Relocating to Atlanta suburb (Sandy Springs, Roswell: real estate, home, school districts)

[lcsigmon]

Originally Posted by OhioNative

I may be mistaken, but I think that in the north suburbs, you might have trouble finding an elementary school of that small size.

I'm starting to see that. The only one I've stumbled upon that seems small is Timber Ridge in Cobb county. I guess I'm okay with a large school, but worry about my kids being overwhelmed coming from a school with 300ish students.

[GF72]

Originally Posted by lcsigmon

I'm starting to see that. The only one I've stumbled upon that seems small is Timber Ridge in Cobb county. I guess I'm okay with a large school, but worry about my kids being overwhelmed coming from a school with 300ish students.

As soon as I saw your post I was going to recommend Timber Ridge. It's in a nice part of East Cobb and eventually feeds into Walton High. It's a great area and the homes around Timber Ridge Road are very nice. Definitely look into.

The elementary school right next to it is the Mt. Bethel district. My brother (who is much younger than me) went there, all the way from pre-K. It's a big school (maybe 800?) but the education was excellent and there was lots of parental involvement - so much so, that my parents were constantly complaining about everything the school was trying to get them involved in. Almost all homework was designed to be completed with parents, which my mom couldn't stand. If I ever came home from university she would make me help him instead.

EDIT: I don't think you need to be worried about your children being overwhelmed. Whether the school is 300 or 800 students, each class is going to be the same size, the bigger schools just have more classes. Personally, I think it's better to have a bigger school, since your children will be exposed to more types of people.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by GF72

As soon as I saw your post I was going to recommend Timber Ridge. It's in a nice part of East Cobb and eventually feeds into Walton High. It's a great area and the homes around Timber Ridge Road are very nice. Definitely look into.

The elementary school right next to it is the Mt. Bethel district. My brother (who is much younger than me) went there, all the way from pre-K. It's a big school (maybe 800?) but the education was excellent and there was lots of parental involvement - so much so, that my parents were constantly complaining about everything the school was trying to get them involved in. Almost all homework was designed to be completed with parents, which my mom couldn't stand. If I ever came home from university she would make me help him instead.

EDIT: I don't think you need to be worried about your children being overwhelmed. Whether the school is 300 or 800 students, each class is going to be the same size, the bigger schools just have more classes. Personally, I think it's better to have a bigger school, since your children will be exposed to more types of people.

Not all of Timber Ridge feeds into Walton.

A lot of Timber Ridge students end up attending Pope (Bishop Lake Road Area, Oak Lane, many of the "Chadds", mid-Johnson Ferry, etc.).

Before attending Pope or Walton, Timber Ridgers attend Dodgen or Dickerson (around 70-75% of Timber Ridge feeds into Dodgen).

Just trying to make things clear...

[lcsigmon]

Timber Ridge it is. Thank you everyone!

[GF72]

Originally Posted by lcsigmon

Timber Ridge it is. Thank you everyone!

Too see which areas of Timber Ridge feed into Walton and which feed into Pope, you can use these maps.

[cmtiger]

East Cobb???? Getting to Doraville or Tucker from there will just about kill you!

I would look at Tucker (Lakeside High cluster) or Dunwoody (Dunwoody/Peachtree cluster). In this housing market, I am sure you could find a great house in the Chesnut Elementary district for at or under 400K if you don't need something perfect. Chesnut is a great little school. I don't have kids there (we are in Decatur) but I have friends with kids there and they rave about it.

[RainyRainyDay]

Originally Posted by cmtiger

East Cobb???? Getting to Doraville or Tucker from there will just about kill you!

I totally agree, especially since the OP seemed to be deciding on the Timber Ridge Elementary area, which is a good way north of I-285 and does not have good access to GA-400 either.

OP - the Atlanta metro area is very big, and the traffic is very bad. Your family's quality of life will be better if you consider areas more convenient to your husband's work locations.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by cmtiger

East Cobb???? Getting to Doraville or Tucker from there will just about kill you!

I would look at Tucker (Lakeside High cluster) or Dunwoody (Dunwoody/Peachtree cluster). In this housing market, I am sure you could find a great house in the Chesnut Elementary district for at or under 400K if you don't need something perfect. Chesnut is a great little school. I don't have kids there (we are in Decatur) but I have friends with kids there and they rave about it.

Yes!

Check out elementary schools in these high school clusters:

Lakeside
Dunwoody
Chamblee
Tucker
Norcross
Druid Hills
Decatur
North Springs
Riverwood


Good Luck!

[lcsigmon]

Originally Posted by aries4118

Yes!

Check out elementary schools in these high school clusters:

Lakeside
Dunwoody
Chamblee
Tucker
Norcross
Druid Hills
Decatur
North Springs
Riverwood


Good Luck!

I feel like I'm back where I started. I'm now leaning towards Alpharetta. The schools I seem to like what I read about are Cogburn woods, Alpharetta, Crabapple Crossing, New Prospect, Dolvin, Barnwell, and Summit Hill. The Middle schools I like are Northwestern, Hopewell, and Autrey Mill.

Does anyone know anything about the schools, or subdivisions I could live in that put me in those schools? Price range 200k - 250k. I know that's low for the area, but I'd like a good location more than a big fancy house.

Or should I not consider this area and go back to square one again?

Thanks everyone

[GF72]

Alpharetta is even farther than Timber Ridge and the East Cobb areas. Commute to Tucker would be longer. It's geographically farther and GA-400 is very congested. According to Google maps southern East Cobb is 18 miles to Tucker and Alpharetta is 25 miles.

As far as schools go, Alpharetta/Johns Creek and East Cobb have the best schools. So either one is fine.

Any school district in Alpharetta is good, so yes you can find some stuff in that price range, however they'll be very small and not exactly fancy. But it's there, and anywhere in Alpharetta is safe and has great schools, so there's nothing to worry about there.

As far as distance goes, southern East Cobb would be a shorter commute to Tucker than Alpharetta.

There are plenty of places with even shorter commutes, such as Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, and any place in northern Dekalb or western Gwinnett County. The schools here range from bad to good, though none are as excellent as the East Cobb or Alpharetta schools. Parkview High district in Lilburn is pretty good and right next to Tucker.

Also check Brookwood High district in Snellville (east of Tucker). That's actually about as good as the Alpharetta and East Cobb schools (better than anything else in Gwinnett and anything in Dekalb) and the commute would be pretty good.