Northwood elementary - Roswell /Fulton (house, buying, elementary school)

[rosweller2]

Hello ,

We are close to buying a Ashton woods around the Northpoint mall area. My 3 yr old son would be attending the Northwood Elementary School ( old alabama & wooten rd) soon.

Did anyone here send you kids to this school ? or know someone that did.

I did some research on greatshools and school digger and it turns out that its a decent school.

Schools are probably the only thing that is keeping us from buying this house and I really want to make sure I did my due dilligence before I go ahead.

Any insight is greatly appreciated.

[roxyrn]

Have you visited the school? Always my advice since seeing a school in person will give you a good feel for the attitude of the staff, the physical condition of both the building and the playground, the other kids...

[rosweller2]

Thanks for the response.

Yah, we did visit the school and as I mentioned before, didn't see anything that screams out.

My main concern is that we don't have a good persepective to compare against. Both my wife and I did our schooling in China and immigrated to the states, so don't have a fair understanding of what to look for in a school etc....

One of the -ve stats was the english proficiency % .. its seems to be well below the state average.. which caught my eye.

[K'ledgeBldr]

The majority of the school's population comes from Barrington Farms (when originally built by Pulte, these were considered moveup homes), Willow Springs (was a master planned community with 2-3time moveup homes/executive homes with a golf course and clubhouse[Now Country Club of Roswell]), Spring Ridge (was moveup homes when built- it was a builder group project[several different builders]), and Birkshire Manor (when these were built, they were the "companion" homes to Barrington Farms- but , they were starter homes; also by Pulte).
The demographics of Barrington Farms and Birkshire Manor would probably indicate the reason behind the low english proficiency score.
The school had incredible reviews when first opened a carried them for some time. Then it went through some transitions because of principal changes- a couples within a few years. It is a feeder for Centennial High School. And it's high achievements speak for themselves.
I believe Centennial has more students taking AP (advanced placement- basically a college class) classes than any other HS in the north Fulton area. I realize HS is quite a ways away but, it speaks well for the feeder schools.

I'll assume you looking at the very small development on Haynes Bridge by Ashton Woods? I couldn't imagine living in such a small development- getting in and out might be a bit of a pain, am and pm rush. Haynes Bridge backs up quite a bit along there.

[Davetb]

Hi,
Any updates on Northwood Elementary. We are house hunting and are considering that school. However, I'm not sure there is enough diversity. We are an African American family and are looking for a high-performing elementary school with racial and socioeconomic diversity. My biggest concern is diversity among the teachers. Can anyone speak about that?

Thanks.