Five north Fulton schools are among the top 20 highest scoring schools in the state, with Northview High School at No. 3 with an average score of 1751, Chattahoochee High School at No. 6 with 1694, Alpharetta High School at No. 8 with 1679, Milton High School at No. 12 with 1659 and Roswell High School at No. 14 with 1645.

“It’s easy to go up and down each year and question your tactics, but when you have consistent improvement for five consecutive years, you know you’re on the right track,” said Tim Duncan, principal of Chattahoochee High. “The results validate our staff’s commitment to professional development and confirm our student’s dedication to reaching our high expectations.”

In north Fulton, some schools also reported increases from the previous year. Johns Creek High School, which experienced a jump in students taking the test, posted a 35-point gain while five other schools also reported increases.

Northview High School had a 19-point gain, Roswell High School gained nine points, Chattahoochee High gained seven points and Milton High saw a five point gain.

“The Milton community is dedicated to preparing our students for college and beyond. The SAT plays a vital role in empowering our students to get into the college of their choice. One of five objectives in Milton’s School improvement plan focuses on resources and implementation strategies on increasing Milton’s SAT mean score,” said Milton High principal Clifford Jones.

“Another contributing factor of Milton’s rising SAT average is based on the financial commitment of the Fulton County School Board to allocate money so that all students in grades nine through 12 can take the PSAT every year.”

Fulton County’s SAT score averages exceeded not only the state but the nation.

The county’s average was 1560, while the state’s was 1445 and the nation’s was 1500.

Fulton Science Academy High School showed an 81-point increase in its score. The school has a much smaller number of students taking the SAT than most but continues to deliver gains each year.

“It’s exciting to see data that validates what we already know, that Fulton County high schools are doing a good job preparing our students,” Superintendent Robert Avossa said in a statement. “Although tests don’t give a complete picture of school success, SAT scores are a way we can measure ourselves against our state and national peers. This information helps us see that our students are doing as well as, if not better than other students across the country.”

Source: Rachel Kellogg, Roswell Neighbor

Copy of the listing #4250855 into our Home Search engine to view the home. 265 Foxley Way, Roswell GA 30075 came on the market with a price tag of $420,000. The upgrades are numerous. Fantastic brick on three sides, large updated kitchen, finished terrace and flat backyard. The community is currently zoned to Mountain Park Elementary which is typically considered one of the best in the area.

In my opinion this home is worthy of our All-Star designation- 615 Glendalough Court, Milton GA 30004 came on the market this morning for $469,000. It has five bedrooms with four full bathrooms plus an additional half bath. Terrific lot with level yard and a great setting. The kithchen is sizable. The terrace level is well finished and the sunroom tops off a very solid if not spectacular new listing

Unbeknownst to me, the client started to open up their area of interest to other parts of Roswell including the Mountain Park and Roswell North Elementary districts. They started to go online to some of the search sites like Zillow and Trulia among others. After a month or so they sent me a list of eight homes they wanted to see. We set a time and I went to the office to begin scheduling. There was only one small problem. Of the eight homes, only one was still currently active on the market. Three had pending offers, a couple has been sold and a couple has been withdrawn from the market.

Here’s the rub and this is what all home buyers should know but few do- online search sites like Zillow, Trulia, Redfin etc etc the list goes on and on have  information that is 100% populated by individual agents. They are not linked directly to the listing services. Agents are more than happy to enter the information on these sites to advertise when a home is first listed. But once the home has an offer or is sold or is taken off the market there is no incentive to update their posts with the new information.

Let me say it again, these sites are not tied directly to the listing service- FMLS/MLS. Agents are required to update their listing information in the listing service. So, it becomes the only source for accurate information.

If you are a serious home buyer you must get tied in directly to the listing service. A good way to do this is to search for homes via an agent or brokerage website. My website is an example of an agent website where my home search link is tied in directly to FMLS. Or, a site like RE/MAX or some similar brokerage firm. The BEST way to do this is set up a Buyer Gateway/Organic Search which will notify you immediately of any changes to your market of interest including new homes on the market, sells and withdrawns.

Of special interest are some of the cities’ newest projects and facilities.

“We are getting ready to begin renovation of the Bethwell Community Center,” said Milton’s director of Parks and Recreation, Cyndee Bonacci. “This is a building built in the early 1950s that has been used over the years for community gatherings, meetings, family functions and programs.”

The renovation project to the 1,300 sq ft building on Hopewell Road should be awarded in early April and should be complete by late May, Bonacci said.

