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I am looking to take a position in Atlanta, FT. McPherson-Excited and scared! I am moving from Stafford, VA near Quantico Marine Base. The housing prices are expensive, but it makes up for the safe, family environment and great schools.
I am looking for the same in a northern suburb of Atlanta. I am willing to be no more than 1hr away. Looking to rent a 4 bedroom home, with a nice yard. A community the kids can ride bikes, run with a strong gymnastics program and dance schools.
I hear the public schools are not good in Atlanta, so started looking at the private schools. Any feed back on:
In Town Community School
Kittredge Magnet School
The Westminister Schools
Trinity schools
Atlanta’s All Girls Schools
These schools will cost me around 14K a year for them to attend EACH! I would do anything for my babies to get a great education, but not dip in to their college funds
I don’t see the benefits of moving to Atlanta if the housing is reasonable, but have to pay more in school tuition.
I was told to move to North of Sandy Springs and even Alpharetta (sorry fro the spelling)
This move is all about stability and the enjoying the final years of my kids and my thirties. They are now 9 and 11. There has to be a great developed, safe suburban area to live with excellent schools to live and still be able to work in Atlanta. Any advise or suggestions are greatly appreciated. I want this to not be another mistake in my life-[
I am a women of color with bi-racial children, so diversity is a must along with understanding in the communities. Set me up for success Atlanta friends!
Last edited by Mikhaela; 08-29-2007 at 03:44 AM..
Reason: Not sure why all the Font typo
First. let me start with the schools. Kittredge Magnet school is a DeKalb County school, admission via lottery and a wait list, so you are out of luck for that school, probably all together, but certainly for this year. You must live in DeKalb County to be eligible for this school.
Private school admissions are very competitive in Atlanta. The older your child the harder it is to find spaces. Intown and Girls might have room as they are newer and less competitive. Your youngest is to young for Girls as it is Middle and High only.
I would look South -- Peachtree Corners comes to mind. Fayette County has some of the strongest schools in the area and the commute might be easier.
To get to McPherson from North, without traffic is probably 40 minutes, with traffic it might be unbearable.
You do know that McPherson is slated to be closed, right? Are you making this move only to have to move again when it does close.
I would agree that looking at the south side of town would be a much closer commute for you leaving you to have more time with your girls. Kid activities are almost always afterschool and require a drive no matter where you live. Peachtree City (not Corners - that is Northeast) and Fayetteville are good choices. Woodward Academy is an excellent private school in Jonesboro (south) with a high level of diversity. Private school applications are available the first of November with decisions for the 08 - 09 school year made in April. If you are moving soon, you may need to use public school for at least a year. Almost all private schools have scholarship programs available - don't hesitate to ask. The Atlanta Girls School is excellent and gaining in popularity. Trinity only goes through the 6th grade so wouldn't be a good long term option. Westminster is probably the most academically rigorous school in the city.
Good Luck!
Its funny because, i have heard the opposite. GA public school system is GREAT!
Where did you get that info from?
What counties were they referring to? (that makes a big difference)
Public schools within Atlanta city limits and many of the suburbs to the west, south, and east are not good.
However, the public schools in the northern suburbs (everything north of I-285 and between I-75 and I-85) are some of the best in the country. Walton High in East Cobb (just northwest of Sandy Springs) was ranked by Newsweek as one of the top 10 public high schools in the country several years ago, and the school has an average SAT score more than 200 points above the national average.... and this is with 100% of the schools 2600 students taking the SAT for the last decade, which is practically unheard of. And that's just one school. Other top-ranked public high schools in the northern suburbs - Northview, Pope, Lassiter, Chattahoochee, Roswell, Milton, Centennial, Alpharetta....
Every public high school in Sandy Springs, East Cobb, Roswell, Alpharetta, Milton, and Johns Creek has an average SAT score 100 to 200+ points above the national average and public high schools in those cities make up the majority of AP exam taking students in the entire state. Walton High alone has students taking almost 2000 AP exams a year (AP exams are college-level exams which, if passed, grant the student college course credit; in these schools over half of students enter college with a semester or more already completed).
