Applications for Private schools - Fall 2013 (Atlanta, Buckhead: homes, middle school, place to live)

[jpatlanta]

Originally Posted by deacongirl

I think we need to define what the end-goal is here, and what "marginal' results means. I know plenty of very successful (financially and otherwise) adults who attended state schools (or non-ivy privates).

Of course to move out of the area is based on many things but sticking to the child part of it: It was simply is it easier to just move to a top NE school district and spend the money you would have spent on private school in Atlanta on the house and property tax in the NE instead and go public. Of course this only applies to people who can change jobs or move regional office. One of my neighbors has just done this.

I appreciate that maybe in parts of East Cobb you can use the public schools but not everyone wants to live in East Cobb. That is the issue I have with Atlanta, if you want to live in an intown area or Buckhead etc you pretty much have to pay for private for high school and some of these privates may not be as good as public in the NE.

[deacongirl]

Originally Posted by jpatlanta

Of course to move out of the area is based on many things but sticking to the child part of it: It was simply is it easier to just move to a top NE school district and spend the money you would have spent on private school in Atlanta on the house and property tax in the NE instead and go public. Of course this only applies to people who can change jobs or move regional office. One of my neighbors has just done this.

I appreciate that maybe in parts of East Cobb you can use the public schools but not everyone wants to live in East Cobb. That is the issue I have with Atlanta, if you want to live in an intown area or Buckhead etc you pretty much have to pay for private for high school and some of these privates may not be as good as public in the NE.

I agree with this. Which is why I would move back to my hometown in a heartbeat.

[AtlJan]

Originally Posted by jpatlanta

I appreciate that maybe in parts of East Cobb you can use the public schools but not everyone wants to live in East Cobb. That is the issue I have with Atlanta, if you want to live in an intown area or Buckhead etc you pretty much have to pay for private for high school and some of these privates may not be as good as public in the NE.

Don't most people who live in Manhattan or in DC proper use private for high school? Atlanta is the same. And "an intown area or Buckhead"...just to clarify, Buckhead is an intown area. . .and Buckhead has a similar intown school set up as DC--some good public elementary schools, a lot of great private schools, and intown public high schools with a socioeconomic mix of kids representative of the city as a whole. It isn't fair to compare Buckhead to suburban NY or NJ. It isn't a suburb.

I am a native Atlantan and whereas I did go to private, I know plenty of people who went to what is now North Atlanta or Grady (when neither was as good as it is now, BTW) and they are now seasoned professionals with advanced degrees. So when you say "you pretty much have to pay for private"--I'm kind of miffed, but I guess you are used to suburban high schools where the average test scores are extremely high and you don't want an urban school--and you don't want to home school. But, rest assured, NAHS and Grady graduate their share of top students each year. And so do the top tier privates, and the second tier, and the third tier privates, and the other intown publics, too.

So, moving back to the NE is definitely something to consider if you don't like our suburbs but you want a suburban public high school. Let us know what you decide. There are plenty of folks here ready to throw you a good-bye party! :-)

[deacongirl]

Originally Posted by AtlJan

Don't most people who live in Manhattan or in DC proper use private for high school? Atlanta is the same. And "an intown area or Buckhead"...just to clarify, Buckhead is an intown area. . .and Buckhead has a similar intown school set up as DC--some good public elementary schools, a lot of great private schools, and intown public high schools with a socioeconomic mix of kids representative of the city as a whole. It isn't fair to compare Buckhead to suburban NY or NJ. It isn't a suburb.

I am a native Atlantan and whereas I did go to private, I know plenty of people who went to what is now North Atlanta or Grady (when neither was as good as it is now, BTW) and they are now seasoned professionals with advanced degrees. So when you say "you pretty much have to pay for private"--I'm kind of miffed, but I guess you are used to suburban high schools where the average test scores are extremely high and you don't want an urban school--and you don't want to home school. But, rest assured, NAHS and Grady graduate their share of top students each year. And so do the top tier privates, and the second tier, and the third tier privates, and the other intown publics, too.

So, moving back to the NE is definitely something to consider if you don't like our suburbs but you want a suburban public high school. Let us know what you decide. There are plenty of folks here ready to throw you a good-bye party! :-)

I think East Cobb is a great place to live, and I do love Atlanta. However, suburban Philadelphia has suburban Atlanta beat because I could afford to live in a historic, charming, walkable small town with excellent public schools that would meet the needs of all of my children and be in center city Philadelpia in 20 minutes. Hard to beat. If my husband could get a job there I would throw a party myself!