The city is negotiating agreements with the county Board of Education to allow scheduled use of Hopewell Middle School, Birmingham Falls Elementary and Cogburn Woods Elementary for parks and recreation programs and activities.

The city is working on an agreement to develop a two-acre city park on school-owned land between Crabapple Crossing Elementary and Northwestern Middle School. This park will be used by the schools during the school day and be available to the public outside of school hours. The park will be maintained by the City of Milton.

The city also recently purchase a one acre parcel at the corner of Deerfield Parkway and Webb Rd for a pocket park. Other upcoming capital improvements include additional Bell Memorial Park improvements and trail implementation.

In Alpharetta, a Wills Park baseball field and a multi-purpose field at North Park are being transformed into synthetic turf fields.

“Wills Park Youth Baseball Association is planning opening day festivities on March 26 to celebrate the opening of the new field,” said Lisa Cherry, deputy director of Alpharetta recreation and parks.

During the winter, the disc golf course at Wills Park was redesigned to enhance course playability and provide a safer environment for all park users.

“It has been a big hit with disc golf players,” Cherry said.

Construction on a .8 mile extension on the north end of Big Creek Greenway continues, Cherry said, and it may be open by summer. The trail will extend from Webb Bridge Road north to Marconi Drive off of Windward Parkway.

One of the most popular recreational features in Roswell, the Riverside Park Sprayground, had more than 40,000 visitors last year.

“So we constructed another sprayground at East Roswell Park. Both will open Memorial Day weekend,” said Bobbie Daniels, public relations coordinator for the Recreation and Parks Department.

The Roswell Alpharetta Mountain Bike Association has constructed pump tracks at Big Creek Park.

Additionally, an outdoor sand volleyball court has been built off Riverside Road along the Riverwalk.

Source: Roswell Neighbor – Joan Durbin

Executive Director of Operational Planning Yngrid Huff, who is overseeing the process of rezoning due to the construction of a new high school in Milton, presented the three alternatives, but said the final map presented for School Board approval would most likely be a hybrid of the three maps.

“I can almost guarantee that in round three we will not have one of the alternative maps,” she said. None of the elementary school boundaries have been altered.

According to Huff, the first of the three proposed maps reflects the desire of many parents to create direct feeds from middle schools into high schools, so students will not be separated from the classmates they know.

But Huff said Plan A does not solve many of the overcrowding problems because the new high school at Bethany Bend will not come close to meeting its capacity, but she said, “We wanted to make sure we give you that as an option.”..

Plan B would cause the northern potion of Roswell High School’s zone to end up in Milton High School’s zone, and the eastern half of the Milton high zone would become the new school’s zone.

Plan C would place a small portion of Roswell High’s zone in the Centennial High zone, the northern portion of Roswell High’s one in the Milton High Zone and the northern portion of the Milton High zone in the new high school’s zone. Plan C would also affect all three high schools in Johns Creek and Alpharetta High.

Huff said traffic in North Fulton was a major concern addressed in parent comments from the first meeting, and the maps reflect consideration of those worries.

The meeting, which had about 1,500 attendees, gained a larger turnout than the first meeting, which only had about 400 parents, students and other community members in attendance.

Though all changes will take affect in August of next year, the recommended redistricting map will be presented to the school board in May and will be voted on in June.

For community members who missed the meeting, the maps can be viewed at www.fultonschools.org/redistricting.

Both Huff and District 2 School Board Member Katie Reeves, who addressed the crowd, encouraged parents to stay involved in the process and get their neighbors involved as well.

“We need to hear from you,” Reeves said

The final meeting is April 13 from 7 to 9 pm at Alpharetta High, 3595 Webb Bridge Road, Alpharetta.

Source: Roswell Neighbor, Rachel Kellogg

Nine of last year’s award-winners made a repeat appearance on the 2011 list, while three newcomers — Johns Creek High, Tri-Cities High and Westlake High — are recognized for math and science achievement.

“It’s wonderful to see that our list of AP Honor School is growing. We place a high value on Advanced Placement classes and the preparation they provide students,” said Fulton County School Superintendent Cindy Loe. “The courses challenge our high-achieving students to push themselves and meet college-level expectations.”

The 2011 AP Honor awards are based on the Class of 2010′s testing results and are grouped into five categories:

AP Challenge Schools
* Fulton Science Academy High School (Alpharetta)
AP Challenge School is a distinction that recognizes schools with fewer than 900 students offering AP courses in the four core content areas: English, Math, Science and Social Studies.

