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Schools is overblown and out of scope as I was replying to the "other than schools comment"
Trash collection garbage collection is free
Libraries are better
Property tax is low
Dekalb has Marta
Roads are fine
Crime is Dekalb is generally all in one area miles away from Dunwoody.
Anyway keep on drinking the East Cobb cool aid. Its a free world personally I think Dunwoody is a better place to live overall and the OP is not hearing balanced argument but rather sensationism. I suggest anyone considering Dekalb sit outside one of the schools in Dunwoody or Brookhaven, talk to actaul parents and then report back to us how bad they are.
You guys are all crazy about saying the schools are bad in the Dunwoody, Brookhaven area. If any of you actually went and looked at the schools and talked to parents you would see they are not. Likewise with the type of kids now in the elementary/early middle schools who will move to the upper ones you will see massive improvement in the scores as the last kids being bused in graduate. Outside the sensationalism of a few people on here Dunwoody/Brookhaven is not in a bad state. Its also obviously a nice place to live and commute to Buckhead from. Seems like many agree with me as houses are selling within days in my area in Murphy Candler Park.
Seriously anyone who moves to East Cobb rather than Dunwoody or Brookhaven based on what the schools may be like in 10 years is nuts.
The schools with the highest test scores usually have parents with the means to pay for test preparation and tutors and homogeneous populations. And 9 times out of 10, they end up going to UGA or Georgia Tech with little talk of private colleges or highly ranked out of state colleges.
First, I want to comment on the "ask parents" statement. I spent a lot of my day talking to DeKalb parents at this time. The level of frustration is unbelievable, the level of concern is unmeasurable, etc. Last year, one solid elementary lost 20ish students between K and first grade.
Most private schools reported a record number of applicants from DeKalb. Many great teachers are fleeing. (A new charter school is opening in August and a huge percentage of the students appear to be coming from "good" schools. There are many, many students from top DeKalb elementary schools, coming all the way from Dunwoody to Briarcliff area to escape the mess that is DeKalb.) I was at a meeting a few weeks ago with a teacher from a Brookhaven elementary school sobbing because all the best teachers were trying to leave.
As an example, a friend reports many of the top students from the Chamblee Middle magnet school program will not be in public school next year. Last year, 20 percent of the 6th grade in this program left public school. There is a reason this is happening. When parents want better for their children, they seek it out. One realtor reported that there are several families who have already put offers in on homes in N. Fulton but who have
If you don't have children yet, you are possibly safe not considering the schools. We know several young families that have recently moved to Brookhaven. But they bought houses knowing that they might go private.
I am certain that kids are still getting a decent education in DeKalb. But if schools, and the resources they have, are a concern, you have to evaluate it on all merits.
It certainly isn't all bad, students are being educated, at least the ones from homes with involved parents. However, it is discouraging to see courses that were offered at the high school just a few years ago, disappear. It is frustrating to know that class size could increase again or more furlough days may be added. (Initial budget proposal is due later this week.)
Any housing decision, unless you have unlimited financial resources, comes down to a series of pros and cons. Commute, housing age, housing size, and more all play a part in that decision. You are right the school in Dunwoody etc probably are ok. A lot depends on what you expect from your public school. For many folks, good is fine, however, some folks want great.
Remember that DeKalb (even in Dunwoody and Brookhaven) have the largest class sizes in the metro area and the fewest in school resources. There is no sign that this will change anytime soon. Outside of some of the GA cities with school systems, DeKalb homeowners are paying high taxes for less, in terms of the schools.
(For what it is worth, DeKalb is allowed an extra 5 mils above the state maximum for property tax rates. This goes back to the days when the school system ran DeKalb Community College, which eventually became GA perimeter college. The state now runs GPC but DeKalb never rolled back its milage rate. DeKalb schools are within .75 of the max and there is now talk of raising it that .75 and even going above that and seeing what the state does if the system does.)
