Best Private Schools in Atlanta – 2023

Across Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb, Gwinnett, Cherokee, Henry, and Forsyth counties (among others) are more than 100 private high schools as well as a number of terrific public options. It’s quite easy to feel a bit overwhelmed as, with such a wealth of options, finding the best high school for your teen in the Greater Atlanta Area is no easy task. As parents, there are a multitude of considerations guiding your decision of which private schools in Atlanta will be best for your child. Ultimately, your decision will need to balance your teen’s academic, emotional, and social needs with financial and logistical considerations. However, College Transitions’ list of the Best Private Schools in Atlanta will focus primarily on our area of expertise—college admissions. As such, we will highlight the job that each of the schools do at sending their graduates on to the region/nation’s premier 4-year schools.

Please note that inclusion on our Best Private Schools in Atlanta list is a selective and criteria-based process. However, the order in which the schools appear is not representative of any further ranking; the numbering is solely intended to enhance the ease of navigating this resource.  All of the schools profiled below have a history of sending graduates to the top colleges in the country. For each of our Best Private Schools in Atlanta, College Transitions will provide you with—when available—each school’s:

• Location
• Tuition (9-12)
• Enrollment (9-12)
• Average SAT Score
• Average ACT Score
• Senior Class Size
• College Admissions Highlights
• Academic Highlights

Without further ado, let’s look at the profiled high schools.

1) Fulton Science Academy

Location: 3035 Fanfare Way, Alpharetta, GA 30009

Tuition (9-12): $14,250

Enrollment (seniors): 34

Average SAT Score: 1309

Average ACT Score: 29

College Admissions Highlights:

In the last three years, students have enrolled at each of the following colleges: UC Berkeley, Brown, Georgia Tech, UChicago, UMich, Georgetown, UCLA, USC, MIT, Johns Hopkins, NYU, and King’s College London.

Academic Highlights:

• 5:1 student-to-teacher ratio.
• 88:1 counselor-to-teacher ratio.
• 100% of students participate in AP exams; the pass rate is 91%.
• There are 19 AP offerings.
• Fulton had 2 National Merit Finalists in 2021.

2) Pace Academy

Location: 966 W Paces Ferry Rd NW, Atlanta, GA 30327

Tuition (9-12): $34,720

Enrollment (9-12): 475

Average SAT Score: 1341

Average ACT Score: 30

College Admissions Highlights:

Over the past four years, multiple students have matriculated in: NYU (3), Northwestern (6), Duke (3), Brown (4), Boston College (5), Tulane (16), UMich (10), Notre Dame (4), Vanderbilt (6), Princeton (3), Georgia Tech (20), Yale (2), and Wake Forest (18).

Academic Highlights:

• The Class of 2021 included 7 National Merit Commended Scholars, five Semifinalists, and five Finalists.
• 81% of faculty possesses an advanced degree.
• 83% of students score a 3 or above on AP exams; 53% score a 4 or 5.
• Students apply to an average of seven colleges and matriculated into 57 different colleges last year.

3) The Westminster Schools  

Location: 1424 W Paces Ferry Rd NW, Atlanta, GA 30327

Tuition (9-12): $34,106

Enrollment (Pre-First-12): 1,870

Median SAT Score: 1440

Median ACT Score: 33

College Admissions Highlights:

Between 2018-2022, multiple students attended highly-selective schools such as: UNC Chapel Hill (28), UMich (16), WashU (20), Penn (24), Georgetown (16), UVA (48), Washington & Lee (21), Wake Forest (20), UT Austin (22), Stanford (16), Dartmouth (18), and Harvard (10).

Academic Highlights:

• 23 AP courses are offered.
• 75% participate in athletics; there are 60 total clubs.
• 37% are students of color.
• There were 175 AP Scholars in the Class of 2021.
• The Class of 2021 also contained 29 National Merit Finalists and Semifinalists.

4) The Galloway School

Location: 215 Chastain Park Ave NW, Atlanta, GA 30342

Tuition (9-12): $31,150

Enrollment (seniors): 84

Mid-50% SAT Score: 1275-1415 (most recent available)

Mid-50% ACT Score: 25-33 (most recent available)

College Admissions Highlights:

From 2017-2021, students headed to the following schools in large numbers: WashU (8), UGA (16), Carnegie Mellon (5), Georgia Tech (16), Cornell (3), Emory (13), UMiami (11), and Wake Forest (7).

Academic Highlights:

• 78% of the faculty have advanced degrees.
• The Class of 2021 applied to 184 different colleges.
• 8:1 student-to-teacher ratio.
• 17 AP courses are available.

