Analysis on Grogran's Bluff in Sandy Springs - Needed (Atlanta: apartment complexes, homes)

[LovelySummer]

Hello everyone,

I've got a friend moving to Atlanta who is interested in the Grogan's Bluff subdivision in Sandy Springs. Anyone know anything about it? I see many of the homes are hardcoat stucco (but beautiful) and the elementary and high schools are Ison Springs and North Springs. What's going on with these schools/this area?

She drove me through today and it looks beautiful. Heavily wooded, largish lots, older community but obviously luxury homes.

Please provide any feedback.

Thanks.

[LovelySummer]

So no info on this subdivision, schools, etc?

[lastminutemom]

It is a beautiful subdivision and there are lots of good things about N. Springs High School. (however, you may need to be in one of the magnet programs --math/science or the arts -- to access all the best the school has to offer.)

Ison Springs and Lake Forest elementary are the two newest elementary schools in Sandy Springs. When the lines were drawn, with lots of community input by the way, these schools were/are mostly populated by residents of apartment complexes. Schools like Woodland, Spaulding Drive, etc benefitted somewhat from these changes both in the relieving of overcrowding and the changes in demographics. (the politics around all this was pretty horrific, IMO)

Everyone I have ever known in Grogran's bluff and that part of SS sent their kids to private school through at least 8th grade. But they could have been planning on private school to begin with.

[CMMom]

Yes, I agree. I have friends who live in that neighborhood and their elementary-school-aged kids are in private school. It is right off Roswell Road, so for some, the number of pedestrians walking around might be seen as a minus. But the neighborhood itself is quite nice.

[LovelySummer]

Oh my. Thanks for the feedback. I will pass it on. I'd heard about Sandy Springs and questionable re-districting but I never knew the schools affected, etc. That's too bad that the city was able to do that. Thanks again for the info.

[lastminutemom]

Originally Posted by LovelySummer

Oh my. Thanks for the feedback. I will pass it on. I'd heard about Sandy Springs and questionable re-districting but I never knew the schools affected, etc. That's too bad that the city was able to do that. Thanks again for the info.

Hold on. It wasn't the city, it was the Fulton County School Board. No city school system here.

And for a host of reasons that I won't rehash here, there were folks involved from all across north Fulton, if I recall correctly.

[LovelySummer]

Got it. I didn't mean city of Sandy Springs did the re-districting, just that that bad situation happened in Sandy Springs. Horrible! Thanks for all the info.

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

Hold on. It wasn't the city, it was the Fulton County School Board. No city school system here.

And for a host of reasons that I won't rehash here, there were folks involved from all across north Fulton, if I recall correctly.

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by LovelySummer

Got it. I didn't mean city of Sandy Springs did the re-districting, just that that bad situation happened in Sandy Springs. Horrible! Thanks for all the info.

What bad situation?

[lastminutemom]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

What bad situation?

From my very outside perspective, observing from a distance and listening to friends in Sandy Springs, the lines were manipulated to protect some of the older schools while essentially setting up the two new elementary schools to have very challenging populations.

That said, across the board the Sandy Springs elementary schools (with the exception of Heards Ferry) have at least 40 percent free and reduced lunch rate (most are over 55 percent) and large to largish percentages of students who don't speak English at home.

My point is that most students in Sandy Springs elementary schools are poor (excluding Heards Ferry) and even without what happened during the redistricting these schools wouldn't really be much different.

A huge percentage of Sandy Spring's elementary students come from apartments, many of them are aging and less expensive.

Unlike most close in metro Atlant schools the Sandy Springs high schools have less poverty and are (slightly) less diverse than the elementary schools that feed them. This is in part because many private school parents elect public high school because of the programs that North Springs and Riverwood have.

Which leads to this point, the community of Sandy Springs does some really great things for their public schools. While I won't get into it in much detail here, when Riverwood High School didn't make AYP (from NCLB) the surrounding neighbors were horrified. They organized tutoring, fundraising, etc and got involved in the school. Over a fairly short number of years, it went from a school where no one (who could make a choice) wanted to send their child, to being considered one of the top schools in metro Atlanta.

And there is this-- which is absolutely fabulous, especially if you consider it is run totally by volunteers. (Compared to the Decatur Education Foundation which serves far fewer students but has a paid director)

Sandy Springs Education Force | GA Public Schools

SSEF provides really great services to the schools in SS.

[LovelySummer]

I thought it was that they basically drew the lines so that the new schools would be all apartment kids and Heards Ferry wouldn't have to deal with that demographic. Check the racial and socio demographics of Heards Ferry and then check High Point and Ison. It's kind of obvious.

Originally Posted by toll_booth

What bad situation?

Heards Ferry Elementary School - Atlanta, Georgia - GA - School details

Ison Springs Elementary School - Sandy Springs, Georgia - GA - School details

Check out the racial stuff relative to the rest of the state and also relative to that at Heards Ferry.
Then check the free lunch stuff relative to the rest of the state and also relative to Heards Ferry.