Sandy Springs public schools (Atlanta, Dunwoody: apartments, renting, condominiums)

[kaday]

Does anyone have any information on Sandy springs public schools particularly elementary?

Thanks.

[backfist]

From what I've seen, the public schools are about average. Better than schools in poor metro areas, but not a whole lot better than those in upper crust communities. SS Middle School, for example, is in the middle of the pack in terms of its statistics.

[lastminutemom]

Kaday,

In terms of the elementary schools, I think Woodland Elementary is great and has a great administrator at its' helm. Dunwoody Springs has a great (in my opinion) prinicipal, but basically very few homeowners send their children. Spalding Drive is up and coming and and I head that Heards Ferry attracts a very private school crowd. High Point, which also has a good principal has a very large Hispanic population, but does a good job educating everyone.

Are you renting or buying? If you are buying, you should know that they are getting ready to break ground on a new elemenetary school for Sandy Springs that will open Fall 2008.

check out fultonschools dot org for more info.

let me know if you have any questions.

[kaday]

For us it is a battle of close in older homes or newer homes further out. My spouse was in town for the weekend and was sort of dismayed by the abundance of sprawl and subdivisions in East Cobb. He thought Sandy Springs was really pretty but our money doesn't seem to go as far there. Knowing the schools are good would help. The diversity is definately a plus. Thanks for your imput.

[lastminutemom]

East Cobb has a lot of congestions and sprawl, but Sandy Springs has the congestion.

Frankly, East Cobb schools, though much less diverse, very well might be better. As sad as it to say, and I am huge advocate of diversity of all types, East Cobb schools have little to no multi-family housing in their school districts. I think the Sandy Springs schools are good, but would love to know more about your expectations -- about school....

[jxu66]

If you want to have a good elementary schools, you should pick Dunwoody over Sandy Spring. Dunwoody/Sandy Spring is next to each other but Dunwoody is in Dekalb while Sandy Spring is in North Fulton. Both Austin elementary and Vanderlyn elementary in Dunwoody have excellent CRCT score. After that, I think most homeowners sent their kids to private schools after elementary schools.

North Springs cluster:

North Springs High School 89.98%
Sandy Springs Middle School 79.6%
Woodland Charter Elementary School 93.84%
Dunwoody Springs Charter Elementary School 85.41%
Spalding Drive Charter Elementary School 88.12%

Riverwood cluster:

Riverwood High School 92.81%
High Point Elementary School 79.95%
Ridgeview Middle School 80.44%
Heards Ferry Elementary School 87.46%


Dunwoody Elementary
Chesnut Charter Elementary School 90.49%
Kingsley Elementary School 92.9%
Austin Elementary School 97.92% (gold winner)
Vanderlyn Elementary School 98.87% (Platinum winner)
Peachtree Charter Middle School 83.42%
Dunwoody High School 89.27%

[backfist]

Not knowing what your economic station in life is, kaday, school diversity here in GA seems to come with pros and cons. As lastminutemom suggests, schools in Sandy Springs, East Cobb, etc. may very well be diverse by virtue of kids whose parents live in nearby apartments. As we know kids can be cruel and, as such, can--can--be a little less friendly to the kids from the families of "renters." I say this because we're considering discontinuing homeschooling and sending our kids to school in Sandy Springs. Having just moved here, we're renting because we have yet to sell a house. And unfortunately, we're having to prep our kids (who will bring diversity) for the inevitable stigma of being "renters".

My suggestion is to consider the performance of schools in East Cobb, North Fulton, North Dekalb, etc. and look at which school performs best for the neighborhood that you can afford. The better schools aren't going to be diverse. At the same time, sometimes that's a valuable lesson within itself.

[lastminutemom]

Chesnut is a gold winner as well, but I would not buy in DeKalb if I could help it. First, a new school is coming to Dunwoody in 18 months and that could/will make things very interesting....

Second, Fulton and Cobb county are far superior school systems to DeKalb. The FCSS spends more per child and, unlike much government, it totally shows. Riverwood, with its IB program, and North Springs, with its Performing Arts and its' Math and Science Magnet, offer far more options to top students than Dunwoody High.

Cobb, while it has some economic diversity, has far fewer challenges than Fulton and significantly fewer than DeKalb. I think if you only buy on test scores, you will find a school with no to little economic diversity and no to little racial diversity -- if diversity is important to you, you have to long beyond test scores.

[kaday]

Thanks everyone. Tomorrow is my big day to check out the town and purchase a home. All this info is very helpful. We are looking to spend 4-5 maybe a little more and I'm not sure that would go very far in Sandy springs. I don't want to spend all of our free time fixing up a house so maybe East Cobb is the better choice. I was really hoping for good schools with at least some diversity.

Thanks for all the info.

[Figment 07]

East Cobb is a highly desirable area with clean, attractive upscale neighborhoods. Very family oriented. If you buy there and decide that it isn't for you, you will have no trouble selling your house or condo (yes, there are condominiums).

Check out The Ultimate Atlanta School Guide (from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution online) for all the statistics:

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/gen/schoolguide/index.html (broken link)