Schools

Home Park is 'Now in Jeopardy'

Proposed school zone changes are bad for the neighborhood, resident says.

Dear Editor,

Home Park is a unique neighborhood located in the heart of Midtown near Georgia Tech and Atlantic Station. Home Park has many attributes – location, mobility, reasonable housing costs, and excellent school options.  Our families have enjoyed good school options for many years including , and . Young families are moving into and staying in the neighborhood in part because of these top-notch school options. 

Our neighborhood’s future is now in jeopardy with the proposed options for redistricting. All proposed options move our neighborhood out of high-performing Inman Middle and two options move us away from Grady High.  Home Park is opposed to these options for the following reasons:

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  • Historic feeder patterns.  Our neighborhood has historically attended these schools and our families have worked hard to support them.  Families have moved into the neighborhood with the expectation that these would be their schools.
  • Proximity and access.  Home Park is closer to Inman and Grady with easy access directly along 10th Street.  Georgia Tech and a soon-to-be-built stadium create islands between Home Park and the proposed school areas.
  • Safety.  The neighborhoods surrounding the proposed schools are some of the most crime-ridden and do not provide a safe haven for our students.
  • Academics.  Most importantly, the proposed changes would dramatically affect academic offerings.  Our neighborhood serves families, including those attending or working at Georgia Tech, who maintain high academic standards.

Our neighborhood is a diverse community of homeowners and renters including single-family homes, condos, apartments, and student family housing.  We feel it is important to educate all our children to the highest levels possible and we support middle and high school options that continue these high academic expectations.  The current options would not provide that for our families.  The results would set our neighborhood back many years and cost the city significant tax revenues from our 1200 homes.

Home Park recognizes that with the proper time and resources all of Atlanta Public Schools can meet our high academic expectations and we encourage them to work towards that.  We also recognize that decisions must be made in the best interest of all students.  Home Park encourages APS to consider options that keep us in our current schools as we all work together to make Atlanta a wonderful and vibrant family-friendly city.

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Janet Kinard,
Home Park resident


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