Roswell North Elementary - okay? (Atlanta, Mountain Park: appointed, construction, best schools)

[lost1493]

Hi, my family lives in East Atlanta and after a frustrated search for affordable intown areas with good schools for our 5 year old to start, we've decided to move to Roswell. We fell in love with the area and all of the school ratings are really good, but when we went to visit Roswell North Elementary (closed for the Summer so only the outside) we were disappointed by its rundown appearance. Are people happy with this school? I know a lot of people recommend Mountain Park Elementary but I work in Midtown so would like to keep my commute as bearable as possible. Thanks so much for any advice!

[flyonpa]

Summer Office Hours:
9AM till 12 noon and 1:00 -2:00 PM.
Registrations will be accepted onTuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m.-noon

Give them a call, and stop by for a tour....

[ATLTJL]

I'd recommend a visit.

You can't always judge a school based on outside appearance, but I do agree that appearance does matter. If a community takes pride in its school, it should at least look decently attractive and have proper technology and amenities.

I've gone to a lot of schools, some better than others, but all pretty good. I will say that even if the school is good, it is extremely difficult to learn well in a trailer. One of the best schools I went to, they had to expand and they ended up having to use trailers for a brief period of time while construction was completed. They were competent about it, though, and put things that don't require as much concentration like the chorus, band, and electives in the trailers leaving math, science, social studies, and English in proper classrooms. One school I went to in South Florida taught U.S. history in a trailer, and I don't remember much from that class because it's hard to concentrate in a freaking trailer. Of course, it was only 8th grade, but you get what I mean.

In all the schools I attended, I will say that there is definitely a correlation between what kind of shape the physical plant is in and the quality of education offered. I'm sure there are some exceptions, especially at the elementary level, but you are right to be cautious. Best to go visit to be sure. My niece goes to a rather rundown looking school, but it's a charter or magnet school (I'm still not 100% on the difference) and has one of the highest rated math and science programs in the country.

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

I'

I've gone to a lot of schools, some better than others, but all pretty good. I will say that even if the school is good, it is extremely difficult to learn well in a trailer. One of the best schools I went to, they had to expand and they ended up having to use trailers for a brief period of time while construction was completed. They were competent about it, though, and put things that don't require as much concentration like the chorus, band, and electives in the trailers leaving math, science, social studies, and English in proper classrooms. One school I went to in South Florida taught U.S. history in a trailer, and I don't remember much from that class because it's hard to concentrate in a freaking trailer. Of course, it was only 8th grade, but you get what I mean.

My neighbor is a HS math teacher who taught a few years in a trailer, and he said the teachers prefer them, and the students do just as good or better than the students in the classrooms. They're "off the beaten path" a bit, so there aren't other kids walking by causing distractions. They also have their own AC control, whereas most newer schools have automatic temperature controls that don't allow the teachers to adjust the temp in the classroom.

I can't really think of any reason it would be harder to learn or concentrate in a trailer. Maybe 8th grade history just wasn't your thing.....

[ATLTJL]

They do have their own temperature control, which is nice and they get cooler in the summer.

But they also use window units, which are loud and hard for the teachers to speak over. This WAS over 20 years ago, so maybe the window units have gotten quieter.