Which Private School? (Atlanta, Sandy Springs, Decatur: neighborhoods, live in, safe)

[AtlJan]

Leaning Woodward here, even over CoD. I think it will be closer to what kids are coming from.

[GoingGrey]

Originally Posted by sharonny20

To reply to GoingGrey:
One girl going into 11th grade (been on varsity tennis for 4 years). One girl going into 8th grade. Their current public school is one of the top in the state/country. Graduating class size of about 300. We are trying to get an outstanding school for the kids because they are both in AP/honors classes.

With this information, I would choose Woodward as well.

[sharonny20]

I really appreciate your advice. Woodward vs. city of Decatur high school
What is it like to live in the city of decatur (since we will be restricted to a home search here if this is our school of choice)? We would really like to save the money for college if possible and go with a good public school if that is an option. We are used to a very quiet, friendly safe suburb at the moment. I must say that we are spoiled in that the school here is 1 mile from our house and work is 3 miles away and we have very little to no traffic.

[George Chong]

I think that Woodward and Galloway are like apples and oranges. Like others have stated, Galloway is a very small school. My nephew graduated last year with a class of 54. When I graduated (many, many moons ago), my class was 24 (if we all showed up).

I think the City of Decatur is an excellent suggestion. City of Decatur : Home The unofficial tag line for COD is "Where Mayberry meets Berkeley".

Best of luck to you!

[deacongirl]

I can't imagine paying for private school if you could live in Decatur. It is a wonderful community with excellent schools.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by sharonny20

I really appreciate your advice. Woodward vs. city of Decatur high school
What is it like to live in the city of decatur (since we will be restricted to a home search here if this is our school of choice)? We would really like to save the money for college if possible and go with a good public school if that is an option. We are used to a very quiet, friendly safe suburb at the moment. I must say that we are spoiled in that the school here is 1 mile from our house and work is 3 miles away and we have very little to no traffic.

Check out the AP classes in Decatur. You may find it far behind Woodward (or not). Test scores will be far behind Woodward as its a public school with a broad range of students, not a college prep. With outstanding students, Lakeside HS or Druid Hills HS (to the north and west of Decatur) may be better choices than Decatur. But overall, both of those schools only have 62% graduation rates, so I don't think you would be happy with them given your description of your current schools.

Woodward isn't "huge" except in comparison to other private schools. Graduating class is about 250 and last year every single one went to college.

[deacongirl]

The test scores do not indicate what the experience is like for the kids who are in honors/AP classes at Decatur HS. As was said before, plenty of successful, intelligent professionals with bright, high achieving kids send their kids to Decatur HS. Unless a family is wealthy I just can't see paying 25k when there is a very good public option in a community like Decatur known for its livability. To the OP there is an abundance of info. about the quality of life in Decatur, and it is absolutely worth strong consideration.

[sharonny20]

This might sound like a silly question, but again, I have never been to the City of Decatur and can only go by the internet. What is it like from a safety perspective? I looked up crime statistics and it said that it it's rating is 18 (a rating of 100 is the best). This statistic may be skewed to all of Decatur (hard to tell from the website). If it is like 'Mayberry', I can't imagine that it would be unsafe.

[GoingGrey]

I don't know from a "crime statistic" perspective, but I've never felt unsafe in the City of Decatur.

COD has their own police force and they are out patrolling all the time... especially during the times kids are walking to and from school. Most kids walk to school and there are crossing guards at every remotely busy intersection. Patrol cars are also out with the radar guns pulling over speeders during this time of day. There also seems to be an increased police presence (mostly on bicycle) on Friday afternoons when lots of kids from Decatur HS and Renfroe MS tend to hang out in Decatur Square.

My 16 year old daughter (rising 11th grader) attends a private school not far from Decatur and many of her friends live in the COD. I have no problem with letting her walk from friends houses to various restaurants, Starbucks and yogurt shops with her friends in downtown Decatur. They also tend to do the same in Emory Village and Virginia Highlands, as well.

When do you have to let the private schools know your decision? In my experience, the turn around time on private school admissions decisions is usually pretty tight. Do you have time to explore options in Decatur (or other public school choices) before accepting or declining your daughters' spots at Galloway or Woodward?

[bu2]

Originally Posted by sharonny20

This might sound like a silly question, but again, I have never been to the City of Decatur and can only go by the internet. What is it like from a safety perspective? I looked up crime statistics and it said that it it's rating is 18 (a rating of 100 is the best). This statistic may be skewed to all of Decatur (hard to tell from the website). If it is like 'Mayberry', I can't imagine that it would be unsafe.

You would have to find out what those statistics cover. Unincorporated DeKalb with a Decatur address south of the actual city of Decatur is pretty bad.

My impression is that Decatur is safer than the city of Atlanta or the various unincorporated areas inside I-285. The police are more visible there than in most of the area. But incidents do happen. Its not going to be as safe as outlying suburbs.