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Old 02-05-2009, 12:32 PM
 
Location: Belton, TX
5 posts, read 19,108 times
Reputation: 10

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Hi, my family will be relocating back to GA at the end of March 09. My husband will be working at the VA, close to Emory. Our oldest will be in kindergarten in the Fall. I've done some research on the schools, and on paper, these are the schools that I'm interested in. In Gwinnett (Lawrenceville/Lilburn) are:
  • Camp Creek Elementary School
  • Head Elementary School
  • Brookwood Elementary School
  • Mountain Park Elementary School
  • Craig Elementary School
  • Gwin Oaks Elementary School
Can anyone tell me the commute times from these areas?

We are looking into some Dekalb schools which are:
  • Livsey Elementary School
  • Fernbank Elementary School
  • Vanderlyn Elementary School
  • Austin Elementary School
  • Oak Grove Elementary School
  • Chesnut Elementary School
What's the commute time like from Dunwoody? or Tucker?

Decatur City schools would be ideal, but can not really afford a house. We're looking at the $250K - $350 range.

Any input on elementary schools is appreciated as well.

Thanks.
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Old 02-05-2009, 12:46 PM
 
Location: St Simons Island, GA
23,318 posts, read 43,776,504 times
Reputation: 16438
I think Tucker is your best option, both price and commute-wise.
Livsey is a good elementary school. Evansdale is also good.
Check out the threads regarding Tucker on this forum...you'll find a lot of positives about it.
BTW, no way would I attempt a commute from Lawrenceville to the VA Hospital.
Tucker would be about 20 minutes, Dunwoody anywhere from 30-40 minutes.
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Old 02-05-2009, 01:12 PM
 
Location: Roswell, GA
697 posts, read 3,008,777 times
Reputation: 509
Did you leave Kingsley Elementary in DeKalb off the list deliberately or accidentally? It's adjacent to the Chesnut/Vanderlyn districts, and we actually liked the houses we saw in the Kingsley district better than most of what was in Chesnut, and the prices were comparable. You may find it a challenge to find something workable in the Austin, Vanderlyn, or Oak Grove districts, but prices are down a bit from when we were looking, and we had a ceiling of around $300K, so you might find something.

Basic commute time from the Gwinnett schools is going to be at least 25-30 minutes (from the closer-in schools like Mountain Park and Camp Creek), up to 45 or 50 minutes or more in rush hour traffic from the remoter areas like Craig, Gwin Oaks, and Brookwood.

Of all the places you mention, the Livsey District (along with the Evansdale and possibly Midvale districts) in the Tucker area are going to give you the best value for money and easiest commute -- you're within a short drive to several major roads running northeast-to-southwest toward Emory from there (Briarcliff, LaVista, Lawrenceville Hwy, and Stone Mountain Fwy) so if there are problems on one you have alternatives -- from most of the Gwinnett areas you mention you'd pretty much have to rely on Stone Mtn Fwy (Hwy 78), which does back up at times.

Other folks will disagree with me I'm sure, but if you're planning to settle in for the long haul, I'd be really wary of the Gwinnett schools -- the demographic changes that have battered the schools on the Gwinnett side of the DeKalb-Gwinnett county line are likely to continue to sweep outward, and there's no political will on the Gwinnett county commission to take the steps necessary to avert problems. The good news (if you can call it that) is that the recession will slow the momentum, perhaps enough to let today's elementary-age kids get through high school. When we pulled up stakes from the area of Tucker that's actually in Gwinnett County, we could have gone farther out into Gwinnett and gotten more for our money. We ended up in North Fulton for a variety of reasons, but the greater potential for long-term stability in the schools was one. We didn't have anyone commuting to the Clairmont Road area though.

As I said, we lived in the Tucker-in-Gwinnett area for 10 years, quite close to Livsey, Evansdale, etc., so if you have specific questions about those areas, let me know.
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Old 02-05-2009, 01:14 PM
 
Location: Roswell, GA
697 posts, read 3,008,777 times
Reputation: 509
Quote:
Originally Posted by LovinDecatur View Post
I think Tucker is your best option, both price and commute-wise.
Livsey is a good elementary school. Evansdale is also good.
Check out the threads regarding Tucker on this forum...you'll find a lot of positives about it.
BTW, no way would I attempt a commute from Lawrenceville to the VA Hospital.
Tucker would be about 20 minutes, Dunwoody anywhere from 30-40 minutes.
I promise I'd already started my reply and didn't see yours until after I posted mine .
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Old 02-05-2009, 01:34 PM
 
Location: St Simons Island, GA
23,318 posts, read 43,776,504 times
Reputation: 16438
Quote:
Originally Posted by rackensack View Post
I promise I'd already started my reply and didn't see yours until after I posted mine .
No worries, rackensack...your posts are always informative.
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