Schooldigger new rankings are out (Atlanta, Decatur: neighborhood, private schools, college)

[JOinGA]

Originally Posted by Clayton white guy

Kudos to Clayton County's Schools' Elite Scholars' Academy for being the number one middle school in the state! ;0)

This appears to be a magnet program that only admits students who are high achievers. These students must maintain high achievement or they get kicked out of the program. While this school may be providing a great education for top students, it should not be compared to a typical middle school that is educating the general population.

[Saintmarks]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

Oconee County overtook Buford as top district in the state; Fayette and Forsyth each dropped one spot. Something called State Charter Schools- International Charter School of Atlanta moved up 4 spots and upset the Top 10.

Analyze and comment at your leisure


https://www.schooldigger.com/go/GA/districtrank.aspx

Oh the bragging rights in East Cobb with Lassiter ranking ahead of Walton. Along with Pope HS at number 8, that East Cobb trio placed 3 in the top ten in the state. They are doing something right there.

[JayHey]

Originally Posted by Saintmarks

Oh the bragging rights in East Cobb with Lassiter ranking ahead of Walton. Along with Pope HS at number 8, that East Cobb trio placed 3 in the top ten in the state. They are doing something right there.

Yeah, each of them are sitting below 10% free/discounted lunch recipients.

There are outliers, but for the most part these school rankings and just reflecting the general economic demographics of the student body.

[Saintmarks]

Originally Posted by JayHey

Yeah, each of them are sitting below 10% free/discounted lunch recipients.

There are outliers, but for the most part these school rankings and just reflecting the general economic demographics of the student body.

Knowing the area pretty well, the Lassiter area is nice but hardly the upper echelon of Atlanta neighborhoods. Definitely a notch below neighboring Walton in terms of average home prices and household income.

[JayHey]

It hardly needs to be the upper echelons of Atlanta neighborhoods to not qualify for free/reduced meals. All it reflects is that there is very little near-poverty and hardly any poverty households.

Free/reduced eligibility is determined by SNAP/Welfare recipients (free) or households under ~185% of the Poverty Rate (reduced).

The three schools you mentioned are each under 10% recipients, as you move down the Cobb Co. high school rankings the Free/Reduced Rate rises.

Cobb Co's lowest ranking HS school, Osborne, has a rate of 82% students receiving meal aid.

My point is that if you want to actually look to schools which are "doing something right", meaning something other schools aren't doing, look at schools which have a relatively high Free/Reduced Rate and are still ranked well. Buford High School, for example, is the only T25 traditionally zoned HS with a F/R Rate above 25%.

East Cobb, specifically the far northeastern section making up the 3 districts of the high schools ranked in the T10, is solidly upper-middle class. The teachers and administration of those three schools are without doubt fine professionals, but don't act like they didn't all win the demographic lottery with their student body.

[Saintmarks]

Originally Posted by JayHey

It hardly needs to be the upper echelons of Atlanta neighborhoods to not qualify for free/reduced meals. All it reflects is that there is very little near-poverty and hardly any poverty households.

Free/reduced eligibility is determined by SNAP/Welfare recipients (free) or households under ~185% of the Poverty Rate (reduced).

The three schools you mentioned are each under 10% recipients, as you move down the Cobb Co. high school rankings the Free/Reduced Rate rises.

Cobb Co's lowest ranking HS school, Osborne, has a rate of 82% students receiving meal aid.

My point is that if you want to actually look to schools which are "doing something right", meaning something other schools aren't doing, look at schools which have a relatively high Free/Reduced Rate and are still ranked well. Buford High School, for example, is the only T25 traditionally zoned HS with a F/R Rate above 25%.

East Cobb, specifically the far northeastern section making up the 3 districts of the high schools ranked in the T10, is solidly upper-middle class. The teachers and administration of those three schools are without doubt fine professionals, but don't act like they didn't all win the demographic lottery with their student body.

You act as if I don't know all that already. But East Cobb is doing it better than similar or even wealthier enclaves in North Fulton, Forsyth, Gwinnett, etc, etc. Kudos to them and no need to diminish it.

My main reason to comment is the all too well known reputation (if you are from that area) that Walton is supposedly heads and above all the rest. The creme de la creme. Interesting that Lassiter topped them. And with a less wealthy demographic. Kudos Trojans!

[PTC Dad]

Originally Posted by Clayton white guy

Kudos to Clayton County's Schools' Elite Scholars' Academy for being the number one middle school in the state! ;0)

Not to take anything away from ESA, and I could be wrong, but I think they require all the students at Elite Scholars to pass their milestones assessments the previous year in order to be admitted; so they should do well on a ranking based on the Milestone Math and Reading scores because all the students that aren't proficient don't get accepted.

[PTC Dad]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

Oconee County overtook Buford as top district in the state; Fayette and Forsyth each dropped one spot. Something called State Charter Schools- International Charter School of Atlanta moved up 4 spots and upset the Top 10.

Analyze and comment at your leisure


https://www.schooldigger.com/go/GA/districtrank.aspx

It's amazing that Newnan and East Coweta now rank higher than Sandy Creek and Fayette County, especially since Newnan has a slightly higher free/Reduced lunch rate than Fayette County and Sandy Creek and East Coweta have about the same amount.

[Gilah G.]

Wonderful.
Now if they could just rid Lassiter of the rampant drug culture I could shout a little louder from the rooftops.

[Newsboy]

Originally Posted by PTC Dad

It's amazing that Newnan and East Coweta now rank higher than Sandy Creek and Fayette County, especially since Newnan has a slightly higher free/Reduced lunch rate than Fayette County and Sandy Creek and East Coweta have about the same amount.

I wouldn’t read too much into it. These rankings are based off the latest Milestones Assessment scores from 10 key subjects and tend to vary from year to year. For whatever reason, Sandy Creek fell 40 spots this year and Fayette County fell 33 while Newnan rose 17 and East Coweta was unchanged.

But when you look at the actual scores themselves FCHS, SCHS and ECHS are all within 5 points of each other. And within that same range are schools like Carrollton, Marietta, Norcross, McEachern, Effingham etc that have solid reputations in their communities.