Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
If it were me moving from the Northeast and I was dead-set on the East Cobb area, I would pick either Walton or Pope. Walton because it is closest in to the perimeter, therefore closer to town. Pope because it is closer to 400 (for commuting) and downtown Roswell (I think it is, anyways) which would be nice. I am curious, though, if the only reason you selected East Cobb is because of the test scores or if you have actually been there to check it out in person. There are plenty of better areas (in my opinion) that have schools that are near E.Cobb's class. Also, coming from the Northeast, you might experience some culture shock with the heavily right-leaning, Christianity-rules-all mentality of that area. I'm sure I am going to get lit up for saying that, but it's simply the truth, and something someone from a more liberal-thinking area should know going in.
If it were me moving from the Northeast and I was dead-set on the East Cobb area, I would pick either Walton or Pope. Walton because it is closest in to the perimeter, therefore closer to town. Pope because it is closer to 400 (for commuting) and downtown Roswell (I think it is, anyways) which would be nice. I am curious, though, if the only reason you selected East Cobb is because of the test scores or if you have actually been there to check it out in person. There are plenty of better areas (in my opinion) that have schools that are near E.Cobb's class. Also, coming from the Northeast, you might experience some culture shock with the heavily right-leaning, Christianity-rules-all mentality of that area. I'm sure I am going to get lit up for saying that, but it's simply the truth, and something someone from a more liberal-thinking area should know going in.
My neighborhood in East Cobb is pretty mixed. It is about 30% Jewish, 20% Catholic. Many Northeastern transplants. I have experienced NO "heavily right-leaning, Christianity-rules-all mentality" in East Cobb. Most people here are either transplants or very open minded, respectful of your beliefs friendly Southerners. In an emergency, I could leave my kids with any of my neighbors in a heartbeat. Honestly the vibe here to me is not much different than North Jersey where I am from originally. Cobb county went 45% for Obama in the election. That is a huge jump from the Bush elections. The face of Cobb is changing. Coming from the Northeast you will fit in here with other transplants and Southerners alike.
Also, coming from the Northeast, you might experience some culture shock with the heavily right-leaning, Christianity-rules-all mentality of that area. I'm sure I am going to get lit up for saying that, but it's simply the truth, and something someone from a more liberal-thinking area should know going in.
I'm with you, spacelord75, and I live in East Cobb (Lassiter zone). People do steadily post on here to the effect that East Cobb is quite pluralistic and rumors of its monolithic Christian-right culture are outdated and overblown. Unfortunately, in my experience, apparently nobody has notified the other residents in my area that they're supposed to have an open and diverse mindset nowadays. I've been very happy with the quality of instruction at the public schools, but even the teachers have W stickers on their cars and such, and some of the views my daughter hears in class are pretty extremely right wing, in my opinion. I read on here just the other day that the schools are quite liberal because the teachers are all Democrats. Maybe this is true down at Walton, but gosh, no left-leaning hiring policy is apparent at Lassiter.
Honestly, it's a good area to live in, in many ways, but a liberal should know they'll be surrounded by people with a completely different world view.
My neighborhood in East Cobb is pretty mixed. It is about 30% Jewish, 20% Catholic. Many Northeastern transplants. I have experienced NO "heavily right-leaning, Christianity-rules-all mentality" in East Cobb. Most people here are either transplants or very open minded, respectful of your beliefs friendly Southerners. In an emergency, I could leave my kids with any of my neighbors in a heartbeat. Honestly the vibe here to me is not much different than North Jersey where I am from originally. Cobb county went 45% for Obama in the election. That is a huge jump from the Bush elections. The face of Cobb is changing. Coming from the Northeast you will fit in here with other transplants and Southerners alike.
It must have changed a lot over the last few years then. I am open to correction on this, if this is the case, and being from the NE you would be the person to opine on it. I was speaking on behalf of a few couples I know (one from Mass. and others from Maine and Conn.) that said they felt like the southern protestant angle was played up too much for them and a lot of "behind closed doors" anti-minority comments for them. I know, having grown up in the area, that Cobb has had a history of being more conservative than most, so figured this was still the case. At any rate, if this is changing due to demographic changes in places of origin, then that is a plus. The basic point of my comment was not to steer the poster away, but more to make sure they have visited the area and fully aware of any quirks or cultural norms specific to the area before setting down roots...which is a good idea for anyone considering any area. I feel that too often people make neighborhood choices based solely on test scores without considering other very important factors as well.
Everyone has a different experience and mine has been very positive. It may vary by school district or even by subdivsion. My subdivision is about 8 years old and the majority of people here are not from Georgia. I am a pretty extroverted (this is an understatement) and I meet people everywhere I go. I really have not encountered anything but open minded people here or at least people who keep their beliefs to themselves and don't judge me for mine. I in turn do the same.
The best school zone in East Cobb is the Walton High district, followed closely by both the Pope and Lassiter districts.
In terms of location, think of East Cobb as vertically aligned, with the Walton district farthest south (closest to Atlanta), the Pope district in the middle, and the Lassiter district farthest north in East Cobb (farthest from Atlanta).
The commercial heart of East Cobb is in the Walton district (some spillover into the Pope area), while the Lassiter district is more newly developed. The Walton area is more well established and expensive, whereas the Lassiter area will get you more house for the same money, with the Pope area in between.
