Alpharetta Questions (Roswell, Suwanee, Nashville: 2013, house, schools)

[Mattie]

Thank you for the DM Tandons. Too be fair, the middle school you referenced is in John's Creek, and feeds into Northview high school, which I've heard has a hyper-competitive atmosphere. I DO know parents who have moved out of the district because of it.

Certain academically geared clubs that take part in competitions(math club, science clubs, etc) do have entrance requirements, but they are open to all who qualify, and there are other, non-academic choices available.

[jaybird45]

Yes schools are competitive in Johns Creek but hopefully this is a positive not a negative. I know that the honors programs in the middle schools require a significant commitment from the students. However if you look at which students send the most kids to GA Tech and UGA, it would be the JC schools. Also top tier out of state schools actively recruit from the JC High Schools. Northview and Johns Creek HS are the most competitive with Milton, Chattahoochee HS and Alpharetta HS just behind them. Living in all of these school districts would give you an easy commute to Alpharetta. Lambert HS in South Forsyth is a good choice and would be a relatively close to Alpharetta.

[Mattie]

Is it competitive for all though? Northview is 40% Asian, and John's Creek is 19% Asian. I'd be interested in the comparison of non-Asians who get into the state flagship schools from JC.

I'm not disputing that they are fine, top tier high schools, but I wonder how your average student would fare in that environment.

[tandons2374]

Northview is predicted to go 70% Asian by one of the teachers by next year. I don't know whether it's true or not. But my concern is that the average student or a bright student also , for that matter , might get frustrated or feel low he/ she is not able to take part in any competitions or clubs of his choice.I am doing relocation research myself and hearing that people are moving to Forsyth from Fulton. I am scared to buy in a school where people are not 100% satisfied & are leaving. I am double minded what to do.

Academically average student might succeed because of the education provided.

[tandons2374]

I am debating between Fulton & Forsyth. The only concern regarding Fulton are the reasons specified above. On the other hand, Forsyth poses a threat of being redistricted. I don;t want to get redistricted out of Lambert, if I buy there. Please help.

[flyonpa]

http://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/cms/lib...014_8_5x11.pdf

All Growing district have to redistict to 'fill' new school / Move student to balance populations.

That being said, Lambert if/when (probably in 2016 or 2017) It redistricts with either the Add onto NFHS FCHS WFHS or the Building of the New ( not named yet NorthEast Expansion HS) Located @ => MapQuest Maps - Driving Directions - Map

IF you buy more or less South & East of where Lambert is now, you are more or less going to be in Lambert Feeder area. Fulton/Gwinnett Lines Makes that the other lines. And the Lake make it hard for any other district lines to be made.

[tandons2374]

Thanks flyonpa

[lastminutemom]

Originally Posted by tandons2374

Beware of one thing though. if u r moving in Fulton be prepared for the tough competition that your kids are going to face. In one of middle school there is an entrance test for every club !!! I know 4 people who have sold from Fulton & moved to Forsyth because of this reason

Tandons

What do you think will happen at Lambert when the same population migrates North (and I suspect they will)?

In 2010, LHS had about 160 Asian students, in 2013 (Spring), Lambert had 265, nearly a 50 percent growth. The Asian population at Riverwatch Middle also grew by about 50 percent in those same years.

I suspect most families leaving Northview are not Asian, rather they are Caucasian. I have mused here before about the impact of having such a large Asian population on things like PTA, traditional high school activities, etc. I simply don't know the answer.

When John's Creek High School opened, it opened with a senior class (not all new Fulton County schools had in the past) because there were many parents willing to transfer their kids (in their senior year) to avoid some of the competitiveness that Northview is so famous for. They also felt (most likely correctly) that it would improve their kids chances into a state flagship. (UGA claims that they don't have a quota per school, but if you believe that I have a bridge to sell you.)

[bananapie]

We moved from illinois ,champaign to alpharetta this summer, and I am very happy now with the decision we made.My husband works in alpharetta and we live in johns creek with 30022 zipcode. Since we did not know the area well we looked every option like cumming,suwanee,milton johns creek and alpharetta. Lot of people also said roswell and dunwoody are also nice ,but it is far from my husbands work. after 4 months of living here I can say we did the right choice.We are currently renting a single family home in a very nice neighborhood and my daughters goes to a very respectable elementary school which is our priority. We looked for a home that is zoned for an elementary which is in top 50 of SAT scores.Also it is not just an asian student school which is important to us actually, we want our kids in mixed environment. We are close to everywhere.We are kind of in the middle. Like others said Johns Creek by itself has so much shopping and grocery and restaurants. I can go to north point mall in 15 min by state bridge rd and have the opportunity of duluth and cumming and suwanee shops. Cumming also is very nice, we loved it there .you can get much bigger home in cumming or suwanee by the way.But the question is ,is it really important for you if you live in a 2000sq or 3500 sq home? My home in illinois was 1800 and it was enough for us,still was very hard to keep it clean,now I live in 2600sq and it is nice to have so much room but still gets more messier and when you have so much room than you expand expand expand... Family oriented question, I guess it depends which place you are living, when I live in champaign ,it is a small university city and very family oriented.But I lived in a neighborhood which is not... I was not happy there but still I had my friend all over the city so no important fact for us.
The interesting thing is also there are not many parks here,I mean parks with playgrounds... just 3 or 4 parks .I cannot compare champaign and alpharetta in the size and volume but we had so many public parks like 15 or so..

[tandons2374]

Lastminutemom You are right about the increase in Asian population in Lambert. Who knows Lambert might have as much Asians as in Northview in future. Its just that I have heard many people moving out of Northview so I am skeptical to buy in that school. I just ponder whether it will be wise to buy in such a school where I am seeing people moving from. I did not get a positive feedback (in the sense 100% satisfaction)about its feeder from a friend who moved.