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Catalana, that is very encouraging re: public schools. I am in the middle of the book "I am charlotte Simmons" now though and it is making the all girls option really attractive for my dd! UGH! Thanks to you all for the input--the job is acutally a long shot, but knowing how long it takes me to get my stuff together, I need to be exploring now...

Hi Deacongirl.
I'm 99% a lurker here, but I live in Dekalb County, right next to Decatur, so I wanted to throw my 2 cents in.
First, about Dekalb County. Yes, undergoing major changes in redistricting. If you buy in this area, be sure about what school your kids are districted for, don't take the real estate agent's word on it. I would say that individual schools in the county can be very good. However, I do not see a complete feeder pattern that is tops the whole way through (and yes, middle school is often the weak spot, and I think that has to do with the fact that the concept and reality of middle school just sucks and the best one can hope for is a middle school that just sucks less than others.) My kids are in Fernbank Elementary school (near Emory), and my personal observation is that while I've generally been very happy with their experience within the school house, every time I've gotten involved with anyone at the county admin level it has been a complete nightmare. (DS9, in the MG to HG range, has a 504 for dysgraphia.) So I will say that DCSS is possibly NOT a good fit with for a child with disabilities, at least in terms of receiving real services from the county. I would also say that gifted education in DCSS is a bit of a joke (they RIF-ed the county gifted coordinator last year, and that was no big loss). Again, my kids doing well has more to do with the individual elementary school and their personalities than anything the county has done or is doing.

Unfortunately, I would also say the same of Decatur City schools. I have several close friends that are in that city school system, and it is quite good for the average (or even gifted) kid. One, however, has a child with pretty severe dyslexia (and is MG to HG) and her experience in getting a useful IEP in place required being one step from litigation. I don't know how different it would be for a child with Downs Syndrome... the problem seemed to stem from the fact that Decatur City schools refuses to recognize dyslexia... but you would want to talk to head of special education there first (whose name is Pat Kennedy, btw.)

About Padeia. Yup, if I won the lottery tomorrow, that is where I would probably send my kids after elementary school (even though the feeder pattern for Fernbank leads to one of the less sucky middle schools and better high schools). But, I also know a mom whose older kids started at Fernbank, ended up at Paideia (during the last redistricting drama several years ago) and whose younger kids are now back at Fernbank (because multiple kids at Paideia got to be too much $$$). Her opinion was, at the elementary school level at least, that there was no fundamental difference in the quality of education between the 2 schools. That is just one person's opinion, and I don't know anything about her kids, so your mileage may vary.

Wow, this post was just a total Debbie-downer, huh? I guess I just wanted to give you a ground's eye view of this part of Atlanta. My sense of the whole Atlanta area is that many school systems are a hot mess at the county admin level, but that there are individual schools and feeder patterns in many areas that are very good. And there are several very good private schools in the area (including Paideia) but as has been said on these boards many times, you can't assume that they will be better just because they are private.

Last thought... Gwinnett county just won a big national award for the management and achievement of their school system. You could look there, but you would have a sucky commute. I will say, even with all the hassle we've been through at DCSS (and all the hassle my friend has been through with Decatur City schools) we both LOVE the Decatur/Emory area and have worked with (and sometimes against) the schools here because the area and lifestyle is so nice.

I moved from DC to the Atlanta area for the public schools. We live in East Cobb. The schools are incredible - public schools that have the amenities of private (because parents pump a ton of money and resources into them).

We did a ton of research before moving here. Feel free to send me a PM.

There are lots of wonderful private schools and charter schools in ATL, if you want to stay in the city. The cost (for 2 kids) was a little much for us, so we decided on the suburbs.

I came out of East Cobb schools myself. I would also highly recommend them. It, along with Alpharetta, is also one of very few areas which have homes that are holding their value through this major market meltdown.

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So because I have nothing better than to do than to stay up until 2 a.m. researching schools for a move that is a slim possibility, right now, I was very happy to learn about East Cobb schools. Many of my college friends are from Atlanta and the majority came out of the private schools, so I wasn't familiar with East Cobb. I would guess there are very few parts of the country where you could have that level of quality (at least judging by the HS) with a house that we could actually afford.

Drea4545 I would love it if you could pm me with the details on specific schools--and also if you happen have any insight into the elem. school situation for my son who has Down syndrome. I am thinking advocating effectively for dd4 (I think >MG), ds 7, and dd10 (who just scored in the 99% on the English section of Explore) while they are at the same elementary school could be challenging!

Thanks for your help.

deacongirl - replied to your message. Yes, it is sooooo affordable here. DD's school does very well for gifted kids, as well as some special ed services (I do see children in her school with Down Syndrome). My babysitter is highly gifted and attends 8th grade at the middle school- and is doing amazing stuff. Most of her classes are accelerated, and she is attending an overseas program this summer.

We moved to atlanta 7 yrs ago. I have 2 kids, both brainy. In atlanta the best private school , rated number 2 in the world by the way is Westminster. Besides westminster, there is lovett (top notch!), woodward ( kids travel on bus as it is near the airport, very very good school), Pace- small private school, very nice, kind environment. Schenck if child is dyslexic, Atlanta speech school. If you choose the public school route, the best are in cobb county- marietta. All of the private schools require JATP testing, done through child psychologists, try to get this done so you know where your child is and can pick the best school for them.Westminster, pace, lovett, schenck and atlanta speech school are all in buckhead. Good luck!! Hope this helps

This made me chuckle as I always say for commute alone, you would NEVER catch me living north or south of the city on I-85.

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