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Hi, all! We moved to Atlanta (Buckhead) in January 2018 from the Northeast. We are currently in the process of evaluating private schools for our daughter who will be entering into 1st grade. I have already heard that a non-expansion year will be tough for admissions. Her kindergarten teacher said that she was academically capable of attending Westminster, which seems like the reference point around here, but her dad and I don’t feel like it would be a good fit given the reputation it has for being a pressure-cooker and socially competitive -- even in the early years. (Please correct me if I got it wrong!)
Our daughter is very curious and creative with a strong interest in the arts. She is a hard-worker and self-directed. She is a kind and sensitive creature who marches to her own drum. Also, we are a biracial family (Caucasian and Indian); so, diversity/acceptance of diversity does matter to us. Lastly, we are more spiritual than religious and wonder how she’ll fit in to some of these schools given that we don’t go to church.
Being new to the area, I am having a really hard time narrowing down the list from six to four. If anyone could help me navigate the maze and give me the insider’s perspective on the real vibe of the different schools, I would be so super appreciative. I am just trying to find the best fit for her.
Current List:
Atlanta International School
Galloway
HIES
Trinity
Pace
Lovett
Hi, all! We moved to Atlanta (Buckhead) in January 2018 from the Northeast. We are currently in the process of evaluating private schools for our daughter who will be entering into 1st grade. I have already heard that a non-expansion year will be tough for admissions. Her kindergarten teacher said that she was academically capable of attending Westminster, which seems like the reference point around here, but her dad and I don’t feel like it would be a good fit given the reputation it has for being a pressure-cooker and socially competitive -- even in the early years. (Please correct me if I got it wrong!)
Our daughter is very curious and creative with a strong interest in the arts. She is a hard-worker and self-directed. She is a kind and sensitive creature who marches to her own drum. Also, we are a biracial family (Caucasian and Indian); so, diversity/acceptance of diversity does matter to us. Lastly, we are more spiritual than religious and wonder how she’ll fit in to some of these schools given that we don’t go to church.
Being new to the area, I am having a really hard time narrowing down the list from six to four. If anyone could help me navigate the maze and give me the insider’s perspective on the real vibe of the different schools, I would be so super appreciative. I am just trying to find the best fit for her.
Current List:
Atlanta International School
Galloway
HIES
Trinity
Pace
Lovett
What kind of school are you looking for in terms of curriculum? Have you already bought a house? I'm asking bc if you are renting and would consider living closer to the school, I would add Paideia to your list, assuming you would welcome a more non-traditional learning environment. From what you've said, I would put Galloway and Paideia near the top of your list, maybe Trinity next. Another one to look at if you are renting and have interest in living closer to the Decatur area would be Cliff Valley School.
I would say Pace or Trinity for you if you still want the academic rigor. Galloway sounds like it could be a fit too. HIES doesn’t feel like it fits in with the rest of your list.
I don't know that much about the private schools in the area, but one thing I do know is based on what you've described, the first thing that came to my mind was Paideia.
Westminster is NOT a pressure cooker, particularly in the early grades. It actually has a very supportive and caring environment. Two of my children have attended. Great school.
What kind of school are you looking for in terms of curriculum? Have you already bought a house? I'm asking bc if you are renting and would consider living closer to the school, I would add Paideia to your list, assuming you would welcome a more non-traditional learning environment. From what you've said, I would put Galloway and Paideia near the top of your list, maybe Trinity next. Another one to look at if you are renting and have interest in living closer to the Decatur area would be Cliff Valley School.
Hi, thanks so much for your help and really great question. No, to be completely (and embarrassingly?) honest, I really don't know what I'm looking for as far as curriculum. Sounds like I should kind of know that. Whole child??? As I said, I am kind of overwhelmed and lost at the moment in this process. Yes, more of a non-traditional learning environment is what I'm imagining would work well for my 5yo daughter. This whole thing feels more like a college application process than something geared for first grade!
Yes, we are indeed currently renting (close to Roswell/Piedmont), but my husband just loves the Buckhead area. Paideia seems like it would be an ideal fit (sounds like very, very low acceptance rate though), but the commute is just awful. Someone else I very much respect mentioned Cliff Valley, too. I think we'd definitely have to move for those two.
Any thoughts on AIS? My husband is from India, and that is currently his top choice. I'm trying to remain open to find the best fit.
Again, so appreciative of your input. It is so hard not knowing the real skinny on all of the different schools. I just don't have a true sense of any of them. There's only so much you can take away on an hour tour...
Thanks for the specific feedback about HIES not fitting in with the rest. I don't even know enough to know why that's the case. Is it because it is more religious? More traditional? It's really primarily on the list because I had a private sit-down with the head of the Primary School. I so, so enjoyed my conversation with him and my tour. The kids seemed authentically happy and engaged.
