Private schools and others revisited (Atlanta, Decatur: rental, loans, home)

[lui]

Does anyone know of any public schools that are not zoned to your residential area? I know that is a crazy question but i wonder if any exist.

It appears your only option is to attend Private school if you are not happy with your local (zoned) school.

So does anyone have good resources on private school funding...... like which schools have best scholarships or financial aid for a Smart kid.

If i could get additional funding i would like to save my cash for other investments.

[pinetreelover]

Many public schools have some ability to take out of district students if their capacity is not filled with district students. Riverwood High School for instance has about 6% tuition paying students. The tuition is about 35% of the average private school tuition. Once a student is accepted to Riverwood, they are allowed to complete all four years regardless of the future availibility of tuition spots.

[lastminutemom]

Where you live now impacts the answer to this question... some school systems have a fair amount of school choice options (DeKalb, Cobb, Fulton) though much of that everywhere but DeKalb is pretty limited to the high school level.

There are charter schools throughout metro Atlanta though their quality varies just as it does in private schools.

Are you a homeowner? If not, there are plenty of good public schools that have rental options... this by far is the simplest solution.

If you are a homeowner and want to share which system, I can probably give you better advice.

As to financial aid, most (though not all) private schools offer it either in the forms of grants or loans. But it is almost all needs based and you are reevaluated each year. I have friends who have found that the private schools expect your financial situation to improve through the years, so they become less generous over time. For elementary students, most schools don't have merit based scholarships, by high school more do.

In my opinion, depending on what you are lookng for, and how old your child is, in Metro Atlanta there is a direct correlation between cost and quality at private schools. The more expensive schools are better than the least expensive ones if academics, enrichment and extracurrriculars are your top priorities. If you are just looking for a way to shield your child from the real world (and there is no judgement in this statement), then the lower cost schools do offer that. The lower cost schools often have bigger class sizes (or would if enough students enrolled) than the local public schools (controlled by the state).

The tuition at Riverwood and North Springs High School is under 5K.

[backfist]

As an aside, we pulled our sons out of North Springs. While it does have a math and science magnet program, the content of those classes aren't any more challenging than an AP math class in, say, North Gwinnett. Moreover, many North Springs students are ill-prepared and unmotivated. Which often means the teachers are also ill-prepared and unmotivated.

So before investing in North Springs, I'd seriously consider Riverwood.

[pinetreelover]

Originally Posted by lui

If i could get additional funding i would like to save my cash for other investments.

Actually, many of us tuition paying parents would like to do the same thing, but that is not what private school scholarships are for. The scholarships are targeted for students who would be an asset to the school and benefit from the private education, but whose parents do not have the resources to pay tuition - not students whose parents choose to invest their resources in something other than their child's education. Believe me, I would love to put my $18,000/year in a more profitable investment, but at this point in my life, education is where I have chosen to place those dollars.

[curious101]

Originally Posted by pinetreelover

Actually, many of us tuition paying parents would like to do the same thing, but that is not what private school scholarships are for. The scholarships are targeted for students who would be an asset to the school and benefit from the private education, but whose parents do not have the resources to pay tuition - not students whose parents choose to invest their resources in something other than their child's education. Believe me, I would love to put my $18,000/year in a more profitable investment, but at this point in my life, education is where I have chosen to place those dollars.

[curious101]

we owned a home in Paulding county, GA and sold due to work. We moved out of state for a while and are now back in Cobb, but our local public school is struggling. i am currently renting. renting gives me that flexibility. I am in cobb county and the better schools are so rigid in their attendance, at least for the schools i would like. so i opted for a Private school (Elementary). from what i have observed, i wonder if being in a public school with gifted programs would better serve me. this would save that tuition instead of straining paying private school tuition.

i tried calling some charter schools in Cobb but they have a long waitlist which i got on but i am hoping for more ideas from you guys. if i have to move then that's a sacrifice i am willing to make. It seems like Dekalb county students have more options.

[cmtiger]

City Schools of Decatur take tuition kids. Currently, the tuition is about $6750. Spots are getting more difficult to get at the elementary level b/c the schools are really filling up, but we do have a few of them.

K-3 schools in Decatur are Expeditionary Learning schools (google ELOB). From fourth grade on, the schools either are or soon will be International Baccalaureate schools.

Our gifted percentage in grades 2-12 (gifted kids aren't ID'd until the end of first grade) is over 25% - with those types of numbers... gifted kids have to be served - a teacher can't ignore 7 kids in a class.

Decatur is actually looking very seriously at becoming a charter school system where all of the schools would be charters.

[curious101]

Originally Posted by cmtiger

City Schools of Decatur take tuition kids. Currently, the tuition is about $6750. Spots are getting more difficult to get at the elementary level b/c the schools are really filling up, but we do have a few of them.

K-3 schools in Decatur are Expeditionary Learning schools (google ELOB). From fourth grade on, the schools either are or soon will be International Baccalaureate schools.

Our gifted percentage in grades 2-12 (gifted kids aren't ID'd until the end of first grade) is over 25% - with those types of numbers... gifted kids have to be served - a teacher can't ignore 7 kids in a class.

Decatur is actually looking very seriously at becoming a charter school system where all of the schools would be charters.

WOW!!!!!!!!! I appreciate the info. That's a what I call a progressive school system. I spoke with several workmates with kids in the Dekalb county school system and another parent living in Decatur and i have been jealous of their elementary school experience. Of course these parents are very involved in their kids academics and both opted for Public schools to save on costs. It just seems that their school systems are looking at ways to serve students better academically.