Midtown High School

I attended Grady for two years (junior and senior) after attending a DeKalb County high school for two years, and the change was unbelievable. Granted, I took 10 AP classes during my time at Grady so my view is not holistic, but I absolutely loved my two years at GHS. I had many, many amazing teachers (notably Nichols for AP Calculus and Pope for AP US History), and I was heavily involved with the school's theatre and chorus programs. Grady students are very passionate about their interests (of which there are many), and the growing culture of academic competitiveness did wonders for my grades. That being said, the administration is kind of a mess and the school is not without its problems, but if you don't go looking for trouble you probably won't run into any.

This intown high school in Atlanta is diverse, offers high rigor to students, and has actively engagement parents. Grady HS is GREAT!

I would not say that Grady is "great" at all... Average is the best that I can give it. Grady is, in no uncertain terms, a mess... Highly disorganized, many of the school decisions fall to the students and parents: administrative decisions that are up to the school. The way in which students mill around, unsupervised... The sense of entitlement that is palpable in the students. The disparity in rigor between subjects. Granted, the college-prep program is pretty good but then again that's a common feature in most high schools today. Then there is the elective system which places emphasis away from the time-tested most important subjects (math, science, social studies and language arts). The pros and cons equal out in a stew of dynamic equilibrium: average.

Our son has truly blossomed at Grady. There are incredible pathway choices where a student can get a taste of multiple possible career paths before even entering college, such as business, law, engineering, medicine, fashion, journalism, Audio/Video, and more. See http://www.atlanta.k12.ga.us/Page/44842 . Strong base curriculum, especially if in AP or Honors classes. Very diverse student body and the hip Midtown setting gives kids lots to do after school within walking distance, such as the Atlanta BeltLine and Ponce City Market.

Grady is State AP Honors school, offering 25 AP courses. It has one of the strongest communications programs in the country. It also has a college prep focus including dual enrollment partnerships and 10 AP STEM courses. Sixteen 2016 seniors received early decision acceptance at Georgia Tech. Four seniors were National Merit Scholars.Grady has 30+ extracurricular academic clubs, including the 7 time state champion debate, 18 time regional champion mock trial (finished 9th nationally 2016), world champion qualifier robotics of 60 students, and national recognized school newspaper, the Southerner. An impressive performing arts/drama program is lead by the 2015 State Teacher of the Year. The music program had 7 chorus students named All-State in 2016. Grady was 1 of 4 schools nationally to win the Kishi Bashi National Music Contest. Marching Band won the 2015 Viewer's Choice national competition. The Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra received a score of Superior from Georgia Music Educators in 2015. Grady has 25 athletic teams including winning tennis (2016 State Elite 8), cross country (80 students), baseball, soccer (boys, girls 2016 State Quaterfinals) , lacrosse, track (2015 Region Champs) water polo, football (2015 State 2nd Round), basketball (2016 State Semifinals) and swimming (2016 City Champs).High achievers have always excelled at Grady. New leadership in 2014 brought a real focus on K-12 planning with feeder schools to raise up students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and early results show it is working.