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My wife and I (30 somethings) have decided to move to ATL in August 2008 and are considereing Sandy Springs, Johns Creek and Vinings as our options. We are looking for a home in the 700K to $1 million dollar range. My wife stays home with our 16 month old twins, but will likely return to work (I won't hold my breath) once our children begin school (so commuting may be a variable).
The biggest concerns we have involve schooling and safety. For schools, while we wouldn't mind sending our children to a private school from PK-5, it's probably a waste of money. From research, I've learned that Johns Creek has fairly decent public elementary schools (and a misplaced brick issue as well). The problems however is once our children hit the 6th grade, the private school options are not as good. How do parents get around this issue or does everyone send their children to public schools????
In Sandy Springs the homes we looked at are within the High Point Elementary footprint which has a 3/10 rating on greatschools.net and a huge ESL population. It's unfortunate, but I don't think the focus or extra help will be on my children should it be needed.
As for Vinings, I'm not sure if Vinings wants to be Smyrna or Smyrna wants to be Vinings. I may end up shooting myself if I moved to Vinings. It seems nice, the schools are pretty good (public and private), but can someone please tell me if it's as boring as it looks. We currently live in the Columbia Heights section of Washington DC ( I lived in NY, LA, NorCal and Arizona prior), I would hate to have to poke one of my eyes out from boredom.
The next issue I have is safety. I have too many business contacts in DC to give up, thus, I will travel back to DC on a weekly basis for work. I asked my wife if someone broke into our house while I was away what she would do??? Her reply was... "I'd pray". Needless to say, I'm a bit scarred from my days in NYC and will likely spend thousands on some elaborate security system. I still have to ask the question of how safe my family will be in any of these areas.
Oh and finally... we're black, so diversity is VERY important to us.
Oh and finally... we're black, so diversity is VERY important to us. Thanks everyone for your help.
You won't find much diversity in John's Creek, although it is probably getting a little more diverse. There are no demographics available as it was only recently incorporated, but I would guess that it would probably be only about 4 or 5% African American. Sandy Springs might be a little more diverse, although you may want to search this forum for the "Why aren't blacks buying houses in Dunwoody/Sandy Springs" thread for more information. Vinings, I have no idea. These are all suburban areas, and actually Vinings and Sandy Springs would probably be the least boring as they are closer to Atlanta. Johns Creek is quite a haul to Atlanta during rush hour. The other issue here is to live near where you work. We have horrible traffic that is in many ways worse than the other places you mentioned as the road construction has not kept up with the traffic.
Thanks OhioNative... we will take your comments into consideration. I've read the thread about Blacks and Dunwoody/Sandy Springs and thought the logic was flawed. I felt the author of the tread should have taken historic salaries of her geograpic region into consideration. A newly minted nurse will not be able to afford a home in Sandy Springs... not on Atlanta money. My sister-in-law (a registered nurse) took a huge pay cut when she relocated to ATL from DC (like 20K). She also forget to mention that the majority of Blacks buying homes in Sandy Springs/Dunwoody are transplants. Similar to DC, incumbents rarely buy homes in the city which they live. In the past 10 years, when an incumbent buys a home, they tend to go more suburban. This issues has been discussed extensively in DC, and is quite evident on the block which I currently reside. I think it's an economic argument since the average home price in Sandy Springs is 447K.
And to the people trying to use my request for information as a means to market realty services, please STOP. If I needed a realtor, I would have mentioned that in my introductory thread.
If you are interested in Sandy Springs, I would suggest Heards Ferry over High Point. The scores are better and the TAG program is more developed. The administration has maintained a balanced focus for the incoming Hispanic students without neglecting the traditional and gifted learners. Ridgeview Charter School is fantastic and getting better daily. The other option if you are interested in public elementary and private middle and high school would be to go into the City of Atlanta district focusing on Sarah Smith Elementary or perhaps Warren Jackson.
If you are interested in Sandy Springs, I would suggest Heards Ferry over High Point. The scores are better and the TAG program is more developed. The administration has maintained a balanced focus for the incoming Hispanic students without neglecting the traditional and gifted learners. Ridgeview Charter School is fantastic and getting better daily. The other option if you are interested in public elementary and private middle and high school would be to go into the City of Atlanta district focusing on Sarah Smith Elementary or perhaps Warren Jackson.
Any thoughts on how the new Sandy Springs elementary school, opening before these folks will need one, will affect the redistricting? We have no children but our neighbors are attending meetings currently on the redistricting. This may have some bearing on the OP's search. Plenty of homes in our part of Sandy Springs from around $300K to over $1 million...plenty of diversity, as well.
While the new police force has had plenty to do, I believe the area is safer than it ever was with Fulton County protection. The number of uniformed officers is roughly double what we had in the past with more on the way. Fire and Rescue response times are excellent(they were very good under Fulton County, as well). There is more than one reason why Sandy Springs homes are selling fairly quickly(those that are priced reasonably as well as those that are way overpriced!).
By August of 2008, the lines of the new elementary school should be drawn in Sandy Springs (there are actually two new schools coming on line).