If you live anywhere north of Sandy Springs and within metro Atlanta, I would strongly NOT recommend sending your kids to private school. In my opinion the education is much better in the public schools in this area, not to mention the environment. The northern suburbs are very wealthy (the 4th wealthiest Congressional district in the entire country, and every one of the northern suburbs has a household income over $100,000) and the communities pour a lot of money into the public schools. Most private schools in Atlanta don't even have a football team or football field--- there are public schools in the northern suburbs have not one, not two, but three football fields, one for games, one for football team practice, one for marching band practice.
The one exception to this is Sandy Springs, which is located between the northern suburbs and the city of Atlanta. Sandy Springs itself has a northern part which is suburban, a middle part which is commercial on the east and suburban on the west, and a southern part that is inside the 285 loop that is basically nothing but mansion estates. Sandy Springs would have the shortest commutes to Fort McPherson, however Sandy Springs is the one suburb where you might want to send your kids to private school - or maybe not, the two high schools in the city (Riverwood and North Springs) are good but not as exceptional as the schools in the other cities I mentioned. Sandy Springs is very expensive too.
Commuting from any of the northern cities will take a while. I would say East Cobb is your best bet. Try to get a house in the Walton school district, it is the southernmost part of East Cobb bordering Sandy Springs; from here your commute would be 40 to 45 minutes during clear traffic and an hour or so during traffic. Walton happens to be the best school in the state also. The one problem is that over 95% of people in that school district are homeowners and there are not apartments - there are houses for rent but they are very rare, so you will have limited options. It probably won't be a problem though. I did a search and there are currently 14 four bedroom houses for rent in the Walton district. Rents for 4 bedrooms are $1500 to $3000. Buying a house in the area can be expensive, existing houses are typically $300k to $800k but new houses are $1 million+.
Roswell, Alpharetta, and Johns Creek are more suburban cities up north with incredible schools, but commuting from any of those would be absolutely unbearable during rush hour. It could be done... Dunwoody, on the east side of Sandy Springs, is and excellent city in every way, but the middle schools and high school are average. Some of the elementary schools are excellent, but in this area many students go to private school after elementary.
And like I said before, public schools in the northern suburbs are just better. Not only that, the three top-ranked universities in Atlanta - Georgia Tech, Emory, and UGA - get the biggest chunk of their incoming in-state freshman every year from the northern public schools. Walton High, Milton High, and Chattahoochee High account for 1 in 10 of every freshman that goes to UGA - that's 10% of the entire university coming from three high schools. Westminster Schools sent 9 students to Georgia Tech last year - Northview sent over 70. And that's not including the many Northview students that get into Tech but go up north instead - Westminster, like most privates schools in Atlanta, hardly send any kids up north or to the Ivy Leagues, the majority of their students stay in the south. Most Westminster students go to UGA and Virginia. Westminster has less than 200 kids taking the SAT every year, and the average score is around a 1350 out of 1600. The top 10% of Walton High (that's 260 kids) have an SAT average of over 1510 out of 1600.
Public schools within Atlanta city limits and many of the suburbs to the west, south, and east are not good.
However, the public schools in the northern suburbs (everything north of I-285 and between I-75 and I-85) are some of the best in the country. Walton High in East Cobb (just northwest of Sandy Springs) was ranked by Newsweek as one of the top 10 public high schools in the country several years ago, and the school has an average SAT score more than 200 points above the national average.... and this is with 100% of the schools 2600 students taking the SAT for the last decade, which is practically unheard of. And that's just one school. Other top-ranked public high schools in the northern suburbs - Northview, Pope, Lassiter, Chattahoochee, Roswell, Milton, Centennial, Alpharetta....
Every public high school in Sandy Springs, East Cobb, Roswell, Alpharetta, Milton, and Johns Creek has an average SAT score 100 to 200+ points above the national average and public high schools in those cities make up the majority of AP exam taking students in the entire state. Walton High alone has students taking almost 2000 AP exams a year (AP exams are college-level exams which, if passed, grant the student college course credit; in these schools over half of students enter college with a semester or more already completed).
If you live anywhere north of Sandy Springs and within metro Atlanta, I would strongly NOT recommend sending your kids to private school. In my opinion the education is much better in the public schools in this area, not to mention the environment. The northern suburbs are very wealthy (the 4th wealthiest Congressional district in the entire country, and every one of the northern suburbs has a household income over $100,000) and the communities pour a lot of money into the public schools. Most private schools in Atlanta don't even have a football team or football field--- there are public schools in the northern suburbs have not one, not two, but three football fields, one for games, one for football team practice, one for marching band practice.
