School Ratings Thread - Start One & Keep On Top? (Atlanta: mortgage, daycare)

[spacelord75]

Originally Posted by shm2009

Our price range is up to 500 or so. With the current market we are hopeful that we should be able to find what we are looking for. We toured some houses in a community which we liked very much - but the public schools tied to that area are - Spalding Drive Charter School, Sandy Springs Middle school & North Springs High School and we haven't toured the schools but they don't look very promising, from my research over the internet. Before we completely drop out the area and community I thought let me see what others think about that area and whether there are any other schools that I am not seeing.
Also, although I am paying for montessori right now some of the more popular private schools are way too expensive.

Just as an aside, my nephew recently moved from his father's to my sisters house in SS, and he had to transfer from North Gwinnett to North Springs, and he said the school is kind of a joke. He said there are tons of disruptions in the class b/c of kids who act up and that the teachers are generally beaten down b/c they don't want to sit there and write kids up all day. I would describe my nephew as above average intelligence (but not elite academically) and to have a 16 year-old tell you that he is getting nothing out of school is kind of depressing. I've heard Riverside is much better, but don't know any kids that go there.

I live in the Dunwoody HS zone, but don't really know how it compares to North Springs. If I had to guess, I would say it might be slightly better, but with all the bussing the Dekalb does, there's no telling. I personally believe that if the schools has the classes available for smart kids, then a good kid will make it work. IE, in the example above, I asked my nephew if he took or plans to take any AP classes and he said "no", so it's kind of a choice on his part.

I actually went to Dunwoody back in the 90's, which had about the same ratios of bussed kids back then, and found a stark difference in classes that were generic versus my advanced placement classes. This could be the case at all of the schools mentioned - in other words, if the kid is a high performing, they will typically gravitate towards tougher classes with like-minded kids. I actually found that going to a school with a diverse population of academically-minded kids helped make me more self-driven and responsible for my own development, which helped big time when I got to college.

[RainyRainyDay]

North Springs has a magnet program, too. A family I met at an event in the fall included a very academically-elite seeming teen (high school sophomore or junior, I think) who reported being very happy in the magnet program at NS, and in fact he was in a group of kids carpooling from Roswell to attend there.

So I'd guess that NS certainly does cater to ambitious students via the magnet program, but probably the effect of that is that the non-magnet classes tend to be sub-par, because all the committed students are in the magnet classes.

[mom2max]

I SO AGREE!!!! People are so caught up in private vs. public. I agree that, to a point, it comes down to parenting/student initiative.

[veggieck]

can anyone tell me anything about the stone mountain area. we are considering a relocation from the craziness of NJ to GA. Time to get away from the high taxes!!! we have lived in the south before, thanks to the USMC, but never in GA. very familiar with lifestyles of NC and SC.

[mshare]

School And Neighborhood Information

[jwgraves2]

Considering move to ATL; pretty familiar with the city. What area offers the best combination of good school district and historical district, neighborhood pride, walkable, sufficient parks, price range 500k-850k...Decatur/Druid Hills is what's showing up on my radar so far. By good school district I mean active participation in AP classes, merit scholar representation, etc. as opposed to test scores alone.

[cmtiger]

City Schools of Decatur and the City of Decatur itself has all of that. Grades 4-8 are IB candidate schools and should be fully certified in about a year (they have already implemented IB curriculum). It is hoped that the Decatur High School will get its act together and implement an IB diploma program. No idea what is holding things up there - though I have my theories. Decatur High is still an excellent high school though - regardless of IB or no IB. They were recently listed in Atlanta Magazine as one of metro Atlanta's best high schools for language arts and for sports. I don't really get the sports part ... but they do have a terrific newspaper. Lots of braniac kids there.

Also check the Grady High cluster in City of Atlanta (Morningside or Mary Lin - or... there is also a new elementary that will serve that area that hasn't opened yet). Grady is an excellent high school.

I assume from your post that you are wanting to be intown?

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by jwgraves2

Considering move to ATL; pretty familiar with the city. What area offers the best combination of good school district and historical district, neighborhood pride, walkable, sufficient parks, price range 500k-850k...Decatur/Druid Hills is what's showing up on my radar so far. By good school district I mean active participation in AP classes, merit scholar representation, etc. as opposed to test scores alone.

In addition to what cmtiger said, I would also check out the Druid Hills High School District...in particular the Fernbank Elementary and Briar Vista Elementary districts (they meet your criteria above). Both elementaries feed into Shamrock Middle School which then feeds into Druid Hills High.

I hope this helps! Good Luck!

[jwgraves2]

CMTiger--Thanks--in-Town would be a major benefit...wife will be in grad school at Emory and I'll work in Cumming--there's a reverse commute I've tested several times and it takes about 25mins from Buckhead. We looked at Cobb (Atlanta Country Club and others) and Forythe and while their schools seem terrific, we think we want something more historical and walkable. We love all that the city has to offer.

Aries-I've read a lot about Fernbank being superb, but will look into others--our child will start first grade next fall with our daughter coming behind a year later...I feel like we could have them in fernbank 1-5, then switch to private if we're uncomfortable with the middle and upper school situation.
Want in-town b/c we believe that parental involvement is more critical to children's well-being than marginal differences b/t great and good public schools...long commutes kill parental involvement IMO.
Druid Hills and Decatur both make Newsweek Top 600 or so in nation--tells me there's enough there for the determined student.

CM--could you tell me of a few neighborhoods in the grady area walkable, safe, architecturally pleasing? Thinking Druid/Decatur's best, but would love to know if I'm leaving a few out.
Thanks so much.

[cmtiger]

The Grady zone would get you closer to Cumming... I think. That's going to be a killer commute though. Are you sure it was 25 minutes in rush hour?

Well, anyway..... Inman Park, Lake Claire, Candler Park, Morningside, Ansley Park, Virginia Highland and Poncey Highland are all zoned to Grady High and Inman Middle. Some of these neighborhoods go to Mary Lin Elementary, some go to Morningside and some will go to the new school (which should be a great school). They all have historic architecture and are walkable. Some of these neighborhoods are very old... Victorian (Inman Park) - others are more 1920s-1940's (Lake Claire). They are all funky, walkable and full of creative, intellectual types. They all have some great stores/restaurants.

Same goes for Decatur... same type of folks... walkable... cool businesses... different school system.. all good.