Looking for the best schools— particularly high schools! (Atlanta, Sandy Springs: 2013, homes)

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by Soccernerd

We're still in the very early stages of looking, but I was paging through listings in the extreme western Walton area. In particular I was looking in an area west of Piedmont Road. Do School boundaries change frequently, or should I look closer to the high school? It looks like if you get too far east then you're really from 75 and 400 seems like a nightmare.

And I do recommend looking in the western halves of the Walton or Pope zones (from around and near each high school westward to their western boundaries).

[Soccernerd]

I was looking at the Walton Reserve. It's towards the top of our preferred price range, but houses don't have the Georgia-McMansion-as-much-square-footage-per-dollar as some houses do. It looks like it has easy access to 75 and Lockheed and is in the Walton district.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by Soccernerd

I was looking at the Walton Reserve. It's towards the top of our preferred price range, but houses don't have the Georgia-McMansion-as-much-square-footage-per-dollar as some houses do. It looks like it has easy access to 75 and Lockheed and is in the Walton district.

Yes, that's in the extreme western finger of the Walton district.

[back2atl]

I agree Walton district is a great choice, we live here and love it. We're almost at Roswell line, takes 10 min to get to 400, 15 min to 285, 20 min to 75. But I work from home so can't really speak to commute. It's nice having all 3 highways as options when heading south to city, airport, etc. in case of bad traffic. western portion does sound better for you. We go to Canton St in Roswell a lot, you'd probably go to Marietta square a lot. Both are good places with local restaurants and whatnot.

[Soccernerd]

Thanks all for the advice! That's good to hear about Marietta's square and Roswell. Since Atlanta has grown so quickly in recent decades I was worried that there wouldn't be any well established town centers in the area.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by Soccernerd

My husband and three children (6, 8, and 11) will be likely moving from St. Louis to Atlanta in time for the 2018-2019 school year (I will be moving down in January, and they will follow me). We are looking for the best schools public schools Georgia has to offer particularly STEM, but the arts are important as well. Our budget is 600,000 but is somewhat flexible. My husband will be working at Lockheed-Martin, and I will be working at SunTrust downtown. Access to the airport would be nice. We're currently half an hours drive from our city's airport, but I understand that probably won't be realistic in ATL. Close proximity to shopping and entertainment is relatively important too, and I'd like to be within a 15 minute drive of a Costco. Also coming from an area that has a large number of municipalities, does it matter if you live in an unincorporated area in Georgia or not?

Like many of the other posters have recommended, Cobb County is the best option for all of your needs and should be the area that you and your family focus in on while planning and executing your relocation from St. Louis to Atlanta.

Cobb County provides the best combination of convenient commuter access to your husband's job at the Lockheed-Martin plant at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, access to your job at SunTrust Plaza in Downtown Atlanta, access to some of the best public schools not only in the state of Georgia but also in the entire Southeastern U.S. (particularly in East Cobb and West Cobb), access to the world's busiest airport, access to shopping and entertainment and access to Costco stores.

The place of your husband's employment, Lockheed-Martin, is located in Marietta which is the seat of government and the largest city in Cobb County. Because your husband's employment is located there and because of the extremely high quality of the schools in the county, Cobb County is where you should concentrate your search for a home to purchase.

East Cobb in particular offers some of the best schools both in the state of Georgia and in the Southeastern U.S. The schools in the East Cobb clusters anchored by Walton, Pope, Lassiter and Wheeler high schools have a reputation for providing Ivy League-caliber prep school educations. Many graduates of those high schools have gone on to matriculate at some of the best colleges and universities in the nation because of the level of preparatory education they received at those high schools.

The clusters of West Cobb schools anchored by Hillgrove, Kennesaw Mountain and Harrison high schools also provide an extremely high-caliber public prep school secondary education but feature slightly lower home prices and a less-ridiculously competitive real estate market than East Cobb.

The cluster of schools anchored by Marietta High School (which is an independent school system in Marietta City Schools) is also of very good quality but serves a population of students that traditionally has included a high number of transient families. Though the number of students from higher-income families appears to be rising in Marietta because of the continuing gentrification of the area within the boundaries of the Marietta City Schools system.

Your commute to and from your job at SunTrust Plaza in Downtown Atlanta will be longer than your husband's commute to and from his job at Lockheed-Martin at Dobbins ARB but your commute will still be somewhat relatively short by metropolitan Atlanta standards. If you decide to locate in the Walton (particularly the eastern part of the Walton cluster) or Pope or even Lassiter clusters of East Cobb, you may have access to MARTA Heavy Rail subway trains (by way of the Sandy Springs MARTA Station) to use in and out of the city as an alternative to driving on GA 400, I-85 NE and I-75/I-85 on the worst traffic days.

Cobb County will also provide you with good access to shopping throughout the north half of the Atlanta region and good access to entertainment opportunities both on the Northside and in the City of Atlanta.

Cobb County also will provide you with good access to three Costco stores in the Cumberland, Kennesaw and Sandy Springs areas.

If you relocate into a county like Cobb, it will not really matter if you live in an unincorporated area because the county provides a very high level of municipal services and (with the exception of the small independent Marietta City Schools system) the schools are operated by a countywide public school system (Cobb County School District).

[PTC Dad]

As mentioned earlier, you should definitely look at East Cobb.

1. Walton
2. Pope
3. Lassiter

All 3 of these schools will have what you're looking for and reasonable commutes to both Marietta and downtown.

[Soccernerd]

I think I have some good information on where I should begin my search! My husband I will be going down in September to look, and then later in the fall, all five will visit the area (I want my children to have some exposure to the area). I think East Cobb will definitely be an area we'll focus mostly on, but I'll keep West Cobb in mind too because it seems like it's a little better value for your money.

[noooooney]

Originally Posted by Soccernerd

My husband and three children (6, 8, and 11) will be likely moving from St. Louis to Atlanta in time for the 2018-2019 school year (I will be moving down in January, and they will follow me). We are looking for the best schools public schools Georgia has to offer particularly STEM, but the arts are important as well. Our budget is 600,000 but is somewhat flexible. My husband will be working at Lockheed-Martin, and I will be working at SunTrust downtown. Access to the airport would be nice. We're currently half an hours drive from our city's airport, but I understand that probably won't be realistic in ATL. Close proximity to shopping and entertainment is relatively important too, and I'd like to be within a 15 minute drive of a Costco. Also coming from an area that has a large number of municipalities, does it matter if you live in an unincorporated area in Georgia or not?

The education here (GA) period falls very short so imo your best bet is homeschool. That is what we have haf to do. Other than that I heard Gwinnett county has good (good for GA) schools and education.

[Soccernerd]

Originally Posted by noooooney

The education here (GA) period falls very short so imo your best bet is homeschool. That is what we have haf to do. Other than that I heard Gwinnett county has good (good for GA) schools and education.

The public schools are about the same as the ones in Missouri, and we are quite satisfied with the schools our children attend. We believe in public education and will choose a district that matches or exceeds our current district and will work with our children no matter what the circumstances. That being said, we have considered private schools and homeschooling in Missouri and will in Georgia. My husband and I both work full time so homeschooling is probably unlikely.