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Peachtree City is a really nice option (but really your only option on the southside). The traffic is a lot less on this side of Atlanta. Schools in PTC are the best in the state, if not some of the best in the country. Crime is low. Housing is nice for $500k and less (although there are more expensive too). Lots of recreation, very family oriented, lots of Delta employees (pilots, execs, etc). Golf cart paths/pedi. paths all over the town. Great shopping, typical dining. It is hard to go wrong in PTC.
Atlanta City Public Schools after Elementary are absolutely horrible. Everyone that lives inside the perimeter send their kids to private schools for this reason, however, there is an exception. Riverwood High School is public high school in Sandy Springs and is an excellent school with good teachers, good sports and nice kids. My sister graduate from there and loved her experience there. Hope this helps.
You should be able to find an older home in Sandy Springs within your price range. Riverwood High School is excellent (I'm sure you can track down the scores if desired). Heards Ferry is the better elementary school that feeds into Riverwood and Ridgeview is the only middle school. Sandy Springs to downtown commute is definitely doable with highway and backroad options. Pretty diverse neighborhoods with plenty of recreation centered around Chastain Park.
Atlanta City Public Schools after Elementary are absolutely horrible. Everyone that lives inside the perimeter send their kids to private schools for this reason, however, there is an exception. Riverwood High School is public high school in Sandy Springs and is an excellent school with good teachers, good sports and nice kids. My sister graduate from there and loved her experience there. Hope this helps.
Riverwood High School is part of the Fulton County School System, not a City of Atlanta School. Any school in metro Atlanta that is outside of the city is not a City of Atlanta School (like in Sandy Springs).
If everyone inside the perimeter sends their kids to private school, where do the 57,000 APS students come from?
Look in the Suwanee area (you mentioned Sugarloaf, which is in Suwanee). It is ranked as one of the best places to live in the country. You would be in the Peachtree Ridge High School district, great school, upscale area so the parents can afford to pay for programs that aren't coverd by county funding. (i.e. band instruments, school trips, etc)
Note that school stats don't always tell the whole picture. Because of testing requirements, you can have group of non-english-speaking students who have to take the tests and bring down the overall score for the school.
Atlanta is so big that I can't speak of Gwinnett County, and other areas, but I can speak to you about East Cobb, where we are (I have a son in elementary and a son in high school). There are three High Schools (Walton, Pope, Lassiter) that are all very good...you can't go wrong with any of these. Walton gets a little more attention for their academics, but the three are extremely close. There are many great homes and neighborhoods. The new homes are averaging around $700k, which is pretty insane. You can easily buy a great 4-bedroom (resale) for $350-$400, if not less.
You may also be interested in the Windward planned Community in Alpharetta. The house prices range from high $300K to over $2million. Great Schools, shopping, restraunts, recreation, parks and local employment opportunities.
1 Davidson Magnet Richmond Cty. 1710
2 Northview High School Fulton County 1702
3 Walton High School Cobb County 1697
4 Chamblee High School DeKalb County 1690
5 Roswell High School Fulton County 1689
6 Columbus High School Muscogee Cty. 1659
7 Chattahoochee HS Fulton County 1654
8 North Springs HS Fulton County 1649
9 Alpharetta High School Fulton County 1647
10 Milton High School Fulton County 1641
Brookwood High School 538 561 530 1629
Duluth High School 514 555 511 1580
Parkview High School 521 540 514 1575
Norcross High School 514 545 503 1562
North Gwinnett High School 507 541 500 1548
Peachtree Ridge High School 508 539 497 1544*
Collins Hill High School 508 536 496 1540
Dacula High School 508 520 497 1525
Grayson High School 510 517 498 1525
Mill Creek High School 503 522 492 1517**
South Gwinnett High School 487 496 471 1454
Central Gwinnett High School 479 503 469 1451
Shiloh High School 484 494 466 1444
Berkmar High School 468 479 454 1401
Phoenix High School 473 459 457 1389
Meadowcreek High School 443 478 426 1347
*opened 2003
** opened 2004
We live in Mill Creek Cluster and will move out of this part of the south as soon as home sells. The neighborhood and school is very...hum trying to think of the word ...clannish, cultish.
Anyway I'm from the Northeast, well-educated out of state, very liberal and non-religious, and single parent. I would like to emphasized if you are not a practicing Christian in this area you will be slighted or if you don't think UGA is the be all and end all for your children's college education you will not enjoy the weekly rantings of the crazy elementary school principal at Duncan Creek. And of course if you really want an excellent education for your child don't move to Georgia at all. Right now the typical select few of blowhards in Hamilton Mill are waging a campaign on the school board because of the recent redistricting plan. At first I was agreeable to try and remain in the Mill Creek Cluster but after hearing the rantings of the same people I have to say I'd rather be split just to make the school less fundie feeling and bringing some of the kids from Collins will do the trick.
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Advice From An Atlanta Native
