We may be moving to the ATL, GA area. What are some beautiful suberbs with excellent schools? (Decatur: middle-class, elementary school)

[LovinDecatur]

Originally Posted by matt8325

Yeah i know, northern suburbians tend to think they are a little better than anyone else and think that nothing exists outside the northern suburbs. I do know of some people who live in the northern suburbs that tend to stick their nose up at people who live ITP or the southside. That's why I try to avoid the northern suburbs at all costs.

You'll find that there are quite a few north-of perimeter posters that feel that ITP'ers look down their noses at them. Go figure.

[GF72]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

You'll find that there are quite a few north-of perimeter posters that feel that ITP'ers look down their noses at them. Go figure.

There are people like that on both sides.


Anyway, no one is saying that the ITP areas aren't very nice, because the nice areas are clearly some of the nicest areas around. However, the OP was very clear, he wants the best schools. No matter how you spin it, the northern suburbs are simply unbeatable in that regard. Personally, I find the ITP areas a lot cooler and more characteristic, but the schools are not in the same league.

[LovinDecatur]

The OP also mentioned:

20-25 minutes max from the city
Walkable neighborhood
Walk or bike to a village area
Husband will work in Decatur

While I won't argue that E Cobb schools are probably as good as it gets in metro Atlanta (and in the final analysis, that may be all that matters to her), I'd feel sorry for her husband facing a daily commute from Decatur to E Cobb. I was trying to address all of the items on her wish list...and I've heard nothing but positives about the city of Decatur's school system from my friends and neighbors.

[matt8325]

Originally Posted by GF72

There are people like that on both sides.


Anyway, no one is saying that the ITP areas aren't very nice, because the nice areas are clearly some of the nicest areas around. However, the OP was very clear, he wants the best schools. No matter how you spin it, the northern suburbs are simply unbeatable in that regard. Personally, I find the ITP areas a lot cooler and more characteristic, but the schools are not in the same league.

I just dont know how you can say schools on the north side are better than schools in Fayette County. They seem to be fairly equal to me.

[GF72]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

The OP also mentioned:

20-25 minutes max from the city
Walkable neighborhood
Walk or bike to a village area
Husband will work in Decatur

While I won't argue that E Cobb schools are probably as good as it gets in metro Atlanta (and in the final analysis, that may be all that matters to her), I'd feel sorry for her husband facing a daily commute from Decatur to E Cobb. I was trying to address all of the items on her wish list...and I've heard nothing but positives about the city of Decatur's school system from my friends and neighbors.

Yeah, I did mention in my post though that you have to sacrifice walkability and village areas for the northern suburbs.

As for commuting to Decatur, yeah it won't be pretty, but as long as you aren't far from 285 or 400 it can't be manageable. Obviously this rules out places like Milton or northern East Cobb.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by matt8325

Yeah i know, northern suburbians tend to think they are a little better than anyone else and think that nothing exists outside the northern suburbs. I do know of some people who live in the northern suburbs that tend to stick their nose up at people who live ITP or the southside. That's why I try to avoid the northern suburbs at all costs.

Makes me glad I live in a western suburb, huh? I can just sit back and watch the ITP/OTP and N/S ego wars from afar.

[michael1978]

The only good school in Peachtree Corners is Simpson Elementary.

Peachtree Elementary is very low performing, and it (along with Simpson), feeds into Pinckneyville Middle and Norcross High, to very sub-par schools.

Dont get me wrong, Peachtree Corners is a great area, but I would not consider it having good schools (besides Simpson, which only serves half of Peachtree Corners).

[cmtiger]

Decatur High is also in the top 5% of high schools in the nation if you are using Newsweek's measure to determine that.

Also, socioeconomics has a lot to do with SAT scores. I am going to get flamed for this, but it needs to be said, and I'll do my best to explain what I am saying.

Let me start by saying that I am an affirmative action consultant and I look at race for a living. Let me also say that I am making no comment whatsoever on achievement and race in and of itself. I believe that race alone has nothing to do with achievement.......

As is stands in this country today, typically, Caucasian students tend to outperform African American students on the SAT. I personally do not believe that this has anything to do with skin color but rather has to do with the fact that there is still a substantial economic disparity between White families and Black families - particularly in the South. I firmly believe that, over a statistically significant sample, socioeconomics influence SAT scores far more than race.

That being said, I do not have access to SAT scores by socioeconomic status for Georgia high schools. I do have access to SAT scores by race. In Decatur City Schools, the majority of Black kids are also lower income kids. I would imagine that that the same holds true in many areas of Cobb and Fulton Counties.

If I want to make the best attempt possible to compare apples to apples with the information that I have, I can only compare White students to White students if I want to... for instance...... compare Walton High with Decatur High. I don't get the complete picture from this comparison, but it does give me a sample of kids who are mostly the same socioeconomically (middle to upper middle class) in the schools that I am looking at.

