cobb county school transfer/selection help (Smyrna) (Atlanta, Roswell: apartments, houses)

[Kari38]

Hi All,

My family and I are relocating to ATL from the bay area. We are running away from the Red/Orange sky. We’ve settled on Smyrna as one of our ideal areas, as my job will be in midtown, but I will be mostly remote. My husband's job is remote. Seems like a nice community with proximity to nightlife, fun happenings and family atmosphere. We also love North Atlanta High School area and Westlake High School area.

Downside for North Atlanta-Super Pricey and Small Square footage on homes
Downside for Westlake Area-Food/Nightlife Desert
Downside Smyrna-Pricey

We are an AA family and want a welcoming community for our young boys (5-Kindergarten and 10-5th grade). We found a great house that we love and wanted some insights on the community and the school. Our 5th grader has been advanced or high achieving programs previously and performs really well on standardized testing. The other key driver was the price of the house under 525k, for a 4 bedroom with a basement and backyard.

The home we love is attached to Norton Park Elementary and Griffin Middle School.
I noticed Norton is rated really low. I have a few questions:

1. What's the feasibility of getting approved/selected for the cobb school transfer program to:
King Springs
NickaJack
Teasley
Smyrna

2. Should I consider Norton Park Elementary or another school as an option? I only see the low ratings, I don't have any real feedback.

3. Are there any semi affordable private schools in the area $1200 or less a month?

4. Should I just only focus on the side of Smyrna with the higher ranked schools?Should we look at mabelton?

Thanks for all your help~

Cheers-
Stay Stafe in the crazy 2020

[lorilove]

Based on previous posts about the transfer program - I don't think it is that easy but will let others comment specifically.

The area that you are looking at is one the more recent redeveloping/growing areas of Smyrna which is likely why the schools have not yet caught up with the increasing home values.

There is a new Pearson Middle School underdevelopment (Aug 21) - there is a possibility this area may be redistricted there as it will relieve overcrowding in both Campbell and Griffin

[Citykid3785]

Apologies I don't know much on the transfer program. Smyrna used to be affordable about 2 years ago. It's where a lot of adults live pre kids, then they move to east cobb once they have kids for the better schools.

Mableton is generally considered a worse place to live than smyrna.

Private schools can be found for cheaper than 15k/year. Mt bethel and Johnson ferry are just 2 that I know of but admittedly I'm not an expert in this area. I will say that smyrna is still a part of cobb county, which has good schools, so the curriculum is all the same, just the demographics lead to poorer test scores

[lorilove]

Citykid is correct about the demographics leading to poorer test scores. I live in the Argyle Elementary district which also has poor test scores. When they deep dive into the demographics, they find it is directly related to the transient nature of the apartments along Cobb Parkway. When they look at more stable households the test scores are better.

The danger of attending a school with a higher percentage of poor demographics is this can pull on the resources of the teachers and administrators. My sister and I have talked about this subject since we went to a high school with similar issues (many years ago). Typically a child that excels and has involved parents will still do well at this type of school. It is the middle of the road student that is not a top performer and not a problem child that can get lost because there are not resources focused on them specifically.

[kagete]

Why not take your same budget and buy a house within those school districts? There are a lot of nice enough houses that probably won't be the same size/quality as the one you want but will at least already zoned for your choices.

I know transfers are possible but only into the less populated schools, of which your choices weren't listed the last time I checked.

I am not a parent but almost all my neighbors have kids here in Smyrna Grove and a bunch have suggested that it's really the middle school and highschool you should be worried about.

[atlHawks]

Welcome to GA! Glad you are leaving that sinking ship of a disaster state.

[sdmpaz]

Originally Posted by Kari38

Hi All,

My family and I are relocating to ATL from the bay area. We are running away from the Red/Orange sky. We’ve settled on Smyrna as one of our ideal areas, as my job will be in midtown, but I will be mostly remote. My husband's job is remote. Seems like a nice community with proximity to nightlife, fun happenings and family atmosphere. We also love North Atlanta High School area and Westlake High School area.

Downside for North Atlanta-Super Pricey and Small Square footage on homes
Downside for Westlake Area-Food/Nightlife Desert
Downside Smyrna-Pricey

We are an AA family and want a welcoming community for our young boys (5-Kindergarten and 10-5th grade). We found a great house that we love and wanted some insights on the community and the school. Our 5th grader has been advanced or high achieving programs previously and performs really well on standardized testing. The other key driver was the price of the house under 525k, for a 4 bedroom with a basement and backyard.

The home we love is attached to Norton Park Elementary and Griffin Middle School.
I noticed Norton is rated really low. I have a few questions:

1. What's the feasibility of getting approved/selected for the cobb school transfer program to:
King Springs
NickaJack
Teasley
Smyrna

2. Should I consider Norton Park Elementary or another school as an option? I only see the low ratings, I don't have any real feedback.

3. Are there any semi affordable private schools in the area $1200 or less a month?

4. Should I just only focus on the side of Smyrna with the higher ranked schools?Should we look at mabelton?

Thanks for all your help~

Cheers-
Stay Stafe in the crazy 2020

Hi! we are in the process of moving to GA and my son will be going into 10th grade. Can you share your experience and where did you guys end up settling? schools?

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by sdmpaz

Hi! we are in the process of moving to GA and my son will be going into 10th grade. Can you share your experience and where did you guys end up settling? schools?

What is your budget for housing?

And...

Where will the adults in the household be commuting to and from for work each day? (If commuting will be a factor.)

[Atlanta-Native]

Originally Posted by Kari38

Hi All,

My family and I are relocating to ATL from the bay area. We are running away from the Red/Orange sky. We’ve settled on Smyrna as one of our ideal areas, as my job will be in midtown, but I will be mostly remote. My husband's job is remote. Seems like a nice community with proximity to nightlife, fun happenings and family atmosphere. We also love North Atlanta High School area and Westlake High School area.

Downside for North Atlanta-Super Pricey and Small Square footage on homes
Downside for Westlake Area-Food/Nightlife Desert
Downside Smyrna-Pricey

We are an AA family and want a welcoming community for our young boys (5-Kindergarten and 10-5th grade). We found a great house that we love and wanted some insights on the community and the school. Our 5th grader has been advanced or high achieving programs previously and performs really well on standardized testing. The other key driver was the price of the house under 525k, for a 4 bedroom with a basement and backyard.

The home we love is attached to Norton Park Elementary and Griffin Middle School.
I noticed Norton is rated really low. I have a few questions:

1. What's the feasibility of getting approved/selected for the cobb school transfer program to:
King Springs
NickaJack
Teasley
Smyrna

2. Should I consider Norton Park Elementary or another school as an option? I only see the low ratings, I don't have any real feedback.

3. Are there any semi affordable private schools in the area $1200 or less a month?

4. Should I just only focus on the side of Smyrna with the higher ranked schools?Should we look at mabelton?

Thanks for all your help~

Cheers-
Stay Stafe in the crazy 2020

1. I wouldn't count on being selected to attend another school

2. Don't know

3. As mentioned previously, JFCA and Mt Bethel. Neither are in your immediate area, but not too far and very reasonably priced, when compared to the major private schools. Even further, but still a great option, is Fellowship Christian Academy - it's in Roswell.

4. No