However, that is exactly why I'm on this message board -- to learn more about the schools than I can in a short tour. If I were from ATL, I'm sure I'd have an intuitive feeling about a good fit for my daughter, but on the websites they all sound AMAZING. (I want to go back to school in 2019!) It's just hard to figure out the differentiators...
If you have any more to share, I'm all ears. So appreciative!!!
I truly hope my comment wasn't offensive. As a newbie to Atlanta, I'm trying to sort through a lot of feedback. Several people have used that term "pressure cooker" term when describing WM. Apologies. Honestly, the very reason I signed up for this City-Data message board this morning is to get exactly the kind of first-hand knowledge that you so generously provided. We don't know anyone here at all; so, we are just flying blind trying to assimilate as much information as possible in a very short period of time.
If you have any commentary on any of the other schools, I would be so grateful. Just trying to learn the ropes, quickly!
From the description of your child as a hard worker and self-directed who marches to the beat of her own drum, I'd highly recommend Galloway and Paideia. They're sister schools with a student-led learning approach. My daughter attends Galloway, and the students are encouraged to take on passion projects and start learning how to do research and even opinion writing in first and second grades. The kids in her class started learning cursive at the beginning of second grade instead of the end because they all were eager to learn and were ready, so the teachers changed up the curriculum. That would have never happened in a traditional environment, especially public schools. The makeup of the early learning grades typically consists of two classrooms for each grade comprised of 15 to 20 kids with two teachers in each classroom.
If kids need additional help, there are on-site tutors who'll take kids out of class to get the extra help they may need in math or reading. The school is also very proactive about identifying kids with learning differences who may benefit from more intense help. The Schenck School and Atlanta Speech School are nearby, and those kids tend to return to Galloway after a couple of years.
Galloway is probably the most progressive school in Atlanta and takes a different approach to competition. There are no letter grades, no valedictorian, and all the athletic teams are open to everyone (You won't get cut from the team but may sit on the bench.) Certain schools have a pressure-cooker reputation, but Galloway works to tamp that down. I was worried about the lack of letter grades until I got the first report card that was written in a two-page narrative style that went into exhaustive detail about our daughter. It was followed by a rubric for each subject matter along with social emotional skills to gauge her progress. This sort of report card is being adopted around the country as grade inflation (thanks to AP) doesn't tell the complete story. Galloway is part of a consortium of schools to educate colleges on how to evaluate students with these sort of transcripts, and the current head of school worked in Harvard's admissions office, so he's got his ear to the ground on all the latest trends.
From a diversity standpoint, Galloway and Paideia both have a very inclusive curricula that exposes kids to many cultures. The Galloway student body is diverse in many ways (ie. a gender-neutral bathroom) with a large enough representation from the Jewish community that there's an after-school Hebrew class. The librarians work hard to make sure there are books that feature a diverse range of kids and story tropes (too many boy-and-his-dog stories). They actually counted all the books by male and female authors and also enumerated the books that featured boys, girls and various ethnic groups to highlight gaps and even evaluated the types of stage productions they've put on in the last 10 years. This fall, all the grades of Early Learning for a week stopped their regular class schedule to celebrate Diwali and learn about Indian culture. The entire school was redecorated with Indian fabrics and smelled great with a spice cart and incense burning all week. One student's grandfather worked with Ghandi and was able to share first-hand experiences.
The teaching staff and administration are diverse with room for improvement; representation matters. The former head of school at Galloway, Suzanna Jemsby, was the only woman of color (Caucasian and Indian) head of school in the country and recently moved to the Washington International School, and her successor, James Calleroz White, is the (first?) only black head of an independent school in Atlanta. Galloway doesn't tout it much, but it was the only private school in Atlanta that would accept MLK Jr.'s kids. The rejection letter from Lovett is on display at the Center for Civil and Human Rights downtown.
You're right about the admissions process to the top private schools in Atlanta being like applying to college with the interviews, testing, Decision Day and waitlists. Be sure to schedule your JATP assessment now and get it out of the way because psychologists' calendars start filling up after the holidays. We had no idea we were in for a three-month marathon of visits and testing but managed to get into three out of five schools we applied to for a first-grade placement.
After this process, I wanted to start elementary school all over, too. Fortunately, Galloway has an extensive range of ways parents can help out in the school to the point that some literally make a career out of volunteering on the various parent committees whether its for the arts and dance programs, athletic boosters, fall festival, fundraising, library and classroom helpers. This helps foster a sense of community, which can be hard when families are commuting from a 40-mile radius of the school.
Let me know if you have any other questions and good luck!
Last edited by cparker73; 01-10-2019 at 12:16 AM..
I was up late tonight scouring all of the school websites when I saw your lengthy and thoughtful reply. I cannot thank you enough. I'll write back in more detail tomorrow. Again, I am just so grateful!
Deb
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