Last edited by lastminutemom; 05-05-2013 at 03:34 PM..
First, I want to comment on the "ask parents" statement. I spent a lot of my day talking to DeKalb parents at this time. The level of frustration is unbelievable, the level of concern is unmeasurable, etc. Last year, one solid elementary lost 20ish students between K and first grade.
Most private schools reported a record number of applicants from DeKalb. Many great teachers are fleeing. (A new charter school is opening in August and a huge percentage of the students appear to be coming from "good" schools. There are many, many students from top DeKalb elementary schools, coming all the way from Dunwoody to Briarcliff area to escape the mess that is DeKalb.) I was at a meeting a few weeks ago with a teacher from a Brookhaven elementary school sobbing because all the best teachers were trying to leave.
As an example, a friend reports many of the top students from the Chamblee Middle magnet school program will not be in public school next year. Last year, 20 percent of the 6th grade in this program left public school. There is a reason this is happening. When parents want better for their children, they seek it out. One realtor reported that there are several families who have already put offers in on homes in N. Fulton but who have
If you don't have children yet, you are possibly safe not considering the schools. We know several young families that have recently moved to Brookhaven. But they bought houses knowing that they might go private.
I am certain that kids are still getting a decent education in DeKalb. But if schools, and the resources they have, are a concern, you have to evaluate it on all merits.
It certainly isn't all bad, students are being educated, at least the ones from homes with involved parents. However, it is discouraging to see courses that were offered at the high school just a few years ago, disappear. It is frustrating to know that class size could increase again or more furlough days may be added. (Initial budget proposal is due later this week.)
Any housing decision, unless you have unlimited financial resources, comes down to a series of pros and cons. Commute, housing age, housing size, and more all play a part in that decision. You are right the school in Dunwoody etc probably are ok. A lot depends on what you expect from your public school. For many folks, good is fine, however, some folks want great.
Remember that DeKalb (even in Dunwoody and Brookhaven) have the largest class sizes in the metro area and the fewest in school resources. There is no sign that this will change anytime soon. Outside of some of the GA cities with school systems, DeKalb homeowners are paying high taxes for less, in terms of the schools.
(For what it is worth, DeKalb is allowed an extra 5 mils above the state maximum for property tax rates. This goes back to the days when the school system ran DeKalb Community College, which eventually became GA perimeter college. The state now runs GPC but DeKalb never rolled back its milage rate. DeKalb schools are within .75 of the max and there is now talk of raising it that .75 and even going above that and seeing what the state does if the system does.)
Parents in the APS top school districts mostly stayed put when it was on probation and during the controversy. What you're describing here about north DeKalb is a bunch of parents panicking. Was this just the last straw? Class sizes have gone up to 30-35 students across metro Atlanta. It's not just in DeKalb. The only way to avoid that is to send the children to private school.
These threads are funny. People like to twist things any way they can. Want to bottom line it? Great, here's the breakdown:
Dekalb county schools are terrible. Everybody in Atlanta knows it. You can try to spin it however you want, but you're not going to change the fact.
There might be one or two decent ones in the county, I don't know, but they're part of a failing system. And everybody knows that Dekalb is the worst run county in the metro.
Cut through the noise, there's the truth. You can say I know all that and still live in Dekalb because the pluses outweigh the minuses, and that's your prerogative, maybe they do....but they don't change the truths.
Parents in the APS top school districts mostly stayed put when it was on probation and during the controversy. What you're describing here about north DeKalb is a bunch of parents panicking. Was this just the last straw? Class sizes have gone up to 30-35 students across metro Atlanta. It's not just in DeKalb. The only way to avoid that is to send the children to private school.
Fulton and Cobb* have smaller class sizes and Gwinnett has paras for kindergarten still. (*Cobb's recent fiscal issues may increase class sizes.)