AP Access and Support Schools
* North Springs Charter High School (Sandy Springs)
AP Access and Support Schools work hard to make AP courses available to students of all backgrounds; at least 30% of these schools’ African-American and Hispanic test-takers score a 3 or higher on national AP exams.

AP Merit Schools
* Alpharetta High School
* Centennial High School (Roswell)
* Chattahoochee High School (Johns Creek)
* Milton High School
* North Springs Charter High School
* Northview High School (Johns Creek)
* Riverwood International Charter School (Sandy Springs)
* Roswell High School
AP Merit Schools recognizes those with at least 20% of students taking AP exams, at least half of whom earn a score of 3 or higher. Fulton County had the most AP Merit Schools of any school system in Georgia.

AP STEM Schools
* Alpharetta High School
* Centennial High School
* Chattahoochee High School
* Johns Creek High School
* Milton High School
* North Springs Charter High School
* Northview High School
* Riverwood International Charter School
* Roswell High School
* Tri-Cities High School (East Point)
* Westlake High School (Atlanta)
STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics; students in these schools test in at least two AP math and two AP science courses.

AP STEM Achievement Schools
* Alpharetta High School
* Centennial High School
* Chattahoochee High School
* Johns Creek High School
* Milton High School
* North Springs Charter High School
* Northview High School
* Riverwood International Charter School
* Roswell High School
The AP STEM Achievement Schools have 40% of their AP math and science test-takers earn scores of 3 or higher.

Advanced Placement courses offer rigorous college-level learning options to high school students.

The College Board administers AP exams every spring, with scores ranging from 1 to 5. Students who receive a 3 or higher on AP exams are eligible to receive college credit or may be exempt from some introductory college courses.

Source: GA Department of Education & 11alive.com

Without a doubt, the biggest change happened recently when I decided to move the new listings report and discussions off line by creating an opt-in system. Prior to this, each morning I created a blog post with a link anyone could use to access new homes for sale in Roswell and North Fulton as well as a brief discussion on a featured home for sale or other items to look for. For a number of reasons I decided it was best to move this discussion off-line. Use the “New Listing” link above to learn about the new system and how to participate.

That’s the bad news, what about some good news? The good news is that as we move into the new year and Spring arrives I will be adding a lot of new content. The “Subdivision Videos” link has been a great source of information for home buyers in Roswell, Alpharetta and Milton. I have a large number of subdivisions already covered but there is still much more to do- especially in Milton, Alpharetta and Johns Creek. Plus, some of the older videos that were shot with a non-HD camera need to be replaced by HD video. All in all, if you are interested in this area I want you to be able to come to this site and find information on any community which would include descriptions, high definition video and homes for sale etc.

New visitors to the site will also begin to see new video blog entries from me discussing a range of real estate topics related to new construction, investing, negotiations etc. I will be adding new videos throughout the year. There will be fewer blog entries than before but my hope is that the quality of each post will be high.

Finally, I will continue to update the blog with local news and information of interest. Please feel free to call or email with any questions.

That is the highest mark since June which also marked the end of the home buyer tax credit and peak buying season in most years.

It is difficult to portray the national perspective since I only focus on the local areas I cover. However, the national picture is a little more gloomy in my opinion. Home prices in Atlanta have been relatively stable in popular price points from 200-400k especially. The fact remains though that there is still tremendous inventory available and it only stands to get worse as distressed properties continue to flood the market.

Locally, the Roswell and North Fulton market activity has spiked in early 2011. The traffic to this website has increased significantly starting in January which will mark the highest volume to the site in its short history. My gut feeling is that many people have finally caught on to how low mortgage rates are and have put plans in motion to take advantage in addition to those researching relocations for the Spring.

Understandably, it is incredibly slow right now with new homes for sale in Roswell. Only four new listings today all in Roswell and unfortunately only one currently has a picture. If you are wondering, this is not atypical for brand new listings. Many agents post the listing and then post pictures later. This is not a good business practice though since the most serious home seekers will be set up on a gateway page or email notice to see new homes immediately.

There is a short sale to keep an eye on. Four bedrooms and four full bathrooms. It is a smaller community right off of King Rd near Cox Road.

Feel free to let me know at any point if you are ready to graduate to an organic search/ buyer gateway where you can save listings, comment and manage a home search as opposed to these listing emails which don’t allow you to sort the homes etc.