public schools

[flea]

These are the public schools in Athens that are in the areas we're looking at houses (mostly, the areas clustered around UGA/downtown). The public schools are set up in a Zone system, so you can apply to any school in your zone, but people living within a half-mile of the school have priority. I have to call and ask some questions, since some addresses don;t fall within a half-mile of any zone. It's also unclear to me if the schools fill up, or have wait lists; the application process is in March and clearly we are coming in late.

Thanks to the GA Dept. of Education, I can get profiles of the schools. Here are some key (to me) stats for the schools (2006-2007) that are near where we're thinking about living:

*Oglethorpe: 453 kids, 95% econ. dis., AYP, ADEQ, 7% white, 52% black, 36% hispanic, has preK
*Chase: 226 kids, 94% econ dis., AYP, ADEQ, 4% white, 42% black, 50% hispanic, has preK
*Barrow: 369 kids, 26% econ dis., AYP, DIST, 68% white, 16% black, 7% asian, 5% hispanic, has preK
*Fourth: 335 kids, 94% econ. dis, AYP, NI-AYP, 3% white, 56% black, 39% hispanic, has preK
*Gaines: 520 kids, 90% econ. dis., no AYP, ADEQ-DNM, 7% white, 76% black, 13% hispanic
*Barnett Shoals: 570 kids, 67% econ. dis, no AYP, ADEQ_DNM, 29% white, 56% black, 5% hispanic
*Whit Davis: 573 kids, 48% econ. dis, AYP, ADEQ, 41% white, 46% black, 3% hispanic

Notice that the two schools that are mostly white kids and mostly not-poor kids are the most successful.

Comments

[calligrafiti.livejournal.com]

Whit Davis looks fairly balanced, racially (a little low on the hispanic end), and has AYP (which I'm assuming means acceptable yearly progress), but I don't know what ADEQ means. And 48% economically disadvantaged seems like there'd be some economic class differences without poverty being as overwhelming as some of the others.

Any idea what the neighborhood around it is like?

[casperflea.livejournal.com]

ADEQ is adequate; DIST is distinguished. The district as a whole is 55% black, 21% white, 15% hispanic, and 70% eligible for free/reduced lunches (!!). As here, a lot of white people send their kids to private schools or live further out (= in another county, so different district; the next county over is 86% white and only 17% eligible for free/reduced lunch).

Whit Davis is in Deep cul-de-sac, alas, but in a zone with some urban sections, and we couple apply to it, but there are transportation issues.

Our preferred targets are Barrow (but we are pretty much priced out of anything but a ranch in the nabe) and Chase, which is in a rapidly gentrifying mostly Victorian nabe, and is on the upswing, going more white and high-income by the year but not yet tipped over into all-rich-folks-alla-time.

Unfortunately, one of my favorite houses is zoned for Fourth Street (Needs improvement) which anecdotally has "safety issues." In an elementary school! Though that may just be code for "in the 'hood."