Atlanta News | Fulton Begins To Draw New Lines For New schools - The Fulton County School System announces three community meetings in October, November, and December to address the redistricting process for two new elementary schools planned in Sand (http://www.broadcastatlanta.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5968&Ite mid=2155 - broken link)
If you do settle on Sandy Springs, I suggest you expand your search to include Woodland Elementary as well as Heards Ferry. As someone else wrote, Ridgeview Middle is improving by leaps and bounds and Riverwood is a really good high school as well. There are also busses to many of the private schools that leave from Sandy Springs (these cost extra and are not part of tuition -- of course.) (Woodland feeds into Sandy Springs Middle that has yet to make the strives that Ridgeview has. Like I said, many private schools have busses that pick up from the area.)
If you do choose John Creek, most do use the public schools K-12, though there are some who drive their children in town to the private schools. The schools are very solid up there.
As to private school, you do realize that with the exception of Woodward most private schools in ATlanta are not very diverse. Woodward (whose middle and high school campus is down by the airport) is one of the most diverse (if not the most diverse private schools in the Southeast. It has an extensive bus system as well as many students who ride MARTA to get there.
By August of 2008, the lines of the new elementary school should be drawn in Sandy Springs (there are actually two new schools coming on line).
Atlanta News | Fulton Begins To Draw New Lines For New schools - The Fulton County School System announces three community meetings in October, November, and December to address the redistricting process for two new elementary schools planned in Sand (http://www.broadcastatlanta.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5968&Ite mid=2155 - broken link)
If you do settle on Sandy Springs, I suggest you expand your search to include Woodland Elementary as well as Heards Ferry. As someone else wrote, Ridgeview Middle is improving by leaps and bounds and Riverwood is a really good high school as well. There are also busses to many of the private schools that leave from Sandy Springs (these cost extra and are not part of tuition -- of course.) (Woodland feeds into Sandy Springs Middle that has yet to make the strives that Ridgeview has. Like I said, many private schools have busses that pick up from the area.)
If you do choose John Creek, most do use the public schools K-12, though there are some who drive their children in town to the private schools. The schools are very solid up there.
As to private school, you do realize that with the exception of Woodward most private schools in ATlanta are not very diverse. Woodward (whose middle and high school campus is down by the airport) is one of the most diverse (if not the most diverse private schools in the Southeast. It has an extensive bus system as well as many students who ride MARTA to get there.
Thanks for the information. I talked to the stationed realtor at one of the developments on Glenridge Rd., she believes the new school (Lake Forest Elementary) will cover the Glenridge/Johnson Ferry kids. What I've been told is that parents in that area are upset about sending their children to High Point Elementary... go figure.
Regarding Atlanta private schools, I've noticed that Lovett, Westminster and the Atlanta International School vary in diversity amongst the student population. While I am reaching out to black parents who have children in these schools, the purpose of wanting to provide my children with a private school education is to provide them with the tools they may need in the future that is not offered at the public school level. The best example I have is since my wife's mother is from China, it would be nice for my twins to start learning mandarin in the 6th grade.
When it comes to the private school diversity/education question, my wife and I realize it's a slippery slope. However, we have to weigh what we feel is more important, the education of our twins or the POSSIBILITY of having them grow up with a false sense of self.... or lacking of an identity. Needless to say, this is going to be a difficult task which is another reason why we feel it's important for them to attend a diverse public school during their elementary years.
Having had kids in Sandy Springs area public and private schools (and currently, a mix), I can say that there are more places than just school to find diversity. When my son was in a private school where all the kids looked and were raised just like him, we made sure to hook up with a Cub Scout group organized at a local church that drew from all walks of life. My daughter attended many years of ballet at Atlanta Ballet and met many close girl friends from various nationalities there. Atlanta has a lot to offer - don't worry about having to find it all at school!
I would not trust any realtor to give you accurate information about schools. The redistricting process will be complicated and contraversial, in part because of the number of multi-family complexes, and until the board votes to accept a plan it is all in flux.
If you are considering AIS, Lovett, etc, and you have twins you may actually want to plan to send them sooner rather than later. AIS is a really different kind of school and while they do accept kids in all grades, their instructional model really lends itself to a k-12 program.
I have a friend with twins (who are now in high school) and she was committed to private education k-12. The consultant she used way back when told her to limit her search to schools that go k-12 because getting 2 spaces is even harder than getting 1. It is just something to consider.
I would not trust any realtor to give you accurate information about schools. The redistricting process will be complicated and contraversial, in part because of the number of multi-family complexes, and until the board votes to accept a plan it is all in flux.
If you are considering AIS, Lovett, etc, and you have twins you may actually want to plan to send them sooner rather than later. AIS is a really different kind of school and while they do accept kids in all grades, their instructional model really lends itself to a k-12 program.
I have a friend with twins (who are now in high school) and she was committed to private education k-12. The consultant she used way back when told her to limit her search to schools that go k-12 because getting 2 spaces is even harder than getting 1. It is just something to consider.
Thanks again. We got the information from a parent who lives in Sandy Springs, but there is no way I would believe anything a realtor tells me without following up. To me, realtors are like recruiters for the military.
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