sarah smith/morris brandon elementary (Jackson: rent, home, to buy) - Page 3 - City-Data Forum

blackrabbit · 03-13-2008, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buckhead_Broker

Our daughter went to Warren Jackson for a few years. Overall we were very pleased with the entire experience. Good teachers, nice kids and families, active PTA. When she left to go to private school she did feel a little behind although she had taken every advanced placement course available to her. Morris Brandon is also a great school. There are numerous choices for after school. Email me offline and I'll share some of the resources we used.

Out of interest we have heard the same thing about being a little behind but I guess this will happen at any public school. Did you need to have her do after school work to catch up or what was/is the procedure? Did you find it was harder to get her into a private school as she hadn't been in one already? Thanks.

lastminutemom · 03-13-2008, 08:03 AM

This isn't necessarily true... we put one child in private school (a good one) and he has been at the top of his class and he was in public school before.

Very often, the top of the class students at even the best private schools are not those students who have been fully educated (k-12) at that private schools.

Buckhead_Broker · 03-13-2008, 08:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackrabbit

Out of interest we have heard the same thing about being a little behind but I guess this will happen at any public school. Did you need to have her do after school work to catch up or what was/is the procedure? Did you find it was harder to get her into a private school as she hadn't been in one already? Thanks.

It varies with each individual student. I simply thought it was interesting that she could be at the top of her class in public school, taking every advanced placement class available to her, making straight A's, and then struggle at a private school.

We didn't have to do too much. She saw a very good tutor for awhile but is a terrific self-motivator.

blackrabbit · 03-13-2008, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buckhead_Broker

It varies with each individual student. I simply thought it was interesting that she could be at the top of her class in public school, taking every advanced placement class available to her, making straight A's, and then struggle at a private school.

We didn't have to do too much. She saw a very good tutor for awhile but is a terrific self-motivator.

Thanks for the reply, we are very undecided as to whether to move to a more expensive house in Buckhead for the public school district or stay put and pay from the age of 5 where we are. Many have told us its easier to get children into a good private school at 5 that wait till they are 11 or so.

lolamom · 03-13-2008, 05:00 PM

I have not read the responses but we live in Sarah Smith district in North Buckhead. My children attend a private school although our intention all along was to do Sarah Smith. IN our case, we put them there for preschool and fell in love with the school.

Having said that, I have friends at Sarah Smith and they rave about the school. I believe the middle school is an issue (don't know why) but have also heard it is greatly improving.

North Buckhead is a lovely neighborhood about a mile north of Phipps/Lenox. Homes (and taxes!) are expensive though.... but appreciating. New construction here will be quite pricey but lovely--however, hard to find backyards. We did but I honestly think we got the last new home with any type of a yard!! You would need to look up and down the Peachtree Dunwoody Road area. Harry Norman's website allows you to search online by school system.

Best of luck,
Lola

kararu · 10-10-2008, 09:47 PM

Hi ppl,
I researched about smith elementary school,buckhead and all are sure its an excellent school.But the things I am worried are

1. We are planning to buy our first house there for a deal we have got.We are in the lower middle level and surely not upper income level.Will my kindergartener feel socio economic problems with the upper income kids there.

2. Will the donation expection in the school be high. What range?..What if we dont give as much as the peer parents.

3. MAINLY , are they too strict of promoting kids to the next grade. Should we worry that our kid must be excellent to get promoted.

Is it wise to choose that area and school.
Any info will b of great help. I appreciate it.
thanks in advance.
kararu.

lastminutemom · 10-11-2008, 04:08 AM

1. We are planning to buy our first house there for a deal we have got.We are in the lower middle level and surely not upper income level.Will my kindergartener feel socio economic problems with the upper income kids there.

Maybe -- it depends alot on your child and you. I don't know how old your child is and if you can tell his/her personality yet, but at a young age, i could tell you whether each of my children were leaders or followers. I have one friend who had to pull her child out of private school because the child was suffering from to much envy. On the other hand, I have a child in private school, who may mention that everyone has such and such, and when I simply say no -- that is the end of it.

You can be prepared for the fact that many (but certainly not all) families travel extensively during the holidays, but it won't be as bad as some metro area private schools where no one stays in the country for spring break.

Will the donation expection in the school be high. What range?..What if we dont give as much as the peer parents.

It is a big school -- no one pays that much attention. Over 800 students, nearly 10 percent free and reduced lunch. They do have a foundation, but like most schools, their goal is two fold --first -- to have every family participate and second -- total amount raised.

3. MAINLY , are they too strict of promoting kids to the next grade. Should we worry that our kid must be excellent to get promoted.

This one is hard to answer. When is your child's birthday -- when will he/she turn 5.

Finally, have you confirmed that your "good deal" house is actually in Smith, and not Garden Hills or worse, DeKalb County.

kararu · 10-14-2008, 07:21 AM

[SIZE=2]hi lastminuteMom,
very nice of you to share the info with me.
My son will turn 5 next july.(he will be one of the youngest in his class,I think you are goin to say then its bit hard for us).Actually he is a bright kid only.But english is sort of second language for him.
yes the house is in sarah smith. we are looking for brandon school limit too.
thanks for ur time. the info is valuable for us.
kararu.
[/SIZE]

pinetreelover · 10-15-2008, 05:04 AM

Your son will be very, very young for his grade compared to other boys. The trend in this area is to hold late spring and summer boys back to the next grade. I'm not supporting that concept either way - it depends on the child, but you will find that many of his friends are a year older. That year becomes less and less obvious as the kids go on through their school years, but in first and second grade it is striking.

lastminutemom · 10-15-2008, 06:57 AM

A good friend of mine has a child who turned 5 in June. They live in the Smith district (but it would be the same, I suspect, in the Brandon and most other high performing districts and English is their first language.) A neighbor of hers, who also teaches there, strongly discouraged her from sending him to kindergarten this year as almost no boys attend Kindergarten with summer birthdays without being "held back." After much research, including speaking to parents who didn't hold their summer boys back, she kept him in preschool this year. Now, in October, she totally thinks she made the right decision.

While I don't condone this at all, it is important that you understand that being the youngest at a school that is highly academic and very goal oriented may put your child at a disadvantage. They don't like to hold kids back once they are at school, they prefer you do it before they get there.