Westminer v. Woodward (Atlanta, Sandy Springs, North Atlanta: house, transfer, to buy)

[tiger mom]

I have a daughter who is currently in Woodward North. She is extremely bright and currently in K. She loves Woodward North but we are planning on moving to buckhead area. My question is:
1. if buy house in Sara Smith school district, would private school really be necessary?
2. If we decide to continue with this private school route, then what school would you recommend
3. How competitive is admissions to Westminster?
4. Pro and Con of WESTMINSTER OR WOODWARD MAIN CAMPUS?
We are not rich people. We work HARD to make this private school thing happen. We are both working professionals and both have degrees from top schools but we are both product of a public school system. I hear wonderful things about Westminster but I am bit intimated by wealth of the school. I would like to know how the dyanmic is in Westminster and Woodard main campus. Thank you.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by tiger mom

1. if buy house in Sara Smith school district, would private school really be necessary?

One of our friends lives in the Sara Smith district and just about every kid on their street goes to the public school. I suspect they could all swing private school but they like using the local school.

[aries4118]

If you move to Buckhead, save/invest your money somewhere else and go public.


Sarah Smith is a top school (and so are Brandon and Jackson and Rivers and etc...).

[GeorgiaLakeSearch]

Originally Posted by tiger mom

I have a daughter who is currently in Woodward North. She is extremely bright and currently in K. She loves Woodward North but we are planning on moving to buckhead area. My question is:
1. if buy house in Sara Smith school district, would private school really be necessary?
2. If we decide to continue with this private school route, then what school would you recommend
3. How competitive is admissions to Westminster?
4. Pro and Con of WESTMINSTER OR WOODWARD MAIN CAMPUS?
We are not rich people. We work HARD to make this private school thing happen. We are both working professionals and both have degrees from top schools but we are both product of a public school system. I hear wonderful things about Westminster but I am bit intimated by wealth of the school. I would like to know how the dyanmic is in Westminster and Woodard main campus. Thank you.

I live in Buckhead, and yes you could use public schools. I grew up in NYC in the private school culture. I personally use private for my children. I do not believe exurban public schools are any better than certain APS & other ITP schools. For HS it would be better to be in the Grady Cluster than North ATL. But seeing your daughter is in K, N. ATL will probably improve in eight years. They are building a new campus. In the AJC they showed how the students at N. ATL do not represent Buckhead. (they figured out how many came from the SFHs in Buckhead)

I applied my son to Westminster and he was not accepted. So I went with Lovett. Westminster is the hardest school to get into in the city. I applied him to many schools(I had a private school advisor do it) and he was accepted everywhere but Westminster.

The big difference between Woodward and Westminster would be where they draw their student body from. Woodward is more racially & geographically diverse. But that has to do with being near wealthy black sections of the city, and the busing causes the geographical diversity. I believe Woodward would allow you to do an internal transfer so you would not have to reapply. The con of Woodward vs. Westminster when living in Buckhead is the commute. I live above Peachtree Battle & below W. Paces and at the latest I can leave is 7.40 to get down there. There is a bus from Buckhead(well there are a couple with stops in different locations, one makes stops along Peachtree, the other at Trinity, there are also buses that stop in N. Buckhead/Sandy Springs & Brookhaven)

Sorry if that was confusing I am on the phone at the same time, I have a son at Woodward and Lovett. Do apply to the other Buckhead schools if you really want your daughter in Buckhead. If she can get into Woodward I would say she would have a good chance being accepted to Lovett, Pace, Galloway, Holy Innocents, Holy Spirit, & AIS. It really depends by how many siblings are applying, and other differing factors. There is Trinity & Christ the King, but they do not do HS. I personally stay away from non k-12 schools, because than you have to do it all over again. At Christ the King I believe it is easier to get into the Catholic HS. (Pius & Marist)

Outside of Buckhead there is the Paideia school, but if Woodward is more your style Paideia might be a bit "unique" for you.

[Zanarkand A East]

Marist, All The Way!

[roadtrip75]

Be sure to call it "Westminer" on your child's application.

[gigiglows]

GeorgiaLakeSearch, which private school advisor did you use? Are you happy with him or her?

[PeteATL41]

Getting into Westminster is very competitive especially in a non intake year where there maybe only one or two spots. A lot of kids in the Buckhead elementary schools go private by middle school. My kids are alos at Lovett, so I can't speak from direct experience, but there seem to be a lot of concerns with Sutton/ North Atlanta & clearly tension with the APS central office.

If you child is already at Woodward North,you could probably just transfer and s/he will be reunited with old friends once the two schools come togehter in middle school...

[kferq]

Our 3 kids went to Morningside Elementary and then Westminster in 6th grade finished high school there. Our neighbors children went to Morningside and then Woodward. All our kids were well prepared for Junior high school. The parents make a bigger difference in academic preparation than the elementary school, so don't feel like you have to send your child to private elementary school. The extracurricular activities are better at the private schools, but there are excellent programs for elementary aged kids independent of school.

A well rounded, academically gifted student is going to do well at Westminster or Woodward. Both have wonderful teachers, excellent arts and athletic programs, and a great community. For most strong students either school would be a good choice. Our neighbors are very happy with Woodward. For most students I don't think it makes a difference which one you choose.

Westminster has a larger number of academically gifted students which makes the school unique. Westminster did not make these students gifted, but it is very good at helping them develop their talents. Yes, Westminster gets many more students into Ivy League schools, but that is because of who they select to admit. Most of the teachers were great. You can get a bad teacher at Westminster, but you usually find they no longer work there when you next child reaches that grade. Socially, it might be awkward at other schools to be gifted, but it is not at Westminster. My children spend a lot of time complimenting the gifts of their classmates. Westminster's arts and athletic programs support academics. Practice schedules and rehearsals are designed to leave time for homework and during a track meet or a play practice, you will see clumps of kids doing homework with each other. Arts programs use the kid's intellectual skills, studying the author of the play or teaching music theory to improve performance. We were very happy how the school helped developed the talents of our 3 children and how they have used those skills in college and in life.

On the other hand, Westminster is not for everyone. It is normal at Westminster to be academically gifted and it can be hard if your student is not as gifted as his peers. Many high achieving individuals get good results with hard work rather than sere intellectual talent. Westminster may not be the best choice for that type of student. One of my son's friends was very much that way. After struggling at Westminster, he transferred to Woodward in 10th grade, went to Georgia in the honors program and will be starting Medical School in the fall. Another friend went to North Atlanta then Georgia and is now the bass player for a successful rock band.

Socially, there are students whose parents are very wealthy at both Westminster and Woodward. In the smaller class at Westminster, it becomes more obvious. My neighbors like the diversity at Woodward, because you have people from all over, and not just Atlanta and North. While there are a large number of minority students at Westminster, in general, their parents are just as wealthy as the other parents. Westminster does have a large scholarship program, which helps with economic more than racial diversity. Wealth does not cause huge problems, but, like any source of difference between students, issues sometimes come up. Girls notice wealth more than boys. I was fortunate that my daughter ignored the drama (and that she didn't mind her best friend getting a very nice new car on her 16th birthday, when she didn't have a car to drive). While the wealthy children are generally well supervised (and keep busy with their studies and activities), they have money to buy drugs and alcohol if they are not and do not. That is true at any private school and causes problems at Woodward too.