My sense, even this weekend, is the last straw is the teachers who have left or are leaving. Several N. DeKalb schools have lost their teachers of the year this year or last. On Friday night, a friend was telling me that her child's favorite teacher this year was going to work at a private school. In the past, privates paid significantly less than public. DeKalb teachers are making less than they were 6 years ago and so that gap has narrowed. Because the system increases class sizes, principals don't get to hire teachers rather current employees are often slotted for those vacancies. It is not a good situation -- what one principal believes makes a good teacher can vary greatly for another.
FYI, there are at least two charter schools starting or being proposed in APS top school districts. I know families, who 4 years ago, wouldn't have ever considered an option other than their neighborhood school who are seriously considering them because of the APS mess.
My daughter goes to school at Queen of Angels in Roswell, which is pretty much at the intersection of Woodstock Rd and Hwy 92, about 6-7 miles from 400 down Holcomb Bridge.
The portion of my commute from her school in Roswell to the King and Queen buildings (where I work) lasts roughly 40 minutes if I go through Historic Roswell and pick up 400 at Northridge, or anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour if I decide to sit on Holcomb Bridge.
So my advice is to avoid living where you have to commute via Holcomb Bridge if you have to be on it during peak rush hour like I am.
In the evening, if I leave the office at 5pm, I can be at my daughter's school by 5:40-5:45. If I can get on the road any earlier, it usually only takes me 30 minutes to get there.
I get why people are critical of schools, but a lot of people seem to act as if your kids aren't at the top 5 schools in the state then they'll end up being janitors. I mean come on, if you stay on your kids and do what YOU'RE supposed to do they can get a good education and get into a good college regardless. The school we went to wasn't even in the top 40 and all 3 of us got into top 30 research universities. I get it but i'm just saying, that seems to be overblown on here. As far as the commute, I don't go anywhere near the top side of 285 near 400 during rush hour.
I get why people are critical of schools, but a lot of people seem to act as if your kids aren't at the top 5 schools in the state then they'll end up being janitors.
Well said, brownhornet! I've been thinking the same thing. I suppose the "top schools" posters are also saying they want newer, larger houses to go with the schools? I understand that also. Personally, I would send my children to Riverwood (good enough school?) and have a shorter commute to Buckhead than be stuck driving back and forth to East Cobb every day, but it really is a personal decision with lots of variables.
Well, I think what's happening is really a few things combined.
First, schools have degraded to a point where it's not just the bad kids not learning while the good kids learn. I think the concern is if the school isn't good, the teachers will spend more time on disciplinary problems than on teaching. I haven't been in a school for a long time, but this is the perception, and my teacher friends more or less echo this problem.
The other thing is college isn't like it was when we were kids. Nowadays, a decent GPA and respectable test scores aren't even enough to guarantee entry into UGA. So kids have to make sure they have whatever advantage they can get to make sure they get into a decent school. The ivy league kids are always going to be ivy league kids, the dummies are always going to be dummies....it's the average kids and above average kids that are in huge competition to make sure the get the edge in getting a great higher education.
And that's why you see so much being discussed on schools.
Also, remember, that children are the biggest projects and investments people have and education is probably one of the single most important things parents can do to give their kids advantages. That's why most people aren't interested in "good enough" as far as schools are concerned, they want the best they can possibly provide. I think it's fairly understandable.
Another thing is schools are great barometers of what areas are like. Have you ever noticed that good schools are typically in areas with involved parents who care about things like education, libraries, parks, community, social responsibility, etc.? If you find an area with a good public school system, it tends to say something about the core values of the community that you are buying in. That's why realtors generally use school district to help select areas for people, even if they aren't specifically looking for a great school. Heck, I don't have kids and probably never will, but I still understood the value of buying in a good school district.
It's all part of a big picture and you have to take it in context. I'm not saying if you work in midtown and can afford a house in midtown and you don't have any kids that you should be afraid to buy in midtown because the schools aren't good enough. But you know what I mean, schools are important for lots of reasons.
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I make a similar commute.