The one exception to this is Sandy Springs, which is located between the northern suburbs and the city of Atlanta. Sandy Springs itself has a northern part which is suburban, a middle part which is commercial on the east and suburban on the west, and a southern part that is inside the 285 loop that is basically nothing but mansion estates. Sandy Springs would have the shortest commutes to Fort McPherson, however Sandy Springs is the one suburb where you might want to send your kids to private school - or maybe not, the two high schools in the city (Riverwood and North Springs) are good but not as exceptional as the schools in the other cities I mentioned. Sandy Springs is very expensive too.
Commuting from any of the northern cities will take a while. I would say East Cobb is your best bet. Try to get a house in the Walton school district, it is the southernmost part of East Cobb bordering Sandy Springs; from here your commute would be 40 to 45 minutes during clear traffic and an hour or so during traffic. Walton happens to be the best school in the state also. The one problem is that over 95% of people in that school district are homeowners and there are not apartments - there are houses for rent but they are very rare, so you will have limited options. It probably won't be a problem though. I did a search and there are currently 14 four bedroom houses for rent in the Walton district. Rents for 4 bedrooms are $1500 to $3000. Buying a house in the area can be expensive, existing houses are typically $300k to $800k but new houses are $1 million+.
Roswell, Alpharetta, and Johns Creek are more suburban cities up north with incredible schools, but commuting from any of those would be absolutely unbearable during rush hour. It could be done... Dunwoody, on the east side of Sandy Springs, is and excellent city in every way, but the middle schools and high school are average. Some of the elementary schools are excellent, but in this area many students go to private school after elementary.
And like I said before, public schools in the northern suburbs are just better. Not only that, the three top-ranked universities in Atlanta - Georgia Tech, Emory, and UGA - get the biggest chunk of their incoming in-state freshman every year from the northern public schools. Walton High, Milton High, and Chattahoochee High account for 1 in 10 of every freshman that goes to UGA - that's 10% of the entire university coming from three high schools. Westminster Schools sent 9 students to Georgia Tech last year - Northview sent over 70. And that's not including the many Northview students that get into Tech but go up north instead - Westminster, like most privates schools in Atlanta, hardly send any kids up north or to the Ivy Leagues, the majority of their students stay in the south. Most Westminster students go to UGA and Virginia. Westminster has less than 200 kids taking the SAT every year, and the average score is around a 1350 out of 1600. The top 10% of Walton High (that's 260 kids) have an SAT average of over 1510 out of 1600.
This is an amazing breakdown of the schools! I've just been reading on this forum, mostly looking at North Carolina, but this post has me thinking. If these schools are this good, I might re-consider Atlanta for relocation.
What are some neighborhoods/subdivisions in East Cobb? I am only slightly familiar with the Atlanta Metro. Also, is there Marta access nearby to get into downtown? Thanks.
This is an amazing breakdown of the schools! I've just been reading on this forum, mostly looking at North Carolina, but this post has me thinking. If these schools are this good, I might re-consider Atlanta for relocation.
What are some neighborhoods/subdivisions in East Cobb? I am only slightly familiar with the Atlanta Metro. Also, is there Marta access nearby to get into downtown? Thanks.
There is no Marta in East Cobb but there is a Marta station in neighboring Sandy Springs. From the southern part of East Cobb (Walton High area) the Sandy Springs Marta station is 4 to 8 miles depending on how close to the Sandy Springs border you area. There's parking available at the Marta station so you can drive to the station and take Marta down to Atlanta, or you could take the CCT (Cobb County Transit - the local bus in East Cobb) which goes to the Marta Station.
Neighborhoods/subdivisions in East Cobb? Well, East Cobb is a roughly 120,000 population place... if you narrow it to the Walton High area that's still around 30,000 population area.... here's a few examples....
Between Old Canton to the west, Roswell Rd (GA-120) to the north, Lower Roswell to the south, and Indian Hills Parkway to the east, you have Indian Hills which is large neighborhood, normal by East Cobb standards.
South of Lower Roswell Rd, west of Johnson Ferry, and north of the river you have the Chattahoochee Plantation area. Atlanta Country Club is located here with extremely nice homes; there's Columns Drive which runs by the river and has million dollar homes lining the landscaped roadway, Paper Mill Road runs through the entire middle of this area and has some enormous estate homes with huge forested multi-acre lots, basically this whole area is rich as hell.
