are schools overcrowded? (Atlanta, Sandy Springs, Roswell: 2010, neighborhoods, school district)

[melkat]

My husband *may* get a promotion which would move us to Atlanta where his company's headquarters is (Sandy Springs to be exact) We would be coming from Charlotte (Lake Norman area) and the schools here are so overcrowded..our school is new this year and next year it will already have trailers. They do not add on to schools here but just keep adding trailer after trailer. We would be looking mostly in Roswell I think and am wondering if the same is going on there and how they have handled the growth with the school system?

TIA

[TakeAhike]

A Google search--'Fulton county schools overcrowded GA' revealed that Hembree Elementary may have the greatest increase.

The school populations in Roswell were projected to decrease by 2009-2010.

Link to Fulton County Schools website>>>
http://www.fultonschools.org/story_detail.asp?id=1683

[backfist]

Similar situation here. Just as folks in North Meck want a separate school district from the rest of Mecklenburg, most folks in North Fulton want a separate district from the rest of Fulton. The result is that the schools in North Fulton are crowded and getting more overcrowded by the month. Just like Huntersville.

And just as Huntersville is a more desirable part of Charlotte, the northern Atlanta suburbs are more desirable than others. Unfortunately, schools--public and private--haven't kept pace with the multitudes of new neighborhoods.

[TakeAhike]

Hembree Springs Elementary area>>>

http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q...oad,Roswell+GA

at 'Great Schools.com' Hembree received a '9' out of 10>>>
http://www.greatschools.net/city/Roswell/GA

This school seems to be in the Mansell Rd, Houze Rd, 400--Alpharetta area. A heavily traveled and populated area.

I had friends in that area once---departed for coastal AL once the kids finished school...the traffic was horrible then and must be even worse now.

'Crabapple' --an area that is further north --might be less congested???

[sprtsluvr8]

Any booming city, like Charlotte or Atlanta, will have overcrowded schools in many areas. Even if you find one with a stable population, it can become the next hot area before you realize it and the schools will reflect that. I taught elementary school in Fairburn, which is a nice suburb in south Fulton, and our enrollment doubled to over 1,000 students in 3 years. They've opened two new schools in the area (Creekside Cluster) and added 20 new classrooms and still have an entire grade level and other classes in trailers. It was no fun to work in that atmosphere but the teachers do the best they can.

If you choose the same area everybody wants you'll have the same problem as in Charlotte. You could check enrollment figures for the past couple of years to this year and even projected into the future to determine if the school you're looking at is growing or has a stable enrollment.

[TakeAhike]

At the Fulton County website --there should be a link to their 'Plan of Improvement/Self-Study'. --I found a link on Google.

Call them--email them --do the same with Cobb and Gwinnett--this FYI is available.

They (Fulton/Alpharetta) recently opened ? a science/engineering magnet/charter high school--maybe grades 8/9 at this point--plan to add the remaining grades in the next few years. I think Gwinnett has a similar school.

[jxu66]

Gwinnett will open its first charter school (Gwinnett Charter School of Advanced Math, Science and Technology) this coming fall. However, there are only 200 spots. I read from ajc that there are 249 applicants. So there will be a lottery for those 200 spots.