One of the most important decisions affecting your new Atlanta address is choosing a new school community for your child. Public school attendance zones and commuting distances often dictate where new families relocate in the metro area. The following education guide helps you navigate Atlanta’s rich school offerings. You’ll find information on choosing public and private schools, advice from the state superintendent of schools and cutting-edge programs.

Atlanta’s Educational Landscape
When it comes to choosing a new school for your child, there’s no shortage of options in the metro area. Atlanta’s public school systems and private schools offer parents ample choices. Within the public school systems parents can choose from traditional neighborhood schools, charter schools and magnet schools. Charter schools are public schools of choice—they are free from many of the regulations of traditional public schools, but they must follow the terms of their charter, state school laws and local and state board of education rules. Many charter schools have a curriculum focus, such as fine arts or science and math, or they may incorporate a specific teaching method. Magnet programs are public schools offering a concentration in a specific subject or learning program. Students must meet certain criteria, but enrollment is assigned by a lottery.

The private school community offers a spectrum of choices to suit the needs of every student. Parents can choose from religious-affiliated schools, Montessori schools, schools for special needs students and non-sectarian schools.

Innovative School Programs
Atlanta area schools lead the state in performance standards and academic achievement. Many schools have branched out to create enriching programs to challenge students’ minds. Here’s a sampling of the innovations taking place in metro area public and private schools.

Bear Creek Middle School, Fairburn
As a NASA Explorer School, Bear Creek Middle School offers a program inviting students to complete research investigations on NASA missions and research. Students explore aerospace, reduced gravity, robotics, plant growth in space and living and working in space.

Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School, Atlanta
The Program for Global Citizenship at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School is a three-year curriculum option for rising sophomores focusing on international studies. Students are enrolled in comparative religion, world literature, environmental science, foreign language and more. Holy Innocents’ also has an extensive laptop program. The school’s fifth- through 12th-grade students are furnished with MacBooks featuring classroom and extracurricular applications and programs. With this program, Holy Innocents’ has more laptops on campus than any other school in America. hies.org

Lovett School, Atlanta
The Lovett School has a formal relationship with Georgia Shakespeare, an Atlanta-area theater company. Juniors and seniors meeting specific criteria can apply for Georgia Shakespeare internships in carpentry, dramaturgy, stage management, lighting, sound, marketing, company management, front-of-house, box office, event planning and education. lovett.org

Mount Pisgah Christian School, Johns Creek
Mt. Pisgah’s iQuest program targets students who are pursuing a passion—professional golf, tennis, dance and other time-consuming pursuits. Iquest is a shortened day program, which frees students up to attend practices, tournaments or performances. Caroline Price, an iQuest participant, recently won a national tennis tournament. experiencepisgah.org

Mt. Bethel Christian Academy, Marietta
Mt. Bethel’s third- through sixth-grade students are required to participate in a Latin program to strengthen their language skills. In another progressive move, Mt. Bethel offers Mandarin Chinese classes after school. mtbethelchristian.org

Sixth Grade Academy, Marietta
Thanks to a partnership with Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, students at Marietta City Schools’ Sixth Grade Academy can work in a new technology lab. The lab is designed specifically for engineering projects. The school’s partnership with Lockheed has welcomed engineers into the classroom to serve as role models and assist students.

Atlanta’s Largest Private Schools
The metro area’s private school offerings are diverse and plentiful. Here’s a listing of the top 10 largest private schools, ranked by enrollment:

Source: Atlanta Business Chronicle

5 Steps to Choosing a Private School

• Involve Your Child in the Decision
  You will make the final call, but discussing your child’s needs and wants will help them with the transition to the their new school. Use this information to create a list of potential schools.
• Narrow Down Your Choices
  Choose 10 to 15 schools that have the curriculum, extracurricular activities and enrichment opportunities you and your child are searching for. Request brochures, videos and an application from the schools on your list.
• Schedule a Tour
  A website and brochure can only say so much. Schedule a tour at your top three to five schools—it will help you make the best decision.
• Evaluate and Decide
  Review the notes from your tours, and ask for parental references from your top three schools. Talk with your child for their insight and evaluate the financial requirements. Pick the school that best meets your family’s needs.
• Complete the Admissions Process
  Applying to Atlanta’s private schools can be a bit competitive, so consider applying to more than one school. Have your child’s academic records on hand, and ask for a few letters of recommendation from former teachers.

Testing Students
Standardized Tests and Assessments for Atlanta Students
School is not just reading, writing and arithmetic these days—it’s about testing too. Below is a listing of standardized tests your child may encounter throughout their educational career in the metro area.

