Other options beside Decatur and Grady school clusters (Atlanta, Druid Hills: rent, how much)

[liback2queens]

Hi All- if everything goes as planned I'll be moving with my husband and two daughters (ages 3.5 and 5) to the Atlanta area next month for a new job located in Decatur. Having visited the area before I know how bad traffic can get and fully agree with living close to where you work. I've been reading up a lot of the schools threads and have gotten a ton of information. I pretty much get that Decatur City schools and the certain elementary schools that are part of the Grady cluster are the best options in that area. I would love to hear about options to consider, specifically schools within the Druid Hills or Lakeside cluster. There seems to be a few good elementary schools - how are the middle and high schools? Are they worth considering as options?
Also, we'll most likely rent for a while to get a bit familiar with the area before purchasing. Our eventual budget would be around $500,000 if that helps.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by liback2queens

Hi All- if everything goes as planned I'll be moving with my husband and two daughters (ages 3.5 and 5) to the Atlanta area next month for a new job located in Decatur. Having visited the area before I know how bad traffic can get and fully agree with living close to where you work. I've been reading up a lot of the schools threads and have gotten a ton of information. I pretty much get that Decatur City schools and the certain elementary schools that are part of the Grady cluster are the best options in that area. I would love to hear about options to consider, specifically schools within the Druid Hills or Lakeside cluster. There seems to be a few good elementary schools - how are the middle and high schools? Are they worth considering as options?
Also, we'll most likely rent for a while to get a bit familiar with the area before purchasing. Our eventual budget would be around $500,000 if that helps.

Fernbank ES in the Druid Hills cluster is as good as or better than any elementary school in Decatur or the Grady cluster. Laurel Ridge ES is ok. MS can be good if you are in the gifted/IB classes, not good otherwise. HS has some of the same issues, but its pretty comparable to Grady.

Lakeside HS is generally viewed as a step above Druid Hills HS overall. MS not great, but better than Druid Hills MS. Oak Grove ES is excellent and several other ES in the cluster are good. Lakeside cluster is generally more affordable than Decatur or the best parts of the DHHS cluster.

[jeoff]

Originally Posted by bu2

Fernbank ES in the Druid Hills cluster is as good as or better than any elementary school in Decatur or the Grady cluster. Laurel Ridge ES is ok. MS can be good if you are in the gifted/IB classes, not good otherwise. HS has some of the same issues, but its pretty comparable to Grady.

Lakeside HS is generally viewed as a step above Druid Hills HS overall. MS not great, but better than Druid Hills MS. Oak Grove ES is excellent and several other ES in the cluster are good. Lakeside cluster is generally more affordable than Decatur or the best parts of the DHHS cluster.

Pretty much agree with all of this. These (plus the Parkview cluster in Gwinnett) were the schools that we were looking at while transferring over to CDC. Actually parts of the Parkview Cluster's in Gwinnett's commute (preferably Camp Creek elementary, but all of its elementaries are good enough) is probably is comparable to much of the Lakeside cluster to Decatur, and is less expensive. If Lakeside is acceptable to you, then you should probably at least take a look at the Parkview area. It will be a longer ride by distance, but most of it is highway, so it could be quicker.

We opted for the shorter commute, and since our oldest was entering 6th grade, we felt better with the Grady cluster. (We couldn't find anything in Decatur at the time). If our oldest was younger we would have been fine with Fernbank/maybe Laurel Ridge, giving us a few years to evaluate Druid Hills Middle up close. So far it has turned out reasonably well. Mary Lin Elementary was great for our middle child, and Inman Middle was pretty good, now we will see how Grady High turns out.

[jeoff]

...oh, sort of obliged to at least mention the Museum School in Avondale Estates. But it is a public charter school, and you have to apply the year before, and there is no guarantee of getting in. Really not worth the risk.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by jeoff

...oh, sort of obliged to at least mention the Museum School in Avondale Estates. But it is a public charter school, and you have to apply the year before, and there is no guarantee of getting in. Really not worth the risk.

On that line, the magnet school at Chamblee MS and Chamblee HS in the DeKalb School District is very good. But there is no guarantee of getting admittance.

[jeoff]

Originally Posted by bu2

On that line, the magnet school at Chamblee MS and Chamblee HS in the DeKalb School District is very good. But there is no guarantee of getting admittance.

But, if you are getting that far out, I would definitely include Parkview in the mix.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by jeoff

But, if you are getting that far out, I would definitely include Parkview in the mix.

I was speaking of it as an alternative in the MS and HS years. I know a number of Druid Hills kids who go to Chamblee. You don't have to live there to send them to school there. But you do have to get admitted.

[liback2queens]

Thanks everyone for the information so far. I hadn't considered Parkview and will look into it. I have dealt with a log commute in the past so really interested in not doing that again.

[liback2queens]

Originally Posted by jeoff

But, if you are getting that far out, I would definitely include Parkview in the mix.

How much longer would the commute from Parkview be? Based on google maps its about 30m. How would that factor with traffics?

[jeoff]

Originally Posted by liback2queens

How much longer would the commute from Parkview be? Based on google maps its about 30m. How would that factor with traffics?

Where in "Decatur" (City of Decatur is spread out, and has various bottlenecks, Decatur mailing address is even more spread out). What time of day? Compared to which areas?)


My guesses without knowing details--
Best case scenario--There are places in the Parkview zone in which you can get to Church Street and Scott Bvd in as little as 15-20 min during the summer, maybe 5-15 min more during morning rush hour during the school year. (add 5 min more for evening rush hour). The closer in parts of Lakeside might save you 5 minutes, but I don't think most of Lakeside will even do that. I did the commute from Parkview 4 years ago. Of course, the Parkview school zone is pretty spread out--the furthest edge would add 30 min. But, the best Elementary school in the zone probably only adds 5-15 min. But, even what is considered the worst of the Parkview Elementary schools compares well with Laurel Ridge.

Now, parts of Fernbank are practically City of Decatur, around Medlock park, south of the VA, etc. I f you are still considering the Grady area. Candler Park-Lake Claire will be your shortest commute, and that is Mary-Lin Elementary.
Parts of Laurel Ridge are a Deactur mailing address, but I don't know enough about it, to "recommend", only enough to "consider".