Which School District is Better: Forsyth or Oconee Co.? (Atlanta: incomes, to live in)

[argecash]

I know Oconee isn't quite in the Atlanta metro, but when looking at the test scores and ratings on School Digger it seems that Oconee rivals Forsyth in quality and I thought some people on this forum would have some input. We have been told by family that Forsyth is the best in Georgia, but after looking at the ratings I'm not convinced. It also doesn't hurt that Oconee is much more affordable. For us, proximity to Atlanta for jobs isn't an issue.

[GeorgiaLakeSearch]

Originally Posted by argecash

I know Oconee isn't quite in the Atlanta metro, but when looking at the test scores and ratings on School Digger it seems that Oconee rivals Forsyth in quality and I thought some people on this forum would have some input. We have been told by family that Forsyth is the best in Georgia, but after looking at the ratings I'm not convinced. It also doesn't hurt that Oconee is much more affordable. For us, proximity to Atlanta for jobs isn't an issue.

Forsyth is pretty far out in my opinion. It is more like Far-syth to me.

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaLakeSearch

Forsyth is pretty far out in my opinion. It is more like Far-syth to me.

And seeing how the OP stated that "proximity to Atlanta for jobs isn't an issue", why is the location of Forsyth being "pretty far out in your opinion" relevant, exactly??

Not everyone wants to live in Buckhead like you do.

[JoeTarheel]

You can't really compare school systems...some schools within a system are rated higher than others, so there isn't a consistent rating across the board for all schools within a system. It would be advisable to compare individual schools rather than systems.

[westau]

I don't think Forsyth has better schools than East Cobb or North Fulton. I don't know anything about Oconee schools either other than seeing one of the high schools was ranked 11th best in the state by Newsweek(behind several Cobb and Fulton schools and not a single Forsyth school was on the list).

[berkeleylake]

Originally Posted by JoeTarheel

You can't really compare school systems...some schools within a system are rated higher than others, so there isn't a consistent rating across the board for all schools within a system. It would be advisable to compare individual schools rather than systems.

I agree. Unless someone here has recently experienced both systems on this message board and will post about it, chances are they won't be. - In say saying that, of course, I could be wrong.

Oconee county is considered rural, while Forsyth is a far-flung suburb of Atlanta and growing very fast in population while Oconee itself is relatively quieter in that regard. The school systems are probably quite different in that aspect alone, size-wise. People who live in Oconee and use the schools there for their kids tend to work in Athens (UGA). Forsyth draws from mostly people working in metro Atlanta.

Since these 2 counties are quite different from each other, I would recommend researching specific public schools in both counties and visiting them if you have not already. I would decide that way since both areas are rather far from one another and quite different size-wise.

[FromGA]

Oconee: if you need to be near Athens. Or if you dont like to live in a large metro area. You will have one mall (which is OK), and might have to drive some distance to amenities.

Forsyth: you like large metro area. Likely your amenities are closer, but traffic might be tougher.

I used the Oconee school system for 1 year. And live just south of Forsyth county border.

[Newsboy]

Oconee schools rank high because of the large percentage of students who are kids of UGA professors. Forsyth schools rank high because of the large percentage of students who come from upper-middle class incomes. Neither of those reasons is enough to declare either district "better" or "best" than another.

IMO, Fayette County Schools remains the best district in the state overall because of its innovative programs, aggressive curriculum, smaller classroom sizes, one-on-one special ed instruction and stellar performing arts programs.

[argecash]

Some good points here. We like the more rural feel of the Athens area, but family is in Atlanta. I was just wondering if one district was much better than the other, or if one was on the way down as far as quality. Schools are our number one concern, but of course there are others factors to consider.