Advanced Placement (AP) Tests
AP classes are college-level courses offering public and private high school students more rigorous coursework in specific subjects. Optional subject-specific AP exams are given at the end of the school year and graded by the College Board. Many colleges either award college credit for passing the exams or allow a student to be exempt from certain courses.
Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT)
This test measures student performance on abilities related to success in school subjects. Schools can use the CogAT to select students for the Gifted and Talented program.
Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT)
Public school students in grades first through eighth take the CRCT to measure their knowledge of the curriculum. The test measures students’ strengths and weaknesses.
End-of-Course Testing (EOCT)
Georgia’s public school students take the End-of-Course Test (EOCT) after completing courses in algebra 1, geometry, U.S. history, economics, biology, physical science, 9th grade literature and composition, and American literature and composition. Testing results are used for diagnostic, remedial and accountability purposes to gauge the quality of education in the state and also count as part of the student’s final grade in the course.
High School Graduation Test
All public school students seeking a high school diploma must pass the Georgia High School Graduation Test consisting of four content areas, as well as the Georgia High School Writing Assessment. These assessments ensure that students qualifying for a diploma have mastered core academic content and skills. The test is administered in 11th grade.
Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS)
The Iowa Tests of Basic Skills are norm-referenced tests. Georgia law mandates that a nationally norm-referenced test, such as the ITBS, be administered annually to students in grades three, five and eight. The purpose of a norm-referenced test is to obtain information about the performance of Georgia’s students and compare it with that of students in a national sample. The results are used for evaluation, decision-making and instructional improvement.
Middle Grade Writing Assessment (MGWA)
The MGWA consists of an evaluation of a student’s response to an assigned topic. Students decide the type of writing that best suits their knowledge of and interest in the writing topic.
Preliminary Scholastic Assessment Test (PSAT)
Most 10th graders in public and private high schools administer the PSAT in the fall as a preparation for college entrance exams.
Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) and American College Testing (ACT)
The SAT and ACT are the two recommended college entrance exams. Most students will take one or both of these tests during their junior and senior years.

A Conversation with Kathy Cox
In Georgia, the authority on the state of our schools is Kathy Cox, the State Superintendent of Schools. Under her leadership, metro area schools have led the charge in improving student performance. She offers advice to newcomer parents in the following interview with KNOWAtlanta.

Q. What characteristics should new residents look for in their new school system?

A. The answer to this question is different depending on the family, their student and their specific situation. Obviously, it’s important to look at achievement data for all students and for individual groups of students. The State Report Card can be viewed at gaosa.org/FindASchool.aspx?PageReq=106&StateId=ALL.

Of course, parents need to look at more than test scores and ask the question: “Does this school have what my child needs?” They need to determine whether the school has the programs, activities and supports that their child needs and wants. The best way to do this is to visit the school and sit down for an honest conversation with the principal. Most principals will take the time to meet prospective parents on short notice.

Q. What innovations are Georgia teachers using in classroom instruction?

A. You don’t have enough room in the magazine to list all of the innovations going on in Georgia classrooms! In Georgia, we are giving our schools and school systems the freedom and flexibility they need to be innovative. Every child learns differently and classroom teachers need to be able to meet the needs of each individual child.

Our teachers are outstanding at incorporating technology into the classroom. In fact, Georgia was recently rated best in the nation when it comes to the use of technology in the classroom (2009 Technology Counts report by Education Week). Our teachers embrace 21st-century teaching techniques, but combine them with an old-fashioned work ethic.

One innovative statewide program is the Georgia Virtual School, which allows students at any school across Georgia to take classes in order to get ahead or catch up. Even if a school doesn’t have enough students to offer a Japanese class or AP Calculus course, a student can take the class online through the Georgia Virtual School.

Q. Please share some recent success stories from Atlanta’s public schools.

A. There are many success stories coming out of schools in metro Atlanta and around Georgia, and I couldn’t just mention one or two. Needless to say, we are proud that more students are mastering our more rigorous standards and more students than ever are leaving high school college-and-career-ready. We are also seeing more and more innovative ideas in action, such as career academies, unique charter schools and other cutting-edge programs.

  One clear indicator of Georgia’s educational excellence is that our educators continue to win some very high profile national awards. For instance, Georgia has had the National High School Principal of the Year for the past two years—Mark Wilson from Morgan County in 2009 and Molly Howard from Jefferson County in 2008. Also in 2009, Beverly Hall, leader of the City of Atlanta public schools, was named the National Superintendent of the Year and Julie Hartline, from Cobb County, was named the National School Counselor of the Year.