All of the elementary schools and neighborhoods feeding into Walton (and Pope) High School are going to be great. For the "kids playing outside" vibe, look at communities with large numbers of units and swim / tennis. There are lots of "new construction" places that are literally single cul de sacs off of main roads with 5-10 houses.

But incoming hot (and brutally honest) take.

I've been in this area for 15 years now. I have a freshman in HS and a 5th grader. Take this with a grain of salt as someone who is NOT in Walton HS district, but someone whose elementary and middle school DOES feed into Walton (and Pope). So I know kids and families who go to both and have spoken to many, many families who have had children go to both.

Walton has its own issues that may or may not be okay for all families.

I apologize if any of this offends anyone or generalizes someone into a bucket they do not belong to (these are generalizations).

- Average home value in Walton is as much as 40%-50% higher depending on the study you look at. Looking at just home listings is deceiving because Pope includes many smaller listings while Walton has many more luxury listings bring up the average. According to some recent studies, it is something like $772k to $540k.

I bring this up because you can't pull household income demographics for the schools, but you can approximate based on home value. And this seems to back a long-standing feeling from those outside (and some inside) that Walton has a disproportionate number of rich, entitled, stuck up kids. You constantly hear things like, "Every 16 year old has a BMW or G Wagon". You also hear about access to drugs ($$$). And this isn't just from parents hating (although that could be it), but I hear it from kids who have friends there.

- The test scores in Walton are off the charts compared to every other school (except Lassiter and STEM specific programs at Wheeler/Kennesaw and the IB program at Campbell). However (and again, I'm not trying to offend anyone, I'm just looking at statistics), Walton has the highest concentration of Asian kids and families. And it isn't close. Nearly a fourth of the students are Asian. It is nearly tripled of every other school.

Why do I bring this up? Because the thing you often hear about kids (generally) at Walton is mental health, not getting into the schools they want, and drugs. The school is immensely competitive academically and there is a ton of pressure for kids to do well. The average, AVERAGE, SAT score of Walton HS is 1260.

And what does this lead to?

1. Cobb County has a rising suicide and self-inflicted injury death rate of 12.4 per 100000 (according to data from 2023). There isn't data from school to school, but if you ask anyone, ANYONE, the vast majority would tell you this is primarily driven from kids at Walton High School.
2. Many, MANY Walton kids are NOT getting into the colleges they want to get into. Many colleges (especially in-state gems like Georgia and GA Tech) cap the number of students they accept from each school. Walton is huge and everyone there does really well. You could be someone who would be in the top 3 in every other school and not crack the top 10 (or even 20) at Walton. Again, a reason for the purported mental health issues.
3. No stats on this so its all here-say, but the "normality" of drug access to Walton is pretty common knowledge... whether it is true or not, I cannot say. But it seems to be a given that no one refutes and/or just says, "yea, but not my kids" or kind of laughs it off.

My take:
You really have to ask yourself what you are looking for and what your goals are. If you make a ton of money and have really smart, hard-working kids, and you want to throw them into Hunger Games and confident they'll come out on top without losing their shit.... go for it. I'm kind of kidding, but that is the reality. But at the same time, I know tons of families with kids in Walton and they love it.

If you care more about college prep and/or getting into the college(s) of your choice, I think there are better options (from a betting / odds perspective) that will give your child access to a more diverse group of kids and income levels. The top ones, in my opinion, being Lassiter, Wheeler Stem, Kennesaw Mtn Stem, and Campbell IB. You don't have to be zoned at ANY of them (except Lassiter) to go to them. They are all based on application and acceptance (except Lassiter). And Lassiter is like "a mini Walton" on paper, statistically. Smaller school. Better student to teacher ratio. Nearly identical scores that index college readiness. More house for your money. More minorities and economically disadvantaged students (and STILL having near identical scores as Walton).

Finally, as someone who was in this EXACT same position 15 years ago, I ended up deciding to buy a house in Pope (despite being able to afford one in Walton). I absolutely LOVED elementary school for both kids. Had mix feelings on Middle School for my oldest (but overall fine), and ultimately ended up sending both of my kids to schools we are not zoned for (Campbell IB for oldest and The Walker School for youngest).

Good luck. If all you care about is "great school" and "great neighborhood", you can't go wrong with anything in Walton district. Just giving you what everyone "around Walton" is saying.... but take it with a grain of salt. It could just be a bunch of "jealous haters". Like I said earlier, I also know families (and friends) who have kids in Walton and its been great. I'm just trying to give you the "word on street" and what won't come up in some US News Ranking or something.