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

[Soccernerd]

Wow! They don't have neighborhoods like that in St. Louis! Swim/tennis communities really seem like a big deal in Atlanta. Obviously there'll be HOA and membership fees, but I'd rather pay them than have to mess with a pool!

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by Soccernerd

Wow! They don't have neighborhoods like that in St. Louis! Swim/tennis communities really seem like a big deal in Atlanta. Obviously there'll be HOA and membership fees, but I'd rather pay them than have to mess with a pool!

Oh, the Metro Atlanta suburbs are Swim/Tennis Central! It is like the foundational culture of Bucolic East Cobb.



You are going to really enjoy your home/neighborhood tour+search.

[JOinGA]

Warning regarding swim/tennis. Buy into a neighborhood where membership is mandatory. My neighborhood was built with membership optional and, as the neighborhood aged, we struggled to fund the pool. Six years ago we were able to convert to permanent memberships where homes converted to mandatory membership. We couldn't force anyone to sign up for it, but we got enough properties to secure the future of our amenities. Anyone who wants to join now pays a hefty initiation fee. I would never again buy into a membership optional swim/tennis.....but I love having a neighborhood pool. I swim laps, so I go early in the morning. I have the pool to myself. It's great.

[dblackga]

Originally Posted by Soccernerd

I've made the mistake of booking a flight that landed at 3:45 on a Friday. Ouch!

I suppose the best thing to do is just be realistic about the traffi and try to not put yourself in a situation where you need to drive across Atlanta at 4. For me, consolidating trips reduces time. That's why I like having a Costco because I can get groceries, home goods, toiletries, and gas at one place.

We've made the mistake of driving through Atlanta on our way to Florida on Good Friday. It was absolutely miserable.

Oh, dear. Yep, you are landing in the middle of Traffic Central on that Friday. Consider renting a car in Sandy Springs/Dunwoody, taking the MARTA train to North Springs, Sandy Springs or Dunwoody stations, then get a Lyft or Uber to a nearby car rental place.

[Soccernerd]

Originally Posted by dblackga

Oh, dear. Yep, you are landing in the middle of Traffic Central on that Friday. Consider renting a car in Sandy Springs/Dunwoody, taking the MARTA train to North Springs, Sandy Springs or Dunwoody stations, then get a Lyft or Uber to a nearby car rental place.

I meant I've landed in LA on a Friday afternoon before! Sorry that was ambiguous!

[Soccernerd]

Update:
My husband and I visited Atlanta to begin the house hunting process.

We've decided on East Cobb due to commuting needs and access to retail. Now we aren't certain which high school cluster to move to but we're thinking Walton or Pope. We'll research the schools An for take tours of them a little more down the road. Also a comment on high schools and really all of the schools in Georgia: they seem HUGE! We will return to next month to start putting in offers.

Thank you all for your help!

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by Soccernerd

Update:
My husband and I visited Atlanta to begin the house hunting process.

We've decided on East Cobb due to commuting needs and access to retail. Now we aren't certain which high school cluster to move to but we're thinking Walton or Pope. We'll research the schools An for take tours of them a little more down the road. Also a comment on high schools and really all of the schools in Georgia: they seem HUGE! We will return to next month to start putting in offers.

Thank you all for your help!

If the suburban schools might be relatively smaller in size in the area where you live at now, then many of the schools in a community like Cobb County may seem relatively large in size.

But compared to some other parts of the country (like the Midwestern city/metro that I do much business in or places like California, New York, Florida, Texas, etc), a large major school system like Cobb County seems to actually do a good job at keeping their high school enrollment numbers well under the 3,000-student mark.

In the Midwestern city/metro that I am referring to, there are multiple large suburban high schools with enrollments near, at and above the 4,000-student mark.

In this Midwestern town, there is even one large suburban high school (a school which is basically thought of by the locals as being to that large Midwestern metro area what Walton is thought of being to Cobb County, North metro Atlanta, Georgia and the Southeastern U.S. as a whole) with a student enrollment that is approaching the 5,000-student mark.

(...This large suburban Midwestern high school is so large that the distance between the school building and the football stadium is more than a half-mile...on the same school campus!)

Another large suburban high school in this major Midwestern metro area once had a total student enrollment that was right at the 5,000 student mark but has dropped by about 15% or so (down to about 4,200-4,300 students) with the advent and advance of the charter school movement, a movement which appears to be noticeably more advanced in this major Midwestern city and Midwestern state than it seems to be in Georgia at the moment.

