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Old 03-26-2010, 08:28 AM
 
Location: East Cobb
2,206 posts, read 6,866,392 times
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I'm hesitant too because my daughter is now a high school sophomore. Her East Cobb elementary school (Garrison Mill) and middle school (Mabry) have changed principals since she attended, and most of her elementary teachers have retired. I suspect these changes, along with changes in demographics, the times, etc. can really change a school. For what it's worth, when my daughter attended GM, they seemed to do a moderate and reasonable amount of CRCT preparation in the month before the CRCT was administered, but the instruction was otherwise not "drill" or test focused. It was much like pless described at her son's school down in City of Atlanta. However, this may say little about that school now.

I really liked Lily's comment "I think shared insight is just as valuable (maybe more so) as reviewing test scores and touring school hallways." Maybe I haven't toured enough schools to appreciate that you can pick up a vibe or something, but in my limited experience, tours mostly do tend to show that public schools have hallways, classrooms with children and teachers inside, cafeteria, etc., and it all looks typically institutional and fairly clean and well maintained, with artwork and notices on the walls. It's not fantastically enlightening.
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Old 03-26-2010, 08:33 AM
 
16,626 posts, read 29,284,217 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lilycharm View Post
Thanks, aries.

I am looking at East Cobb, Dunwoody, Chamblee, Norcross, Brookhaven, Sandy Springs, Alpharetta, John's Creek or possibly Roswell. My husband works in Alpharetta near Northpoint mall and these areas have a reasonable commute time for him.

We are considering both public and private school options. Tops in my book would be schools that foster a love of learning, over bragging rights for high scores. If they are not mutually exclusive, that is definitely a plus.

Thank you!
You'll have many options--
However, it's hard to get the true environment of a school unless you visit.
Posters will chime in with specific schools in their areas.

I can offer this:

For Dunwoody: Chestnut Elementary and Kingsley Elementary

For Brookhaven/Chamblee: Ashford Park Elementary

For East Cobb: Timber Ridge Elementary and Mountain View Elementary
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Old 03-26-2010, 08:35 AM
 
16,626 posts, read 29,284,217 times
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Originally Posted by RoslynHolcomb View Post
I'm hesitant because my little guy is only in kindergarten, but we love Kingsley in Dunwoody. It's a small neighborhood school. The teachers we've seen thus far are very good and the parental involvement borders on fanatical. I haven't seen too much test prep and such, but again he's only in kindergarten. We do have homework, and he has a weekly spelling test. I don't know if this is an issue for you or not, but Kingsley is very diverse, especially for a Dunwoody school. His classroom is a regular Benetton ad. I think it's fabulous, but YMMV.

I've also heard that Kingsley and Chestnut are great learning environments (very different from Vanderlyn and Austin).
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Old 03-26-2010, 10:09 AM
 
Location: a warmer place
1,748 posts, read 5,503,953 times
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My kids attend Murdock. I have been very happy with the school. Though Murdock is a feeder for Walton (Pope also) I always felt like it did not get the attention of other Walton feeders like Mt Bethel. This year it achieved Platinum status which is highest percentage of kids meeting standards on the CRCTs...and like I mentioned in an earlier post I don't feel like they teach the test. One thing I do love about the school is that there is a constant vibe of trying to raise the bar. It is not one of the wealthier East Cobb districts with a true mix of families which I really like. A huge percentage of parents volunteer daily. The parking lot is packed almost every day. Murdock had a huge renovation just a few years ago so the facilities are updated (new science lab, music room etc.) Much of our foundation money was spent updating technology so all of the classrooms have smart boards and things like that.

It is also a smaller school and many kids walk to school which is nice.

One thing to note about Cobb and Fulton schools, like the rest of the country (and Georgia) there are going to be severe changes next year due to the current economic situation. Many of our perks like Spanish instruction are most likely going to become afterschool programs as opposed to classroom instruction but that will probably be the norm for most schools.

When we moved here I visited a lot of schools, spoke with many parents and made our choice with Murdock. It is hard to go wrong with any of the schools in East Cobb. For the most part every school I looked into had really strong academics and parent involvement. Frankly it was hard to chose.
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Old 03-29-2010, 12:58 PM
 
16,626 posts, read 29,284,217 times
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Originally Posted by kaday View Post
... Though Murdock is a feeder for Walton (Pope also) I always felt like it did not get the attention of other Walton feeders like Mt Bethel... It is not one of the wealthier East Cobb districts with a true mix of families which I really like....

I think part of the reason is that Murdock is not really seen as a "Walton feeder school." Only a small part of the Murdock district ends up at Walton (the part along Sewell Mill Road--between Holly Springs and Murdock Road--and the small parts of Old Canton, Holly Springs, and Murdock Roads nearby). Murdock feeds into Hightower Trail (20-25% more or less?) and all of those kids end up at Pope. The rest of Murdock feeds into Dodgen and most of those Dodgen kids from Murdock end up at Pope as well.

Most of the Sewell Mill Road corridor attends East Side Elementary.
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Old 03-29-2010, 01:20 PM
 
Location: a warmer place
1,748 posts, read 5,503,953 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aries4118 View Post
I think part of the reason is that Murdock is not really seen as a "Walton feeder school." Only a small part of the Murdock district ends up at Walton (the part along Sewell Mill Road--between Holly Springs and Murdock Road--and the small parts of Old Canton, Holly Springs, and Murdock Roads nearby). Murdock feeds into Hightower Trail (20-25% more or less?) and all of those kids end up at Pope. The rest of Murdock feeds into Dodgen and most of those Dodgen kids from Murdock end up at Pope as well.

Most of the Sewell Mill Road corridor attends East Side Elementary.
I think what I meant to say was it doesn't always get recognition as a top East Cobb elementary when it is one. I think Tritt also a Pope school gets a lot of good reps but you just don't hear that much about Murdock. I do happen to think Tritt is an outstanding school as well. And again great performing school not in the wealthier ares of East Cobb.
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Old 03-29-2010, 01:58 PM
 
16,626 posts, read 29,284,217 times
Reputation: 7550
Quote:
Originally Posted by kaday View Post
I think what I meant to say was it doesn't always get recognition as a top East Cobb elementary when it is one. I think Tritt also a Pope school gets a lot of good reps but you just don't hear that much about Murdock. I do happen to think Tritt is an outstanding school as well. And again great performing school not in the wealthier ares of East Cobb.
You are right about that. Murdock often gets overlooked...even though it consistently performs at or near the top.


I think part of the reason is that most of the Murdock area and neighborhoods are mostly 1970's/early 1980's-esque neighborhoods with less "cachet." The area is still solidly upper-middle class (with some middle-class)...but there's no East Spring Lake or Bishop's Green or Chimney Lakes...


And I love the neighborhoods in the Murdock area...from Shadow Woods and Cedar Forks, to Post Oak Square/Springs, to Normandy and Sumter Lake, to all of the "Wicks," etc.
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