doesn't seem likely to change rapidly -- there's greater stability.

[annielennox]

Personally we are in the Mill Creek School District is its full of bubbas and mostly idiots but then we came from better schools in the northeast,etc. There are a few students that actually care about getting into competitive universities but for the most part most of the people that live and teach around here are from UGA. It just depends on what you are use to - people here think having an average SAT score of 1080 is great or the fact that they offer a bunch of AP's ...but ask how many got 4's and 5's. The middle school is fair and the elementary is just pathetic. If you live in GA I would send your child to a non religious private or boarding school unless they are super genius and then I guess it really doesn't matter because they will learn on their own.

[NYtoGA]

Appreciate the feedback from all. Annie...question? did you attend the Mill Creek School district or have friends that did? Just curious to see how you formed your opinion. My husband and I both grew up and were educated in the Northeast and thats where we planned to raise our children. Plans changed...life has changed and his job is taking us to the south. Im trying very hard to figure out where my family would adjust the best. We do have do have relatives who live in the Atlanta area and they are all very successful. I was concerned regarding the amount of students at Mill Creek and have heard an additional high school is currently being built. That bothers me a bit too...I dont want my kids to have to change schools again. I cant seem to get anyone to commit to where the cut off point is going to be. So much to figure out....

Again thanks to all for the feedback....appreciate it

[annielennox]

I have children that attend and yes there are some smart kids however for the most part most don't have high aspirations. Most of the kids in the gifted class want to go to UGA not Princeton, etc. There were two females last year that got into Harvard (both were URMs). The top in the class went to Furman but the number two and three got into Princeton and UPENN. All have been females btw. The boys at MC school tend to be rednecks, more interested in hunting, fishing, confederate flags and trucks if you get my drift. Mill Creek is only 3 years old and it has 4,200 students they push everyone into AP's (i.e. the Newsweek syndrome) so the AP's are really dumbed down. However walk into most AP classes and there aren't any blacks. The new high school is prob going to have the less expensive neighborhoods included which means it wont be as "good" as Mill Creek. No matter where you look in Atlanta the public schools are way below average and dont even compare to schools in the NE. If you have high standards and you can't send them to non religious private then make sure you supplement their education. Mine don't wait to be taught they learn on their own.

[annielennox]

Article posted yesterday about Mill Creek

Mill Creek is one mighty big school | ajc.com (broken link)

[DougLoo]

I work with the Mill Creek Cluster and all of my children graduated from Mill Creek High. Great school....lots of programs for the students, It is a large School but 2009 we add another HS to the cluster which will lower student count.

More important Mill Creek cluster is where everyone is trying to move so real-estate is still appreciating here!