Riverwood HS (and feeders) vs. East Cobb

[pinetreelover]

My daughter went to Ridgeview and is now a junior at Riverwood and we are loving it.

Yes - Ridgeview is about one third white, one third black and one third Hispanic (obviously there are other races, but that is the general break-out). Somehow, this all works out at Ridgeview. The TAG (Talented and Gifted) classes are quite small - my daughter had some classes with as few as 14 students and those kids tend to just all hang together as they are in the same classes together. Obviously classes such as PE and chorus draw from the general student body though so they aren't restricted to the same small group of TAG kids all day long.

My daughter went on to Riverwood and was very prepared. She takes all honors, AP or IB classes and had no more difficulty with any of these classes than the kids who transferred in after years in a private school.

The commute to downtown from Sandy Springs would be markedly better than from East Cobb mostly because East Cobb is somewhat land-locked with everyone taking the same commuter roads at the same time.

As far as housing goes, the area near Sandy Springs library would be in your price range as would the area off Abernathy near Wright Road.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

I think Ridgeview is getting stronger and will continue to do so.. Many of those families who use private k-8, are slowly starting to move their kids in 6th. The transformation at Riverwood wasn't overnight and neither will Ridgeviews. However, that doesn't mean that Ridgeview isn't solid now. I recommend visiting and seeing how they are instructing especially as it relates to English speakers vs non-English speakers.

Good.

[ecmom3]

I live in Walton district, but am familiar with the Pope area as well. The commute to downtown will definitely be better from a Riverwood neighborhood. As another poster mentioned, East Cobb is "landlocked" and it can take 10-15 minutes to get to the interstate even without rush hour traffic. I am now a SAHM, but when I worked in midtown it took me 25-30 minutes door to door if I left by 7:00AM, but 45 minutes in peak traffic, even more if there was an accident. My husband works in Cobb County, so East Cobb works really well for us. East Cobb is not bad for a downtown commute if you have some flexibility to avoid the worst traffic, for example leaving home by 7AM and leaving work by 5PM.

The Pope/Walton area is very convenient for shopping and kids' activities. There are many, many families with school age children. I have three kids and all of their sports practices, lessons, etc. have been close to home. There is not a mall in East Cobb (which to me is a good thing) or a Best Buy or sporting good store like Dick's, but The Avenue has many stores found in the mall like Gap, Pottery Barn, and Ann Taylor. The Johnson Ferry corridor near Merchant's Walk has a Kohl's, Target, Old Navy, Publix, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Home Depot and more. North Point, Town Center and Perimeter malls are not too far away.

As far as feeder schools, all the elementary and middle schools feeding into Pope are excellent when it comes to test scores and involved parents. I don't know a lot about the schools feeding into Riverwood, so I can't comment. I don't run into many families who live in Pope or Walton district who choose private school, although many could afford to. We have been very happy raising a family in East Cobb, and our experience with the public schools has been great so far. Good luck with your decision.

[deacongirl]

Thanks for the feedback, it became clear quickly that for under 350K there really weren't many options in this area, even though I think it would have worked well for us otherwise. My friends IRL in Atlanta spoke highly of the schools (even though most of them live ITP and do private), and for me I think the diversity at the middle school would be a positive thing. We went with East Cobb and I couldn't be happier and think it will be a great fit for our family.