On the eastern side of Johnson Ferry, but still between Lower Roswell and the river, you have what is I think the only group of townhouses in the entire area, but that's just one tiny neighborhood. Other than that this area ranges from 40 year old homes lost between huge trees to a few tiny old houses on large lots that the owners refuse to sell even though they are offered millions to newer subdivisions, there are some mansion-neighborhoods, there are some roads that wind through the forest by the river in an almost rural way (there's a field of horses here on Hyde Rd, not 1000 feet away from a modern neighborhood full of mansions called Pendleton Estates if I remember the name correctly).
Staying east of Johnson Ferry, but north of Lower Roswell, south of Roswell Rd, and west of Timber Ridge Rd you have a forested upper-middle class block of subdivisions as well as non-subdivision houses. There are some really nice looking subdivisions (varied architecture, and very mature trees and landscaping) along Lower Roswell Rd such as New Bedford, Asheforde, Waterford Green, St. Ivonnes, Tiffany Park..... these are the more modern ones, the other half of this area is more like Dunwoody - older houses (think 70's style) among the forest in a non-subdivision style. Willow Point is a large neighborhood in this area that is full of funky old varied architecture (some of the houses look like barns) that I personally like.
Then north of Roswell Road, east of Johnson Ferry, and west of Roswell city limits you have more newer subdivisions, the biggest of which is East Hampton, which I personally think is too planned and lacking in in the trees, but I haven't been there in years so many my memories just hazy.
Finally you have the area north of Roswell Rd and west of Johnson Ferry... regular area with average neighborhoods as far as East Cobb goes.
The neighborhood thing really depends on your price range. In older areas like Willow Point and Indian Hills it's possible to find a house for around $300k, though that's pretty much the lower limit for the Walton area. That's for existing older homes of course. In the more modern-looking neighborhoods prices typically start at $500k. In the more exclusive areas near the river like Atlanta Country Club you're going to have to lay down the millions. As for new construction, this part of East Cobb has been fully developed for decades so there's no space, most new houses are one of two things:
1) Someone is tearing down an existing house and replacing it with a usually huge house
2) Some developer managed to get some small amount of space and decided to squeeze as many enormous houses as possible into that area.... Stonewalk is an example of one of these annoying new neighborhoods (starting at 1.2 million, and you could almost jump from your window into the next house)... thankfully there are only two or three neighborhoods like this due to lack of undeveloped space.
Either way, a new house is over $1 million.
Thank you GF72. I tried to do some home searches last night. I only found a couple with the Walton High assignment. The address was in Marietta. Is that right? I heard some negative about Marietta but it's probably pretty big area.
I will try to look at some homes in the subs you mention. I haven't found a search engine to search by neighborhood yet. Our price range would be 300 - 400k. I don't mind a little older if it is updated with a nice size yard.
The address system in Atlanta is complicated and I won't explain it here, but basically most people in metro Atlanta have an incorrect address as far as the city is concerned.
East Cobb residences have either Marietta or Roswell addresses (mostly Marietta). However nothing in the Walton High district is actually in Marietta. The post office, long ago, simply assigned most of the entire county to have Marietta addresses. The city limits of Marietta have about 60,000 population but around 300,000 people or so have Marietta addresses.
300 to 400k will get you a good sized older home in the Walton area. Just about any house in East Cobb, no matter the age or price, has a nice size yard. The vast majority of the Walton area was developed several decades ago, thankfully well before developers decided to start cramming houses right next to each other. There are also laws in East Cobb that prevent a house from taking up more than 40% or something like that of the lot it sits on.
I did a search and there are currently 85 houses for sale in the Walton district between 300k and 400k. The Walton district is broken up into four areas by elementary school district - Mt. Bethel district on the southeast, Sope Creek district on the southwest, East Side district on the northwest, and Timber Ridge district on the northeast. Try Coldwell Banker Atlanta (google it) - they let you search for houses by school district. Most of the houses in that range look pretty big - a lot of 4 and 5 bedrooms. Look at the pictures to get an idea of what you can get in that range - mostly upper-middle class houses from the 70's and 80's.
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What subdivisions are in East Cobb?
