Compare Charlotte schools to Little Rock or Houston? (Matthews, Weddington: wedding, school district)

[from-littlerock]

I am considering a move to Charlotte from Little Rock (LR). Relo is a difficult thing to evaluate so I hope to get some relative perspective from someone who has lived in both places fairly recently.

The quality of the public schools system is very important to us.

I've been in LR for just 2 years, but gotta leave because the public school system is appalling. We are definite school snobs, but not enough budget for private schools. I have 2 middle schoolers. We moved to LR from Houston where the schools were pretty darn good in retrospect.

Many LR locals said (& still say) good things about the local schools. But their kids have never been in a different school system; they have no relative comparison. The schools look completely different to us. I've decided the best evaluation for us is a *relative comparison* of schools from different areas.

Anyone have any input on the relative quality of Charlotte's best public middle & high schools as compared to Little Rock or Houston's Klein school district?

Please help me with some quality input. This is hard. But very important.

I will be visiting the area 12/7 & 8. Wish me luck!

[topchief1]

I have no insight into whether or not the schools here are good, but please keep one thing in mind. The grass is always going to be greener on the other side, no matter where you are.

[Jenna5326]

Let me know what you find out!

My kids are in Klein ISD right now and we are looking to move after January to Charlotte. We want the same level of schools that we have now.

I'm sure like any city there are good and bad areas, it is hard to find the right one!

[Atlwarrior]

But Charlotte is much larger than Little Rock, and Houston much larger than Charlotte. I think a comparision would be silly.

[avagates]

That depends on what areas in each city you are speaking about. I lived in the Woodlands in Houston for over 10 years. The schools are very good there as well as in Sugarland. Depending on the different areas of Charlotte some of the school would be comparable. It is best to check out school ratings of the area you choose.

[CharlotteNCRepublican]

GreatSchools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community

This site will help you a lot.

I can't really say what elementary schools are the best based off memory (I went to high school in Charlotte, but thats about it), but I can give you an idea of a good area based on what high schools are good.

Ardrey Kell High School (South Charlotte/Ballentyne)
Providence High School (South Charlotte/Pineville-Matthews road)

AKHS is rated a 10 on greatschools, and PHS is rated a 9. (Out of a 1-10 scale).

[ex-burgher]

I don't think one could make a blanket comparison about schools Each city will have a selection of good schools as well as mediocre and terrible ones.

[GoPhils]

Not saying these rankings are the be-all, end-all, but may provide a semi-decent comparison between different states: America

Charlotte metro (about 1.75 million people):
Weddington #416
Ardrey Kell #469
Providence #643
(some will probably argue Marvin Ridge will make this list soon but I think is too new? Did some of their students come from Weddington?)

Houston metro (about 6 million people) (tried to google map some of these places but forgive me if I left out other schools considered to be in their metro as I'm not familiar with the area):
Andrew Carnegie Vanguard #13
Westlake Academy #18
Eastwood Academy #72
Debakey High School for Health Professions #75
Houston? School for the Performing and Visual Arts #162
Seven Lakes #277
Memorial #307
Cinco Ranch #354
The Woodlands College Park #382
Clear Horizons Early College #401
Harmony Science Academy #404
Westchester Academy for International Studies #414
Bellaire #439
Challenge Early College #446
Kipp Houston #522
Cypress Woods #536
James E. Taylor #599
Yes Prep North Central Campus #611
The Woodlands #626
Clear Lake #634
Stratford #700
Glenda Dawson #805
Yes Prep Southeast #862
Mirabeau Lamar #883
Dulles #950
Clear Creek #951
Friendswood #952
Mount Carmel Academy #957
Cypress Ranch #969

Little Rock metro (about 700,000 people):
Little Rock Central #810

So obviously Houston is a much bigger metro, and they snuck quite a few schools on the list between 950-1000, but there does seem to be a lot of good schools there (edit: although I don't think any schools in the "Klein" district mentioned in the OP made the list). I also think it's a little strange that they include charter/magnet type schools on these lists, which it appears a number of the Houston ones are.

[CharlotteNCRepublican]

Great post. Much more helpful then mine. Glad I was right about my high school alma mater! (Ardrey Kell)