Best school district/county in ATL (office, commute, area)

[nibseysgirl]

Originally Posted by ATLienGirl

I'd say of the three, Forsyth is definitely the best...not because of test scores, but because Forsyth believes in "equity for all", meaning that if one schools gets something, they ALL do. You don't see certain schools that are shortchanged, such as the differences in North and South Fulton, and North and South Gwinnett. It doesn't matter if it's a title I school or not in Forsyth, the county provides all things for all schools (versus certain schools). For example, EVERY classroom in EVERY schools has a Promethean White Board (an interactive computerized board for learning). When I taught in South Fulton County, I used to go to north Fulton Schools and be in awe...like, wow, why can't we get this, or why can't we get that. It's all about individual funding at each school. Forsyth might be at an advantage because they are smaller, but, you don't have parents going into one school and being like "how come they don't have things like this at my child's school?" If I ever decided to move north of I-20 and teach, I think Forsyth would be where I would want to teach based on this theory.

So that is how the county looks at all schools? Equally educated? No bias or special exeptions etc? I am looking to relocate in the general vicinity of Cumming and would appreciate anything you could tell me about the schools and if there are better schools than others...I have a middle schooler(first year) and would like her to be able to be in a school that is very hands on approach, caring teachers and up to par on testing and teachers that are good at what they do and WANT to teach as here in Fl as well as in NH many teachers sadly teach because it is what they went to school for and dont want to go back to learn something else. My daughter is a honors student and I want her to continue on that path assuming her ability and instruction dictatate that as well as be amough children that are both at her level, beyond and still working on thier goals. I also think divercity is very important both in schools and in community. Thanks so much

[jxu66]

The best schools are within North Fulton (in particular, Northview, Chattohoochee, Milton, Roswell school districts) or East Cobb (in particular, Lassiter, Walton and Pope) areas. But those areas are very expensive.

So people start moving to North Gwinnett, South Forsyth, West Cobb areas. I don't know much about West Cobb. But from what I know, North Gwinnett has more diversity (more blacks and more hispanics and a lot of Asians) than South Forsyth areas. Lately, South Forsyth become more diversity as well as more Asians move to that area, but there are still not many blacks and hispanics. Schools within North Gwinnett and South Forsyth are rated very close.

Best Luck.

[ATLienGirl]

Originally Posted by nibseysgirl

So that is how the county looks at all schools? Equally educated? No bias or special exeptions etc? I am looking to relocate in the general vicinity of Cumming and would appreciate anything you could tell me about the schools and if there are better schools than others...I have a middle schooler(first year) and would like her to be able to be in a school that is very hands on approach, caring teachers and up to par on testing and teachers that are good at what they do and WANT to teach as here in Fl as well as in NH many teachers sadly teach because it is what they went to school for and dont want to go back to learn something else. My daughter is a honors student and I want her to continue on that path assuming her ability and instruction dictatate that as well as be amough children that are both at her level, beyond and still working on thier goals. I also think divercity is very important both in schools and in community. Thanks so much

Yes, that's what Forsyth believes in. Now, do the teachers utilize the materials given to them? Maybe not. You have teachers just like the ones in Florida and NH in EVERY school and EVERY district, even the "good schools."Let's just remember that parents have a HUGE factor in their child's success, not the teacher. I can say that as an educator. I have seen children fall through the cracks with an excellent teacher and no parental support, and a child succeed with a "crappy" teacher and a parent on the teacher's tail, working diligently with the child. But, of course, most parents want a combination of an awesome teacher and excellent support system (parental support system). The only way you will find that is if you know a parent of a child that has an awesome teacher and you request that teacher. Any other time, it's a gamble; regardless of school system or "good school", you don't know what you are going to get. You can go online and do all the research that you want, experience is the best indicator. If you don't have or know that, then this "online crap" means nothing.

I don't see as much diversity on the north side than I do on the southside, hence, I guess that's why the south side doesn't have any "good schools," per say (according to different threads on this forum). It doesn't appear that certain types of diversity contribute to "good schools." For the diversity most people would recommend to contribute to a "good school," you may want to look in Gwinnett as the post above said. There's not a whole lot of diversity in Forsyth or North Fulton.

