School Systems in Atlanta Area (Marietta, Decatur: house, neighborhoods, to buy)

[nlupfer]

We are anticipating a move to the Atlanta area this summer. Right now, we do not have children, but are looking towards starting a family shortly after we get settled in Atlanta. I currently teach elementary school and have begun looking into the process of changing my FL license to Georgia and looking around for jobs. I assumed that the school districts are set up by counties (since that's the way it it here), but I'm beginning to think otherwise. I've found that each county in Atlanta has it's own system, but I've also seen that Atlanta metro has a school system and Decatur has a school system. So - I guess my question is, are the schools there by county or by city? How can they be both? When applying for jobs, should I apply at the county level or the city level?

Also, my husband will be attending Emory University for his Masters/PhD. Our biggest priority right now is living as close to Emory as possible, so we've concentrated most of our efforts into DeKalb county. Never having spent much time in Atlanta, I'm not really sure if this is the best choice or not. My husband would prefer a more urban feel, but I like the suburbs. We would like to buy a 3-4 bedroom house somewhere between the two ideals. Preferably, we would like an older home (pre-1950's) that has been updated. We can spend between 175-225 on a house. Is this going to be possible?

[jxu66]

Within Dekalb county, Lakeside and Druid hill high school districts are pretty good. And the schools are very close to Emory University. In fact, Druid Hill high school was initially created by Emory U for its employees. Unfortunately, North Druid Hill neighborhoods are highly desireable (i.e. very pricey).

Check out the similiar thread.
http://www.city-data.com/forum/atlan...-doc-live.html

[lastminutemom]

Most of Lakeside will be out of your price range as well, I am afraid.

Each county does have it own school system, as well as Decatur city, Atlanta city, Buford City and Marietta City. (I hope I didn't leave any out.)

You would need to apply to the systems you are interested in. Tell me a little bit about your ideal school and I will try and guide you. Otherwise, you need to apply to DeKalb County and Decatur City as they are seperate systems, Fulton County and Atlanta, etc.

[sprtsluvr8]

Since you aren't really able to apply for a particular school within the system I would just do the online application and attach any openings to your app. A very good way to get a job is to attend a job fair for whatever system you're interested in, and the fairs will be coming up in the next two months. That's how I got my job with Fulton County.

You would probably want to explore living in Decatur or Dekalb County since you're partner will be attending Emory, but Decatur is a small system and it's hard to get a job there...there's not much turnover, but Dekalb is a good option as well. Also, Decatur has a great downtown that's a kind of mixture between urban and suburban. City of Atlanta schools are not too far from Decatur either, in fact there are probably some withint a 10 minute drive or less.