This same large suburban Midwestern high school that once had a student enrollment that hovered at about the 5,000-student mark also sits in a building that is over 1 million square feet in size on a campus that is about 200 acres in size....A building and campus that very well may be the largest public school building and public school campus in the U.S.

Compared to some of the public high schools in other parts of the country, the public high schools (and the public schools in general) appear to be at a reasonable size for a large major metropolitan school system located in an area with a booming population (suburban North metro Atlanta).

Cobb County schools are also noticeably smaller in size and enrollment when compared to a larger major metro school system like Gwinnett County on the other side of the Atlanta metro area.

Gwinnett County has about six public high schools with enrollments over the 3,000-student mark, with a couple of those schools having enrollments that exceed the 3,500-student mark.

With an enrollment of about just under 2,700 students, Walton High School appears to have the second-largest enrollment of any high school in Cobb County....But if Walton High School was located in the Gwinnett County school system, Walton would only have about the 9th or 10th-largest enrollment of any high school in that system.

All things considered, when put in perspective, Cobb County schools are pretty reasonable in size and enrollment for a high-demand area with a booming population.

[Soccernerd]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll

If the suburban schools might be relatively smaller in size in the area where you live at now, then many of the schools in a community like Cobb County may seem relatively large in size.

But compared to some other parts of the country (like the Midwestern city/metro that I do much business in or places like California, New York, Florida, Texas, etc), a large major school system like Cobb County seems to actually do a good job at keeping their high school enrollment numbers well under the 3,000-student mark.

In the Midwestern city/metro that I am referring to, there are multiple large suburban high schools with enrollments near, at and above the 4,000-student mark.

In this Midwestern town, there is even one large suburban high school (a school which is basically thought of by the locals as being to that large Midwestern metro area what Walton is thought of being to Cobb County, North metro Atlanta, Georgia and the Southeastern U.S. as a whole) with a student enrollment that is approaching the 5,000-student mark.

(...This large suburban Midwestern high school is so large that the distance between the school building and the football stadium is more than a half-mile...on the same school campus!)

Another large suburban high school in this major Midwestern metro area once had a total student enrollment that was right at the 5,000 student mark but has dropped by about 15% or so (down to about 4,200-4,300 students) with the advent and advance of the charter school movement, a movement which appears to be noticeably more advanced in this major Midwestern city and Midwestern state than it seems to be in Georgia at the moment.

This same large suburban Midwestern high school that once had a student enrollment that hovered at about the 5,000-student mark also sits in a building that is over 1 million square feet in size on a campus that is about 200 acres in size....A building and campus that very well may be the largest public school building and public school campus in the U.S.

Compared to some of the public high schools in other parts of the country, the public high schools (and the public schools in general) appear to be at a reasonable size for a large major metropolitan school system located in an area with a booming population (suburban North metro Atlanta).

Cobb County schools are also noticeably smaller in size and enrollment when compared to a larger major metro school system like Gwinnett County on the other side of the Atlanta metro area.

Gwinnett County has about six public high schools with enrollments over the 3,000-student mark, with a couple of those schools having enrollments that exceed the 3,500-student mark.

With an enrollment of about just under 2,700 students, Walton High School appears to have the second-largest enrollment of any high school in Cobb County....But if Walton High School was located in the Gwinnett County school system, Walton would only have about the 9th or 10th-largest enrollment of any high school in that system.

All things considered, when put in perspective, Cobb County schools are pretty reasonable in size and enrollment for a high-demand area with a booming population.

The public school districts in the state of Missouri tend to be county run in rural areas, city run in older and/or large cities, and a lot of suburban areas or areas that have seen growth recently tend to have school districts that run across cities boundaries but, at least to my knowledge, never county boundaries. This is similar to "independent" school districts of Texas. We are in this type of district currently.

Compounding the issue further, is the St. Louis Metro has the highest per capita number of students who attend private school. I don't have a source handy, but I'm sure one can find some info via a quick Google search. I'm not sure to what degree that affects public school attendance, but I'm sure it must have some impact. The good news is class sizes are about the same between Cobb County and our current school district, so it shouldn't be too big of an issue.

[JOinGA]

If you find a house in the Lassiter district, that would also be a good high school choice.

[Soccernerd]

Originally Posted by JOinGA

If you find a house in the Lassiter district, that would also be a good high school choice.

Lassiter starts getting even further from Downtown and Dobbins though. If we were to get a steal on a house in Lassiter or northern Pope, but otherwise we're thinking the southern half of East Cobb.