Please advise - Public school vs private school (Atlanta, Sandy Springs: homes, school district)

[purplebread]

We currently live in Forsyth county but work in town. Our child is going to K next year. We are debating if we need to send our child to the local public elementary school which is very good or move intown (Atlanta traffic is getting worse by the day) and send our child to a private school. The goal is to give our child a good education and a nurturing environment to learn. At the same time. We would also like to spend more time with our child instead of sitting in traffic!! Please let us know your feedback.

[AtlJan]

There are good intown public schools, especially for elementary. The big difference you will find is that your housing dollar will not go as far. Intown offers a great quality of life though. For example, you'll be able to see your child during daylight hours!

[lastminutemom]

Originally Posted by AtlJan

There are good intown public schools, especially for elementary. The big difference you will find is that your housing dollar will not go as far. Intown offers a great quality of life though. For example, you'll be able to see your child during daylight hours!

This. There are plenty of good options intown. I think that if you are both commuting intown and going to the office daily, that life gets complicated as your child ages. Certainly not having a huge commute will make your life easier.

That said, your closer in options will be determined by your housing options. What do you think your price range will be?

[jeoff]

If you can afford it/are comfortable with downsizing, Morningside, Mary-Lin, and Springdale Park are all good schools (there are certainly others in APS, but those are the ones I am most familiar with). My children started in Oconee County Schools, which is similar to Forsyth (followed by Gwinnett)--We started at Mary-Lin this fall and find it to be very nurturing and solid academically, we have relatives that love Springdale Park, and we hear great things about Morningside from friends. I have heard that Morningside may be more rigorous in the upper grades, and their kids may be a little better prepared for middle school. The middle school is much more sink-or-swim (it is difficult for a child who is not organized). We had a bit of an adjustment for our 6th grader, but he is doing well now. I also know some folks who have their kids at Drew Charter in East Lake--and say their kids love it, and it is a very highly rated school. But, it is a lottery to get into Drew, and unless you are in the primary area that it serves you will probably not get in.

[AtlJan]

Other good elementaries in addition to those jeoff mentioned are Sarah Smith, E. Rivers, Morris Brandon, and Warren T. Jackson. These feed into Sutton Middle and North Atlanta High, which are good schools too, depending on the child. Also look at putting your name in for Westside Charter and Atlanta Classical Academy, public charters that use a lottery system.

[LovelySummer]

I'm not sure of your preference regarding class size and school size but do know that some of the highly-rated public schools mentioned are huge. Think almost 1000 kids per elementary school huge. I am not sure about the class sizes but you'd want to check that out too. That might be a little different than what you may have been looking at for Forsyth County schools so just a heads up.

The privates are all open to you also, as you indicated. The classes may be a bit smaller and/or have more teachers in the room if sizing turns out to be a concern with the publics. Put it is paramount that you start the private school game (signing up for the tours, signing your child up for "enrichment" for those schools that have entry exams - not test prep (wink) - "enrichment" - just ask around - etc.) asap.

Also, given that you are in Forsyth County now, there are a TON of areas that are not even intown that would make for a GREAT improvement over your current commute and may help your money go further. Heards Ferry elementary school district in Sandy Springs is renowned and the homes are huge and your dollar will go much further if you like more of a wooded, surburban residential feel. It's a beautiful area and very close in. It borders Buckhead. Check 30350 and 30327. There is also Dunwoody and Roswell. Many also have great private schools nearby. City of Brookhaven is also a hot area that borders but I would not bank in any way on sending my child to Dekalb county public schools so in that way City of Brookhaven is alot more of a gamble for the same price as a home in Sandy Springs/Heards Ferry and Dunwoody.

[purplebread]

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

This. There are plenty of good options intown. I think that if you are both commuting intown and going to the office daily, that life gets complicated as your child ages. Certainly not having a huge commute will make your life easier.

That said, your closer in options will be determined by your housing options. What do you think your price range will be?

we are looking for somewhere between 300k t0 400k maybe able to strech to lower 400k.

[purplebread]

Thank you all for your comments!! To follow up on LovelySummer's comments, we are looking for a school with small class size. We think that will be a good fit for our child. That's one of the reason we may look for a private school.
What do you guys think of the Smyrna area? One of us work near the airport so we are looking to cut down our commute to be less than 20. Morningside is a very good school however I heard the middle school and high school are not that great. Friends from work send their kids to private schools after they graduated from Morningside.

[AtlJan]

Smyrna area is great, especially for airport commute and using private school. St. Benedict's is a neat little school in the area. . .

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

This. There are plenty of good options intown. I think that if you are both commuting intown and going to the office daily, that life gets complicated as your child ages. Certainly not having a huge commute will make your life easier.

That said, your closer in options will be determined by your housing options. What do you think your price range will be?

There are good intown options. I have a child who attended Morningside elementary - it was okay. Now, I live in the burbs (Forsyth) and have a child in the Lambert system. The Lambert system beats the intown system hands down.

I now commute between Forsyth and town. FOR ME, the education Forsyth county schools provides outweighs the inconvenience of my commute. But, different strokes for different folks.

To achieve an educational experience intown that equals the Forsyth school experience will require private school. That cost, plus increased housing costs, plus vastly increased property tax will be an additional burden you should consider.