5) The Lovett School

Location: 4075 Paces Ferry Rd NW, Atlanta, GA 30327

Tuition (9-12): $33,500

Enrollment (senior): 146

Mid-50% SAT Score: 1260-1440

Mid-50% ACT Score: 27-33

College Admissions Highlights:

Recent Lovett grads have matriculated into: UVA, Georgia Tech, UNC Chapel Hill, the University of Michigan, Cornell, Santa Clara, Auburn, and the University of South Carolina.

Academic Highlights:

• Representatives from 150+ colleges visit campus every year.
• 86% overall AP pass rate.
• Lovett has produced 161 AP Scholars.
• 21 AP courses are offered.

6) The Paideia School

Location: 1509 S Ponce De Leon Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30307

Tuition (9-12): $$29,151

Enrollment (seniors): 113

Average SAT Score: Not Reported

Average ACT Score: Not Reported

College Admissions Highlights:

From 2021-2-22, multiple Paideia students have matriculated into: Brown (3), MIT (2), UCLA (3), Barnard (2), Northeastern (5), Colgate (2), NYU (5), USC (3), WashU (5), Georgia Tech (11), Yale (4), Wesleyan (3), and Georgetown (2).

Academic Highlights:

• 65% of faculty possess advanced degrees.
• 13-23% of recent classes have earned National Merit distinction.
• 7:1 student-to-faculty ratio.
• AP courses are offered in biology, chemistry, physics, statistics, calculus AB, and calculus BC.
• 113 students from the Class of 2022 enrolled in 67 different colleges.

7) The Walker School

Location: 700 Cobb Pkwy N, Marietta, GA 30062

Tuition (9-12): $27,170

Enrollment (3-12): 866

Average SAT Score: Not Reported

Average ACT Score: Not Reported

College Admissions Highlights:

Recent grads have attended the University of Florida, UGA, Duke, Northeastern, Johns Hopkins, Swarthmore, Cornell, Vanderbilt, Emory, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Purdue, Bowdoin, Northwestern, and UT Austin. More than one 2022 grad attended Georgia Tech and William & Mary.

Academic Highlights:

• The Walker School runs three international exchange programs.
• 26 AP courses are offered.
• 100% of graduates attend college.
• Through campus visits and representatives coming to The Walker School, 115 colleges interact with students each year.

8) Atlanta International School

Location: 2890 N Fulton Dr NE, Atlanta, GA 30305

Tuition (9-12): $30,510

Enrollment (seniors): 105

Average SAT Score: Not Reported

Average ACT Score: Not Reported

College Admissions Highlights:

Members of the Class of 2022 matriculated into 56 different universities including: Babson College, Boston University, Claremont McKenna, Columbia, Emory, GWU, Georgia Tech, Middlebury, NYU, Northeastern, Tufts, UGA, USC, Wake Forest, and Yale.

Academic Highlights:

• Offers a full IB Diploma Program.
• Students are matched with industry partners for summer internships.
• 91% of recent grads earned the IB Diploma.
• There are 90 nationalities represented within the student community.

9) Woodward Academy

Location: 1662 Rugby Ave, College Park, GA 30337

Tuition (9-12): $32,400

Enrollment (Pre-K-12):

Average SAT Score: Not Reported

ACT Score: Not Reported

College Admissions Highlights:

Over the past few years, Village School graduates have gone on to attend schools such as Cornell, Columbia, Brown, Harvard, Kenyon, Middlebury, Rice, RISD, Tufts, the United States Military Academy, UVA, Yale, Penn, and Wellesley.

Academic Highlights:

• 25 AP classes are offered.
• Last year’s grads earned $20 million in scholarships.
• 7:1 student-to-faculty ratio.
• More than 100 student organizations are available.
• Over 80% of faculty hold an advanced degree.

10) Pinecrest Academy

Location: 955 Peachtree Pkwy, Cumming, GA 30041

Tuition (9-12): $39,290

Enrollment (seniors): 31

Mid-50% SAT Score: 1070-1270

Mid-50% ACT Score: 22-29

College Admissions Highlights:

In the last 15 years, Boston University, Carnegie Mellon, Davidson, Duke, Emory, Georgetown, Grinnell, Harvard, MIT, Northwestern, Princeton, UChicago, Penn, USC, UVA, Villanova, and WashU.

Academic Highlights:

• 40% of the Class of 2022 earned a GPA above a 4.0.
• 83% of students take at least one AP class.
• There are 22 AP tests offered.
• Since 2007, the school has produced 4 National Merit Finalists and 21 Commended Scholars.
• 56% of high school faculty members have advanced degrees.

 

We hope you found our blog on private schools in Atlanta to be helpful. All high school students and families may wish to explore further information regarding the college search and admissions process at our Dataverse, Blog, and List-Building Tool.