Moving to Atlanta Next Year (Smyrna, Lithonia: middle-class, for sale, rent)

[softwareengineer1101]

My wife and I have decided that we will definitely move to Atlanta next year in May. We have decided that we will rent a single-family home somewhere in the Atlanta metro area for six months or so, and if we like it there, we will purchase a home. My wife really likes what she has read about Lithonia (The positive). However, I have seen a lot of VERY negative posts here on City-Data about Lithonia. We have seen a number of nice houses for sale in that city in our price range, including a new development called ShadowfordFalls, that looks really nice. If Lithonia is "Little Afghanistan", why are there developments like ShadowfordFalls and Sandstone Estates being built? I don't get it. Also, we have decided to go the private school rout for the kids, WoodwardAcademy, or a school near by where ever we live. Has anyone heard anything positive or negative about Woodward Academy or any of the private schools in Lithonia?

[RainyRainyDay]

According to your other thread, you've a family income of $120K+ per year, assuming the elementary teacher finds a job, and four school aged children. According to their website, Woodward's tuition is $17K per year for elementary, $20K for high school. It's none of my business, but ... the numbers don't add up.

[lastminutemom]

Many of the smaller private schools in DeKalb are struggling and some have closed. Rainy Day has the tuition prices right for Woodward and tuition is just the beginning at many private schools.

Tell me about the schools your children are in now -- what do you like and dislike?

Is diversity in the classroom at all important to you?

[softwareengineer1101]

Originally Posted by RainyRainyDay

According to your other thread, you've a family income of $120K+ per year, assuming the elementary teacher finds a job, and four school aged children. According to their website, Woodward's tuition is $17K per year for elementary, $20K for high school. It's none of my business, but ... the numbers don't add up.

We don't have to work for someone else to support our selves at this point, we work because we enjoy our respective fields. We own a successful franchise here in our city, and have done pretty well for our selves in other enterprises. I was just asking in my other post, what the job market and public schools are like in Atlanta to get an idea of where we might want to relocate to. We don't like Oklahoma, where we live now, because of the 110-115 degree summers and violent weather. FYI.

[softwareengineer1101]

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

Many of the smaller private schools in DeKalb are struggling and some have closed. Rainy Day has the tuition prices right for Woodward and tuition is just the beginning at many private schools.

Tell me about the schools your children are in now -- what do you like and dislike?

Is diversity in the classroom at all important to you?

My oldest is at a magnet middle school with a pretty good science and math curriculum (This is important to us). My three youngest are in a Spanish immersion program at a public elementary school with pretty good test scores. My wife and I are happy with the curriculum at our oldest child's school, however we are not happy with our youngest children’s school as of this current semester. We have checked out a few of the private schools here and there was a patronizing, and racist, tone in the way they spoke to us. Needless to say, we did not want to send our children there. Also, diversity in the classroom is a requirement for us, but all black is Ok, if the test scores are good. I grew up in Detroit, MI and developed a strong sense of identity as a result of being the majority and surrounded by successful people. So, under the right circumstances lack of diversity can be a positive thing (In my experience).

[softwareengineer1101]

Originally Posted by softwareengineer1101

My wife and I have decided that we will definitely move to Atlanta next year in May. We have decided that we will rent a single-family home somewhere in the Atlanta metro area for six months or so, and if we like it there, we will purchase a home. My wife really likes what she has read about Lithonia (The positive). However, I have seen a lot of VERY negative posts here on City-Data about Lithonia. We have seen a number of nice houses for sale in that city in our price range, including a new development called ShadowfordFalls, that looks really nice. If Lithonia is "Little Afghanistan", why are there developments like ShadowfordFalls and Sandstone Estates being built? I don't get it. Also, we have decided to go the private school rout for the kids, WoodwardAcademy, or a school near by where ever we live. Has anyone heard anything positive or negative about Woodward Academy or any of the private schools in Lithonia?

We want to get the opinions of people who actually live in Lithonia. Is Lithonia a lawless combat zone like some of the posts here on City-Data suggest. Or are those people posting those comments exaggerating. For example, people say that Detroit is bad, and it can be if you don't understand the city, or know which areas to avoid. However, there are some very nice areas in Detroit (Sherwood Forest, Rosedale Park, Gross Point, etc.), and I wouldn't call the entire city a war zone, just parts of it (6 Mile, Schoolcraft, some areas off of Woodward, etc.). Can someone who has actually been to or lived in Lithonia post their opinion about it? Thanks.

[bizchick86]

Yes, they are exaggerating. Lithonia is home to some of the wealthiest African-American neighborhoods in the country and has a strong presence of professional, middle-class folks. New Birth (one of the bougiest churches you can find where a lot of political and entertainment elite attend) would not have its entire compound in Lithonia if it were such a tragic place to be.

The DeKalb county school system as a whole needs some work, so a private school may be a good option. For me, I was public school educated in high-achieving programs in Dekalb County and was academically challenged- I absolutely loved my education in DeKalb. At the same time, my mother was an educator, understood the system, and fought for me to get that great education. If you're an active parent and do some research, you should be able to offer your child a rewarding education as well without going the private school route.

Originally Posted by softwareengineer1101

We want to get the opinions of people who actually live in Lithonia. Is Lithonia a lawless combat zone like some of the posts here on City-Data suggest. Or are those people posting those comments exaggerating. For example, people say that Detroit is bad, and it can be if you don't understand the city, or know which areas to avoid. However, there are some very nice areas in Detroit (Sherwood Forest, Rosedale Park, Gross Point, etc.), and I wouldn't call the entire city a war zone, just parts of it (6 Mile, Schoolcraft, some areas off of Woodward, etc.). Can someone who has actually been to or lived in Lithonia post their opinion about it? Thanks.

[softwareengineer1101]

Originally Posted by bizchick86

Yes, they are exaggerating. Lithonia is home to some of the wealthiest African-American neighborhoods in the country and has a strong presence of professional, middle-class folks. New Birth (one of the bougiest churches you can find where a lot of political and entertainment elite attend) would not have its entire compound in Lithonia if it were such a tragic place to be.

The DeKalb county school system as a whole needs some work, so a private school may be a good option. For me, I was public school educated in high-achieving programs in Dekalb County and was academically challenged- I absolutely loved my education in DeKalb. At the same time, my mother was an educator, understood the system, and fought for me to get that great education. If you're an active parent and do some research, you should be able to offer your child a rewarding education as well without going the private school route.

Very good. My wife is going to take her Georgia teacher certification test in January or February. We would like to stay in Lithonia and check it out, as well as Smyrna, for a few days, while were there. Are there any good hotels or restaurants, in Lithonia, that you would recommend for us while we're there?

[BobKovacs]

Really none of my business, but if you can afford $70-80k/year for private schools, why not put that $$ into a house in a better area with great public schools instead? While Lithonia as a whole isn't a warzone, there are some areas that aren't all that great. If you've got the kind of money you say you do, you can do far better in the Atlanta metro.

You also realize that Woodward's not exactly "around the corner" from Lithonia, right? Your kids would be on a bus for an easy hour each way, and that's assuming there's a bus that picks up in your area (which would be an additional cost to you).

[anthonyr]

"diversity in the classroom is a requirement for us, but all black is Ok"

Isnt that the opposite of diversity?