[jpatlanta]

Originally Posted by AtlJan

Don't most people who live in Manhattan or in DC proper use private for high school? Atlanta is the same. And "an intown area or Buckhead"...just to clarify, Buckhead is an intown area. . .and Buckhead has a similar intown school set up as DC--some good public elementary schools, a lot of great private schools, and intown public high schools with a socioeconomic mix of kids representative of the city as a whole. It isn't fair to compare Buckhead to suburban NY or NJ. It isn't a suburb.

I am a native Atlantan and whereas I did go to private, I know plenty of people who went to what is now North Atlanta or Grady (when neither was as good as it is now, BTW) and they are now seasoned professionals with advanced degrees. So when you say "you pretty much have to pay for private"--I'm kind of miffed, but I guess you are used to suburban high schools where the average test scores are extremely high and you don't want an urban school--and you don't want to home school. But, rest assured, NAHS and Grady graduate their share of top students each year. And so do the top tier privates, and the second tier, and the third tier privates, and the other intown publics, too.

So, moving back to the NE is definitely something to consider if you don't like our suburbs but you want a suburban public high school. Let us know what you decide. There are plenty of folks here ready to throw you a good-bye party! :-)

I didn't say urban as its clear areas like Buckhead are surburban. The equivilent to Buckhead would be parts of Westchester county in NYC or Bergen County NJ which have generally fantastic public schools. Buckhead is not urban as I haven't seen any 5 acre lots in Manhatten or DC lately.

Your response in the last paragraph about leaving parties is also so typical in Atlanta when someone dare question schools/compare them with the NE and is part of the problem with perception the region has. The question asked was how do Atlanta private schools rate against good NE public schools and its a fair question whether it hurts your feeling or not. Reading thru this whole thread its clear most people are saying only a small handfull of the public middle/high schools in the whole Atlanta area are acceptable. You may want to give it some thought that not everyone shares your high regard for the schools and the impact this has on Atlanta attracting business........................

[aries4118]

Actually, for the American South and Sunbelt, Buckhead is urban. Yes, it has parts that have suburban characteristics (and that's the beauty of Atlanta and the South), but it is definitely urban--being that it is in the city proper and parts of it form part of Atlanta's central core (that stretches from south Downtown to west Brookhaven...remember, Atlanta is a linear city.)


jpatlanta and deacongirl...don't shoot the messenger...AtlJan is spot on. It makes no sense to compare suburban Westchester county and suburban Philadelphia with Atlanta's urban schools. East Cobb, North Fulton, South Forsyth, Fayette, etc. stack up favorably with suburban schools in the NE.

And really, Atlanta's intown/urban school options beat a lot/most of the NE since you can just live in a school zone/district and get a quality education...in many parts of the NE you have to do a magnet, an exam-school, or hope for the best with a luck-of-the-draw, cattle-call lottery.

In the City of Boston, for example, the only good public high school option is Boston Latin--a tough all exam-entrance school. Good luck if your child is average or just above average.


I remember a poster a few years ago complaining how Grady was not like her area's school in the NE (she was trying to move here)...when more info was revealed, the poster was living in Westchester County and wanted the same attributes in urban/in-town Atlanta! I know the South and Atlanta are cheaper and offer a more luxurious lifestyle for NE transplants...but we caint all have our cake and eat it too. The lady-poster should've been focused on Walton or Riverwood (for what she wanted and considering what she was use to), not Grady!

[CMMom]

You know, I can't cite chapter or verse on this, but there are those who say that coming from regions other than the NE is an advantage to getting into Ivies. They want geographic diversity and not all students from the same region. In that sense, it's probably just as good (if not better) to be in the top 5 in your class at (say) Westminster in Atlanta than #35 at Phillips Exeter or Boston Latin.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by CMMom

You know, I can't cite chapter or verse on this, but there are those who say that coming from regions other than the NE are an advantage to getting into Ivies. They want geographic diversity and not all students from the same region...

I have read and heard this a lot. A lot.

Geographic diversity is a huge plus for the Ivy League.

[intownmom]

For what it's worth --- eight Westminster seniors were accepted early decision at Harvard this year.

[1Mom2Boys]

Congrats to those Westminster seniors! If true or even close to being true (which wouldn't surprise me in the least), that substantiates the point that most have tried to make in this thread that a quality education can most certainly be had in these here southern parts.

There are SO many ways to skin the Ivy cat that don't require the use of a moving truck. And frankly, it all starts at home. My brother went to Harvard and he had his first Harvard t-shirt when he was one. Now, he also went to Westminster for high school and worked extremely hard throughout his academic career, but I know his passion to go to Harvard started at an extremely young age (at about the time he got that t-shirt).