A Convenient Location (Atlanta, Sandy Springs, Roswell: neighborhood, theater, private schools)

[liush7]

I am planning on moving to the Atlana area in the next 2-3 years. I am doing my research now so that when I make that move, my transition will be as smooth as possible. Okay, so here is what I need help with. I have a 7 year old child with a speech and language delay. He is currently attending a private special needs school that is funded through the board of eduction. His schooling is very important to me so I want to know if there are schools in the Atlanta area that have similar programs and how would I go about getting him in.
Second, I am looking to move in the Cobb County, Cherokee County area. I have heard a lot of wonderful things about Marietta, Woodstock, Stockbridge area. I am a native New Yorker-I need a lot of diversity, arts, and just access to a city. I want to live in a quiet neighborhood that is family oriented. Could you let me know if I am looking at the right places? Also, could you tell me what these places are like? How are the school?

[lastminutemom]

Georgia does not have private schools funded by the government for children with special needs.... This year marks the beginning of a program called Special Needs Schlorships but your child must be enrolled in a Georgia public school for 1 full academic year before being eligible.

Is your child's condition expected to improve to the point that a regular school will be appropriate? If not, and you think your child is getting a good education, you probably owe it to your child to remain where you are.I know that this is hard to hear, but we really do owe it to our children to do the best things for them.

In Georgia, less than 50 percent of high schoolers that receive special ed services graduate from high school. It is really only about 40 percent that earn a diploma. As it stands today, Georgia faces tremendous challenges meeting the needs of its' growing special needs population.

Finally, in Atlanta, you need to know where you are working if possible to figure out where to live. Cars are a necessity and there is very limited use of public transportation for commuting.

[liush7]

I was afraid of that...I would love to work close to the Dekalb area but not necessarily live there. I kow that there are great private schools out there too but they cost a fortune and the state only pays $1000 toward tuition. Any other advice.

[netdragon]

Cobb and Cherokee county are out if you want to work in Dekalb (assuming you don't want more than an hour commute each way).

If you want to live in Cobb or Cherokee, you'll need to focus your job search to areas along 75N from downtown to midtown all the way to Kenessaw, East/West Cobb and maybe Buckhead, Roswell, and Sandy Springs, but anything further East will be too far of a commute in my opinion and even midtown and downtown ATL will be tough from Cherokee.

If you want to work in Dekalb, you should probably be looking at Gwinnett County or Decatur.

[liush7]

Thank you so much...what do you know about the private special needs schools in ga. I did go online and managed to see a video of what they do and it looks pretty good. I also read other peoples messages and many of them had great things to say about the cobb and gwinnette county public schools for special needs. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

[netdragon]

Just out of curiosity, why do you prefer to work in Dekalb over other areas. Is there a certain place you are interested in working at? There are plenty of jobs in other parts of the metro, such as in Cobb County itself and Cumberland in Cobb County is starting to take off. For arts, there is the Cobb Performing Arts center in Cumberland, it's relatively close to midtown, and also there's a small museum and historic theater in Marietta center. I'm just making sure you aren't limiting yourself to one area for work or if you have something specific in mind.

[liush7]

Netdragon,
Thanks for asking...I am a teacher and a single mom so I wanted to work in the dekalb county school system because I know they make the most cash. On the other hand, I hear Gwinnette county has the better schools for children with special needs so therefore I need to be in a place closest to both worlds. Your input is valuale so please respond. That is good to know that Cobb and Cumberland are comming up. The arts and museums are def. a must.