[Forsyth-Online]

Originally Posted by nibseysgirl

So that is how the county looks at all schools? Equally educated? No bias or special exeptions etc? I am looking to relocate in the general vicinity of Cumming and would appreciate anything you could tell me about the schools and if there are better schools than others...I have a middle schooler(first year) and would like her to be able to be in a school that is very hands on approach, caring teachers and up to par on testing and teachers that are good at what they do and WANT to teach as here in Fl as well as in NH many teachers sadly teach because it is what they went to school for and dont want to go back to learn something else. My daughter is a honors student and I want her to continue on that path assuming her ability and instruction dictatate that as well as be amough children that are both at her level, beyond and still working on thier goals. I also think divercity is very important both in schools and in community. Thanks so much

I would recommend South Forsyth Middle of Piney Grove Middle (just opening this coming year). Both will feed into South Forsyth High School which was just rated as one of the top high schools in the country. There was an article in ajc yesterday about Forsyth and Fayette counties outshining the others in CRCT results. I'm not sure why people continue to bash Forsyth on this forum. Yes, it is diverse. We are white. My son's best friends are South African, vietnamese, and South American. I actually see quite a bit of diversity coming this way. Is it 50/50 - no. It is way more diverse than where I was in Dallas. I don't see any issues with the diversity either. Maybe I'm blind - or I just don't have any problems with it.

[jxu66]

1) Meet and exceed CRCT score is a meaningless which AJC article is based on since CRCT standard in Georgia is way too low. For example, for fourth grade, 87% of Georgia kids are considered proficiency according to CRCT test and yet only 26% of Georgia kids are considered proficiency according to NAEP test.

A good measurement is exceed CRCT score. I did researches on a couple of schools based on last year's result. South Forsyth schools score similiar to North Gwinnett schools.

2) The ranking South Forsyth mentioned is Newsweek ranking which based on number of APs and IB courses taken / number of students. It is not good way to measure school. South Forsyth high is good school, but it is certainly not better than Northview or even Duluth high. But according to Newsweek, South Forsyth is rated higher than Northview and Duluth high. Also, Central Gwinnett is somewhat getting on the list which most locals think that it is not very good school.

3) I personally don't have problem to live in South Forsyth area either. But one friend who is in mixed race relationship don't want to buy in Forsyth since the daughter would be the only mixed race kid in the whole class. So the comfortable level is different for different people.

[ATLienGirl]

Originally Posted by jxu66

1) Meet and exceed CRCT score is a meaningless which AJC article is based on since CRCT standard in Georgia is way too low. For example, for fourth grade, 87% of Georgia kids are considered proficiency according to CRCT test and yet only 26% of Georgia kids are considered proficiency according to NAEP test.

A good measurement is exceed CRCT score. I did researches on a couple of schools based on last year's result. South Forsyth schools score similiar to North Gwinnett schools.

2) The ranking South Forsyth mentioned is Newsweek ranking which based on number of APs and IB courses taken / number of students. It is not good way to measure school. South Forsyth high is good school, but it is certainly not better than Northview or even Duluth high. But according to Newsweek, South Forsyth is rated higher than Northview and Duluth high. Also, Central Gwinnett is somewhat getting on the list which most locals think that it is not very good school.

3) I personally don't have problem to live in South Forsyth area either. But one friend who is in mixed race relationship don't want to buy in Forsyth since the daughter would be the only mixed race kid in the whole class. So the comfortable level is different for different people.

Yes, you are absolutely right about the CRCT scores; that is NOT a good indicator of a good school. It IS an easy test on all levels. Students can score between 800-900 to meet or exceed. Anything above 850 is exceeding, anything from 800-849 is meeting. I have seen students who can't read fluently nor comprehend well pass these tests, or students who socre right at an 800. According to the state, they have scored on a reading proficiency level for 4th grade, meaning oh, they can read. That's not what we see in the classroom, though. So, test scores are DEFINITELY not a good indicator. Again, it's word of mouth of a great teacher(s) in a great school, experiencing it yourself or other honest people on this forum. For people moving here, unless you know someone, you have to experience a school/school district, not go by data. I think I've made this point before. People don't like to hear that, but, it's true.

I don't have a problem with Forsyth either, it's whatever you like.

[GAisGreat]

Would definately go with Forsyth County. IMHO by far the best overall, well-rounded area for a family. Gwinnett (even the nice areas) has always made me nervous, just because they have so many gang and crime problems there, it's just a matter of time before it spreads to the 'nice areas', just look at Lilburn. I may be wrong, but just my opinion.
East Cobb is very nice, but MUCH MORE expensive than Forsyth. Roswell, Alpharetta, Milton, pretty much everything up 400 is nice also.

[jxu66]

City of Suwanee just had first homicide in 60 years. OMG, that area is really going downhill fast. LOL. Talk about generalization.

[sumiller2000]

Don't know a whole lot about the burbs... Forsyth schools are supposed to be good though.

Do you want to live intown or in the burbs? Do you want small schools or large schools? Do you want a specialized curriculum like IB or Expeditionary Learning or something more traditional?

You can find fantastic schools in lots of different areas - so you can pick the lifestyle you want and then pick the schools.

Let us know what you want lifestyle-wise.

[lastminutemom]

My two cents --

Figure out where you will be working first. A great school can't make up for a parent who commutes two to three hours a day ... and can't attend day time events because the office is to far away.

As others have said, most ATlanta area school districts have their good schools and their not so good schools....