Charter School Amendment (Atlanta, Dunwoody: homes, transfer, buy)

[RoslynHolcomb]

Interesting editorial in the Dunwoody Crier yesterday. Apparently less than half of Dunwoody families use public schools after elementary! This is part of the whole charter school debate. I thought it was pretty interesting that he said he sees the charter schools as a gateway to the new cities getting an amendment to form their own school systems! I'm, of course looking to get out of Dunwoody because private schools are simply not in the budget, otherwise, I'd love to send my son to Marist. I love everything about that school, except the cost, of course! The whole charter school thing really makes me uestion my values. Under normal circumstances I would be totally against it. Unfortunately, DeKalb County School Board is being run by a gang of criminal morons and there isapparently no way to rectify the situation. .

[10 feet tall]

Originally Posted by RoslynHolcomb

Apparently less than half of Dunwoody families use public schools after elementary!

Many have always known this based on anecdote, so I am happy to see it in print. Particularly since I have been told it isn't true (by people on this board and elsewhere), but that just never did gel with my personal experience. If Dunwoody had a quality school system, I would never want to leave, and it would probably quickly become the most desirable area in the metro for families.

[chalvey]

Yup. Knew this beforehand. Went to Vanderlyn (an amazing school), then to PCMS for a year. After that transferred to Woodward. More than half my friends from Vanderlyn went private as well. I am sure there is an interactive map showing the percentage of students attending public school.

[chalvey]

Originally Posted by 10 feet tall

Many have always known this based on anecdote, so I am happy to see it in print. Particularly since I have been told it isn't true (by people on this board and elsewhere), but that just never did gel with my personal experience. If Dunwoody had a quality school system, I would never want to leave, and it would probably quickly become the most desirable area in the metro for families.

This. Dunwoody's location is brilliant, but DCSS is a tragedy.

[lastminutemom]

Originally Posted by 10 feet tall

Many have always known this based on anecdote, so I am happy to see it in print. Particularly since I have been told it isn't true (by people on this board and elsewhere), but that just never did gel with my personal experience. If Dunwoody had a quality school system, I would never want to leave, and it would probably quickly become the most desirable area in the metro for families.

Actually, I checked and the author is just guessing. He doesn't have hard facts. In fact, the numbers tell a different story, when you total the number of 5th graders from one year to 6th the next (and no Peachtree doesn't get students from outside its attendance zone.) Same thing, 8th to 9th, though a little harder to track because the high school, until recently, does occasionally have some transfer students.

The reality now is that the problems in DCSS are trickling into all schools across the system, including the "amazing" ones. Class sizes are out of control, many good teachers have left or will leave soon, and morale is at an all time low.

The situation in DeKalb County as a whole is terrible and the school system is just a part of this. As someone posted in another thread, there are parts of S. DeKalb where homes are now selling for less than they did 30 years ago. It is hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

[RoslynHolcomb]

Sorry, forgot to providea link to the editorial. I truly believe Dunwoody will eventually have its own system. To my mind it makes no sense to become a city otherwise. Funding an appalling school system while spending upwards of 18k to educate your kids is just crazy. I know many of these families would go private regardless, but my guess, given the enthusiasm for the elementary schools here, there's no real reason it can't carry over to the upper grades. unfortunately, that's probably ten or more years down the road, much too late for us.

Charter school amendment, will it affect Dunwoody? | dekalb school watch two

[lastminutemom]

Opps forgot to put in the numbers.

In the 2010-2011, there were 523 5th graders in the schools that feed into Peachtree Middle School. The following year (last year), there were 480 6th graders. That is hardly 50 percent.

Here is the source for the data:

GADOE - Office of Technology Services

Let me add, that there may very well be 50 percent of students in private schools, but my point is that they weren't in public school to start with. Like many parts of close in North Metro Atlanta, Dunwoody and others part of N. DeKalb have tremendous access to private schools. Many families actually buy homes because of proximity to private schools, knowing they will never go public.

[RoslynHolcomb]

In the 2010-2011, there were 523 5th graders in the schools that feed into Peachtree Middle School. The following year (last year), there were 480 6th graders. That is hardly 50 percent.

is that a typo? I know there are more than 400 kids at Kingsley alone, and it's one of the smaller schools in the cluster. Do not all the schools (Kingsley, Vandelyn, Chesnut, Austin and Dunwoody) go to PCMS? Assuming each school had 500 kids, that would be 2500, or am I missing something?

[chalvey]

Originally Posted by RoslynHolcomb

is that a typo? I know there are more than 400 kids at Kingsley alone, and it's one of the smaller schools in the cluster. Do not all the schools (Kingsley, Vandelyn, Chesnut, Austin and Dunwoody) go to PCMS? Assuming each school had 500 kids, that would be 2500, or am I missing something?

I believe what LLM is saying is that 480 were the total number of 6th graders at PCMS and the year before there were 523 5th graders in all the feeder schools, so only 43 went private/home-school. I think you are confusing the total number of 5th graders with the total number of students at an elementary school, though I could be misreading your post.

Also, hightower feeds into PCMS. This is one of the big factors bringing PCMS down.

[RoslynHolcomb]

Sorry, of course she was only counting two grades. Not thinking. Forgot about Hightower, which is one of the reasons for my concern. I'm not as worried about Dunwoody High.