So... given all that explanation... let's compare White kids at Decatur High to White kids at some of the top Northside schools - based on SAT scores reported for 2006/2007.....


Walton (Cobb): 1142
Pope (Cobb): 1109
Northview (Fulton): 1127
Centiennial (Fulton): 1117
Milton (1106): 1106

Decatur High (City Schools of Decatur): 1183

Decatur High has a much more diverse population than the northern suburban schools. DHS is about 45% Black and about 25% low income. The other schools are 2-4% low income (with the exception of Centennial which is about 17%). Decatur also administers the SAT to a far broader range of children than the norther suburban schools do. As a result, Decatur High's overall average is lower..... no good deed goes unpunished!

I am not sure of the race of the OP and I really don't care, but I'm happy to post similar breakdowns for other races if someone else is interested. I refuse to do so if someone like Scraper is going to try to use the info to prove that one race is intellectually superior to another. When you adjust for socioeconomics over three generations, there is actually very little difference in intellectual ability based on race... with the exception of Asian kids who always seem to kick butt!

[LovinDecatur]

Originally Posted by cmtiger

Decatur High is also in the top 5% of high schools in the nation if you are using Newsweek's measure to determine that.

Also, socioeconomics has a lot to do with SAT scores. I am going to get flamed for this, but it needs to be said, and I'll do my best to explain what I am saying.

Let me start by saying that I am an affirmative action consultant and I look at race for a living. Let me also say that I am making no comment whatsoever on achievement and race in and of itself. I believe that race alone has nothing to do with achievement.......

As is stands in this country today, typically, Caucasian students tend to outperform African American students on the SAT. I personally do not believe that this has anything to do with skin color but rather has to do with the fact that there is still a substantial economic disparity between White families and Black families - particularly in the South. I firmly believe that, over a statistically significant sample, socioeconomics influence SAT scores far more than race.

That being said, I do not have access to SAT scores by socioeconomic status for Georgia high schools. I do have access to SAT scores by race. In Decatur City Schools, the majority of Black kids are also lower income kids. I would imagine that that the same holds true in many areas of Cobb and Fulton Counties.

If I want to make the best attempt possible to compare apples to apples with the information that I have, I can only compare White students to White students if I want to... for instance...... compare Walton High with Decatur High. I don't get the complete picture from this comparison, but it does give me a sample of kids who are mostly the same socioeconomically (middle to upper middle class) in the schools that I am looking at.

So... given all that explanation... let's compare White kids at Decatur High to White kids at some of the top Northside schools - based on SAT scores reported for 2006/2007.....


Walton (Cobb): 1142
Pope (Cobb): 1109
Northview (Fulton): 1127
Centiennial (Fulton): 1117
Milton (1106): 1106

Decatur High (City Schools of Decatur): 1183

Decatur High has a much more diverse population than the northern suburban schools. DHS is about 45% Black and about 25% low income. The other schools are 2-4% low income (with the exception of Centennial which is about 17%). Decatur also administers the SAT to a far broader range of children than the norther suburban schools do. As a result, Decatur High's overall average is lower..... no good deed goes unpunished!

I am not sure of the race of the OP and I really don't care, but I'm happy to post similar breakdowns for other races if someone else is interested. I refuse to do so if someone like Scraper is going to try to use the info to prove that one race is intellectually superior to another. When you adjust for socioeconomics over three generations, there is actually very little difference in intellectual ability based on race... with the exception of Asian kids who always seem to kick butt!

Double snap

[RainyRainyDay]

Originally Posted by cmtiger

... socioeconomics has a lot to do with SAT scores. I am going to get flamed for this, but it needs to be said, and I'll do my best to explain what I am saying.

CM, no flames here, thanks for the awesome post, which I'm not quoting further because it's long. People can scroll up and read it.

I think test scores are essentially all about socioeconomics. Since socioeconomic status is often correlated with race, it's all too easy for bigots to maintain their views.

To be really frank, as a liberal-minded parent I've found myself often conflicted over what I really want for my child. My daughter actually spent her kindergarten year in a predominantly First Nations school in northern Canada. There were four FAS kids in her K class. One day as I was picking her up from school, one of her classmates elected to describe to me the gun-wielding domestic dispute that had occasioned both his parents being hauled off to jail, the night before, so his auntie was picking him up from school today.

It wasn't the native kids being native, or poor, that bothered me, it was the fact that my daughter wasn't learning anything at school. Nowadays she's in the opposite kind of demographic, in all advanced/accelerated classes at Lassiter HS in East Cobb. I really wish my daughter was mixing with a more socioeconomically and racially diverse student body, and I know that many professional educators like forum regular "aries" disapprove of elite classes, believing them to disadvantage the other students. On the other hand, my daughter is in classes where the pace of instruction and level of discussion are at a level that's stimulating for her. As a parent, I rejoice in that.

So my values as a parent seem to be in a bit of conflict with my values as a citizen. I understand why other parents follow the test scores, even though I agree it's a shallow way to evaluate schools.