Personally, the Lassiter area is kind of far away for my taste, and your budget is high enough for me to recommend the Walton and Pope areas first.
What kind of houses are you looking for? If you want a new house, Walton area can be quite expensive, I think average new home is somewhere around a million. But older homes are easily within your budget.
The newer houses tend to be more cookie-cutter subdivision style houses. The Walton area, especially the southern parts of the district, close to the river, have very nice older neighborhoods with more architectural variety and landscaping. It's more rare in the Pope area, which is more subdivisions...
My advice would be to look around the Walton area, specifically the more southern portions along Columns Drive, Paper Mill Road, Lower Roswell Road, Woodlawn Drive, etc. These are the nicest parts of East Cobb and you should find good homes for your budget.
East Cobb is also home to some of the best schools in the state (and country). Walton High is ranked #103 out of the 27,000 high schools in the US (highest in GA) and Pope and Lassiter are up there too. These are all the top ranked schools in East Cobb, I would advise sticking to these school districts:
Elementary (map here (http://www.cobbk12.org/Planning/2008-09AttendanceZones_Elementary.pdf - broken link))
Mount Bethel
Sope Creek
Timber Ridge
East Side
Tritt
Murdock
Mountain View
Shallowford Falls
Garrison Mill
Davis
Rocky Mount
High (map here (http://www.cobbk12.org/Planning/2008-09AttendanceZones_High.pdf - broken link))
Walton
Pope
Lassiter
I suggest you take a look at that high school map. You'll notice the high achieving schools are all on the very eastern border. The Sprayberry and Wheeler areas (in between East Cobb and Marietta) are both decent, but not exceptional. The South Cobb areas are flat-out awful. The western areas are decent.
I really enjoyed reading your comments. Can you tell me which schools Timber Ridge feed into, middle and high? From what I gather, any of the middle schools would be a good choice, however, from my own personal standpoint, I would like to avoid Walton HS and either choose Pope or Lassiter. Should we be looking in the Roswell area to attend these schools? Our budget is $500k+ and we're looking for a family-oriented community, not a cookie-cutter style subdivision. Suggestions would be appreciated.
I really enjoyed reading your comments. Can you tell me which schools Timber Ridge feed into, middle and high? From what I gather, any of the middle schools would be a good choice, however, from my own personal standpoint, I would like to avoid Walton HS and either choose Pope or Lassiter. Should we be looking in the Roswell area to attend these schools? Our budget is $500k+ and we're looking for a family-oriented community, not a cookie-cutter style subdivision. Suggestions would be appreciated.
In answer to the question I've bolded, portions of both the Pope and Lassiter attendance zones are in the 30075 (Roswell) zip code although they are in Cobb County. I live in 30075 and my daughter attends Lassiter.
Note that even though my street address has "Roswell" as the city name, my house is in unincorporated Cobb County, not in the City of Roswell (which lies entirely within Fulton County). It's just the zip code that does not follow the county line; the school attendance zones are strictly within the county. Therefore, when doing a real estate search, if you are interested in particular high schools, make sure to use the search-by-school feature of the real estate website. Most of zip code 30075 is in Roswell and would attend Roswell High School (also a very good school by the way) or perhaps other(s).
I really enjoyed reading your comments. Can you tell me which schools Timber Ridge feed into, middle and high? From what I gather, any of the middle schools would be a good choice, however, from my own personal standpoint, I would like to avoid Walton HS and either choose Pope or Lassiter. Should we be looking in the Roswell area to attend these schools? Our budget is $500k+ and we're looking for a family-oriented community, not a cookie-cutter style subdivision. Suggestions would be appreciated.
Good post by Rainy above--make sure you read it.
Timber Ridge feeds into Dodgen Middle and Dickerson Middle. Those that go on to Dickerson will all eventually attend Walton. Those from Timber Ridge that feed into Dodgen eventually go on to Walton or Pope--depending on where they live.
If you like Timber Ridge, but also want Pope (and therefore, Dodgen), you should look at neighborhoods/homes along Bishop Lake Road (except Chimney Springs), along Oak Lane east of Johnson Ferry Road (except Chimney Springs), and then along Johnson Ferry Road from the neighborhood of Chadd's Ford to the neighborhood of Charrington.
I hope this helps. Good Luck!
Last edited by aries4118; 01-10-2011 at 12:02 PM..
You may want to check Roswell High School, too.
Our house is 6-years-old, on an acre and filled with dozens of trees, shrubs, bushes (over 2 dozen rose bushes), so not every newer home comes on barren property.
Some great replies here in this thread! We are also planning to move to East Cobb area, either Walton districts or Pope districts will work out just fine for us, as I think these two will have a better commute to Buckhead area compared to Lassiter districts. Please let me know if this assumption is correct.
I also have a few questions to follow up and ask:
1. I have two small kids, so I am more interested in elementary schools right now. About Mount Bethel, Tritt and Timber Ridge, and East Side, do they all have gifted class? Which one/ones have better afterschool enrichment program such as music, dance, foreign language, sports etc?
2. Are there any great Montosorri type of preschool (either private or public is fine) in East Cobb, specifically Walton or Pope district? My older one has been going to Montosorri school for 2.5 years, and she is doing superb in these type of environment.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Schools in Atlanta
