Dunwoody HS or Chamblee HS? (Atlanta, Montgomery: real estate, townhome, neighborhood)

[AdumaU]

Looking to buy a home and was wondering which high school has a better reputation?

[skbl17]

Both are really good schools, but I'd say Dunwoody is considered good all-around while Chamblee's main draw is the magnet program (full disclosure: I'm a CCHS graduate).

- skbl17

[jsvh]

Grew up in North DeKalb. Chamblee HS to me. (I am a Lakeside HS graduate, which I also like to think has a decent reputation)

[lastminutemom]

How old is your child? A quick glance at your posting history makes me think you are young. Let me know if you I am wrong.

If your child is not in the magnet program at Chamblee, the experience is different and may be less positive. My friends whose kids are there now tell me that it is three schools in one -- the magnet program, the traditional program and the Hispanic kids. That is the impression their kids have (all in the magnet program).

North DeKalb high schools are going through a period of transistion and there may be seismic shifts in things like attendance zones, magnet programs, etc. So unless your child is getting ready to start high school now or in the next year or two, the question isn't particularly relevant.

Unlike some areas, close-in metro Atlanta real estate is not driven by high school attendance zone as much as elementary school zone. (Dumb yes, reality yes) And overall, Dunwoody has more elementary schools that are considered stronger than the Chamblee attendance zone.

For the most part, I find the housing stock different in both communities. There are a few overlaps, but significant differences as well. Lakeside is a similar choice, but again the housing stock (and prices) are different than C and D.

What are you looking for in terms of housing? Price range?

[wasel]

I live adjacent to both clusters and know a lot of families in both (I do not have children.) I hear more positive comments about Chamblee HS (from both magnet and non-magnet families) than I do about Dunwoody HS.

[ElleKaye]

I have little doubt that they are both excellent schools and could provide the same quality of education.

With all those things being equal, I'd go with Dunwoody if only for name
value. If after graduation, your child atteInds a university in then chooses to never set foot here again then fine. As a back-up plan, Chamblee would be my second choice.

[AdumaU]

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

How old is your child? A quick glance at your posting history makes me think you are young. Let me know if you I am wrong.

If your child is not in the magnet program at Chamblee, the experience is different and may be less positive. My friends whose kids are there now tell me that it is three schools in one -- the magnet program, the traditional program and the Hispanic kids. That is the impression their kids have (all in the magnet program).

North DeKalb high schools are going through a period of transistion and there may be seismic shifts in things like attendance zones, magnet programs, etc. So unless your child is getting ready to start high school now or in the next year or two, the question isn't particularly relevant.

Unlike some areas, close-in metro Atlanta real estate is not driven by high school attendance zone as much as elementary school zone. (Dumb yes, reality yes) And overall, Dunwoody has more elementary schools that are considered stronger than the Chamblee attendance zone.

For the most part, I find the housing stock different in both communities. There are a few overlaps, but significant differences as well. Lakeside is a similar choice, but again the housing stock (and prices) are different than C and D.

What are you looking for in terms of housing? Price range?

Actually I don't even have kids yet, but we're thinking long term and I would rather not buy a starter home and have to move to upgrade, so we're thinking super long term here.

Our price range is probably right around $400k. It's actually been harder than we thought to find a place in our budget. Atlanta real estate is ridic right now.

Thanks for the input, any other guidance would be welcome.

[lastminutemom]

Originally Posted by AdumaU

Actually I don't even have kids yet, but we're thinking long term and I would rather not buy a starter home and have to move to upgrade, so we're thinking super long term here.

Our price range is probably right around $400k. It's actually been harder than we thought to find a place in our budget. Atlanta real estate is ridic right now.

Thanks for the input, any other guidance would be welcome.

Your price range makes it tough in those two areas, but you should be able to find something. Forgetting (for a minute) how fast things are selling, have you looked at the housing stock in your price range, in those two districts, and decided you are satisfied with those choices?

One caveat though -- Hightower Elementary, while it performs well for its population, feeds into DHS but is very different than the rest of the schools in the DHS cluster. It has a large immigrant population, with some years more than 75 percent of students coming from homes where English is not the first language.

So much will change before your hypothetical child reaches high school that you ought to focus on finding a neighborhood you like first and an elementary school second.

[LoneWolf2]

Agree with most of the posters, Chamblee and Dunwoody are very similar.
From a real estate perspective value is more closely tied to Elementary Schools. By far and away the most popular is Montgomery E.S which falls in Chamblee & Brookhaven hoods. 400K might get you a reasonably nice renovated ranch or an older townhome.

[ATL Golfer]

Originally Posted by LoneWolf2

Agree with most of the posters, Chamblee and Dunwoody are very similar.
From a real estate perspective value is more closely tied to Elementary Schools. By far and away the most popular is Montgomery E.S which falls in Chamblee & Brookhaven hoods. 400K might get you a reasonably nice renovated ranch or an older townhome.

I wouldn't say that and I just moved from Montgomery to Ashford Park.

While the tear down craze is around Murphy Candler/West Nancy Creek corridor, Ashford Park's real estate is by far the most expensive. That said, based on scores n such I'd say Austin or Vanderlyn are the best elementary schools feeding Peachtree. Montgomery is a better school than Ashford Park, but the real estate doesn't reflect that.

I will say that the new homes over in Montgomery go for similar price per foot, but there just isn't as many of them. Too many tweener houses in Montgomery where the values are higher than land....like our house. We had a 3/2/1 over there and its worth $475k or so. Whereas Ashford Park is well over halfway turned over to mcmansions because of the smaller homes not being worth more than land value.