Input on Lake Forest Elementary & Spalding Drive Charter (Sandy Springs: apartment, work)

[blairenfield]

I am considering purchasing a house off Johnson Ferry Rd and obviously there is a vote to occur in February for elementary school redistricting in Sandy Springs. This house could fall into one of three districts (Heards Ferry - obviously a good school, Lake Forest ES - new school or Spalding Drive Charter).

I wanted to get some opinions from folks on this site before buying this home.

My general opinion is that the community of Sandy Springs is going to build a high quality elementary school in the heart of the city. I can't imagine that this will not be a successful school.

I also wanted to get your opinion on Spalding Drive Charter School (especially those that have children going there currently). Comparing ratings online it hasn't done that well, but I have to think they are working to make strides there. However, I wanted your opinion.

Thanks for taking the time to discuss this matter.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by blairenfield

I am considering purchasing a house off Johnson Ferry Rd and obviously there is a vote to occur in February for elementary school redistricting in Sandy Springs. This house could fall into one of three districts (Heards Ferry - obviously a good school, Lake Forest ES - new school or Spalding Drive Charter).

I wanted to get some opinions from folks on this site before buying this home.

My general opinion is that the community of Sandy Springs is going to build a high quality elementary school in the heart of the city. I can't imagine that this will not be a successful school.

I also wanted to get your opinion on Spalding Drive Charter School (especially those that have children going there currently). Comparing ratings online it hasn't done that well, but I have to think they are working to make strides there. However, I wanted your opinion.

Thanks for taking the time to discuss this matter.

Spalding Drive Charter...strong neighborhood/community school. Great community support. Strong PTA.

Good Luck! You're making a great decision by considering Sandy Springs and its fantastic public schools!

P.S...Ridgeview Middle and Riverwood High are also strong (they are the middle and high schools for the area you are considering).

[gt93grad]

Lake Forest Elementary was set up to handle the children of illegals, because there are so many. It's so politically correct that, even though it's on "Lake Forrest Drive" (with 2 Rs), they dropped one to keep from offending anyone. "Forrest" was named after a confederate soldier. Give me a break.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by gt93grad

Lake Forest Elementary was set up to handle the children of illegals, because there are so many. It's so politically correct that, even though it's on "Lake Forrest Drive" (with 2 Rs), they dropped one to keep from offending anyone. "Forrest" was named after a confederate soldier. Give me a break.

Yes, unfortunately, the school zone boundaries were made so that Lake Forest Elementary (yes, they should have left it as "Forrest"!) is an "apartment colony."

[RainyRainyDay]

I heartily agree re Lake Forrest/Forest naming. My office is in a large complex (Century Springs) on Lake Forrest, just a couple of blocks north of the school. Getting the street named spelled correctly was hard enough already!

[eleanorBrigman]

Originally Posted by aries4118

Good Luck! You're making a great decision by considering Sandy Springs and its fantastic public schools!

Sandy Springs really does not have good schools. The only good school I can think of is Heards Ferry. Dunwoody Springs, Woodland, Spalding are all pretty low performing. Too early to tell for Lake Forest.

Ridgeview and Sandy Springs, the middle schools, also have pretty low performance.

Riverwood is okay, but North Springs is sub-par as well.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by eleanorBrigman

Sandy Springs really does not have good schools. The only good school I can think of is Heards Ferry. Dunwoody Springs, Woodland, Spalding are all pretty low performing. Too early to tell for Lake Forest.

Ridgeview and Sandy Springs, the middle schools, also have pretty low performance.

Riverwood is okay, but North Springs is sub-par as well.

Are you seriously writing this with a straight face?

Girl, please...

[eleanorBrigman]

source: greatschools.net

Rankings:
Riverwood - 10
North Springs - 6
Ridgeview - 5
Sandy Springs Middle - 4
Woodland - 7
Dunwoody Springs - 7
Heards Ferry - 5
Spalding - 5

As you can see, "fantastic" does not describe Sandy Springs schools. I was wrong about Riverwood, which appears to be great. Heards Ferry will most likely be higher rated after this year. The rest, like I said, is average or below average. Things could also change once the new Ison Road Elementary School is built.

If you can afford Sandy Springs, why not move to neighboring Dunwoody? Better schools there:

Vanderlyn - 10
Austin - 10
Peachtree Middle - 7
Dunwoody - 8


Or Brookhaven if you can get into the Ashford Park/Chamblee Middle/Chamblee High cluster:
Ashford park elem - 7
Chamblee Middle - 7
Chamblee High - 10

Overall, intown suburbs just do not have the good of schools. Many people in these areas go private for these reasons.

[lastminutemom]

Chamblee is only a 10 because of the magnet program, rest of the school is pretty stinky.

I would agree with you that the middle schools in Sandy Springs need work, but Ridgeview is really viewed as improving because of all the great things at Riverwood. Riverwood is a far better school than Dunwoody -- has so much more to offer and an IB programme on top of it.

The Sandy Springs elementary schools offer alot more than DeKalb schools -- dedicated science teachers, foreign language regularly for the older grades, etc.
But you have to be comfortable with diversity.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by eleanorBrigman

Overall, intown suburbs just do not have the good of schools. Many people in these areas go private for these reasons.

What is an "intown suburb"...?