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Reading a few threads about cost of living, people will often bring up the point "you'll need to spend X amount of money to be near decent schools".
My question is what qualifies as a decent school? I'm particularly interested in what NC natives consider decent - not just folks from 500+ miles away that simply look at test scores (not that those don't matter!).
For example, would South Point HS be considered decent? Going more rural, what about Cherryville HS, Lincolnton HS or North Gaston HS? Are schools like these considered decent or do you feel a child would be less likely to succeed by attending them?
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Originally Posted by eddiehaskell
Reading a few threads about cost of living, people will often bring up the point "you'll need to spend X amount of money to be near decent schools".
My question is what qualifies as a decent school? I'm particularly interested in what NC natives consider decent - not just folks from 500+ miles away that simply look at test scores (not that those don't matter!).
For example, would South Point HS be considered decent? Going more rural, what about Cherryville HS, Lincolnton HS or North Gaston HS? Are schools like these considered decent or do you feel a child would be less likely to succeed by attending them?
I'm not a native.
South Point is a decent school as is Cherryville. West of Charlotte, the best regular high schools would be North Lincoln & Kings Mountain. I've been suggesting that people who look at eastern Gaston look for placement in the area feeding Stephen Cramer HS because Cramerton Middle School feeds it. This year it will have 9th & 10th grades Highland Tech in Gastonia is highly rated but is a magnet school.
Look at the rankings in US News. It has a list of NC high schools. Some are ranked but all are listed.
Crest & Burns in Cleveland County are also good schools but they are out of range for a commute to Charlotte.
South Point is a decent school as is Cherryville. West of Charlotte, the best regular high schools would be North Lincoln & Kings Mountain. I've been suggesting that people who look at eastern Gaston look for placement in the area feeding Stephen Cramer HS because Cramerton Middle School feeds it. This year it will have 9th & 10th grades Highland Tech in Gastonia is highly rated but is a magnet school.
Look at the rankings in US News. It has a list of NC high schools. Some are ranked but all are listed.
Crest & Burns in Cleveland County are also good schools but they are out of range for a commute to Charlotte.
Thanks for the reply. So where would you (or anyone else that replies) draw the line that separates decent from just flat out bad? Would you say schools like Forestview and Ashbrook are bad (I've heard both are pretty good)? What about Bessemer City or Hunter Huss (I've heard complaints, but I know several successful grads and some of the teachers personally)?
Is it more or less 80% parent/20% school attended in most cases? I went to a small HS that probably ranks below average yet it seems 90% of the kids coming from middle-upper class families went on to do well in life. They didn't hang with a bad crowd, rarely got in trouble and were heavily involved in clubs/student gov/athletics/church.
I've never really heard any locals praise Kings Mtn HS (other than in football), but you're right - it ranks #33 and Lincolnton ranks #35. Apparently, US News only ranks the top 36 schools though. Is Kings Mtn really that much better than Shelby, Cherryville, or Bessemer City which are all within 10 miles?
Last edited by eddiehaskell; 08-22-2014 at 03:34 AM..
Look at the rankings in US News. It has a list of NC high schools. Some are ranked but all are listed.
I spent some time going thru the US News high school rankings. What does it all mean?
The highest ranked school in the metro area was Butler HS in Matthews #5 in NC #861 Nationally
Neither Providence HS, Ardrey Krell HS, or Myers Park HS(these generally touted as the "best" in the metro area on this forum) were ranked in NC, Nationally, or Nationally Recognized
My advise for what it is worth, pick an area you might like to live in, and talk to people in the neighborhood and see if there are satisfied with the public schools.
Maybe a better ranking would be how many are gainfully employed or have a college degree(this does not always mean they are gainfully employed) 6 years after their HS class graduated.
None of our children went to a nationally ranked or nationally recognized HS in Pa.
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Originally Posted by eddiehaskell
Thanks for the reply. So where would you (or anyone else that replies) draw the line that separates decent from just flat out bad? Would you say schools like Forestview and Ashbrook are bad (I've heard both are pretty good)? What about Bessemer City or Hunter Huss (I've heard complaints, but I know several successful grads and some of the teachers personally)?
Is it more or less 80% parent/20% school attended in most cases? I went to a small HS that probably ranks below average yet it seems 90% of the kids coming from middle-upper class families went on to do well in life. They didn't hang with a bad crowd, rarely got in trouble and were heavily involved in clubs/student gov/athletics/church.
I've never really heard any locals praise Kings Mtn HS (other than in football), but you're right - it ranks #33 and Lincolnton ranks #35. Apparently, US News only ranks the top 36 schools though. Is Kings Mtn really that much better than Shelby, Cherryville, or Bessemer City which are all within 10 miles?
Kids can do well in life even when coming from terrible schools. A lot depends on parents.
Huss doesn't have a good reputation now. Bessemer City has the most recent record of being a failure. If someone was looking to move to the area & wanted good schools I would tell them to move to the Cleveland County side of Kings Mountain & leave it at that. If they wanted to move to Cherryville I wouldn't say anything about schools. I have suggested Forestview in the past before the new high school opened. I just don't know where they stand now. I also don't think that Ashbrook is bad. Shelby isn't a bad school either.
School rankings can vary but I suggested that you look at US News because their rankings are similar to other rankings that I've seen. There are several schools in the area that you'd expect to be ranked that are not while some that are ranked may come as a surprise to some.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nacmd70
I spent some time going thru the US News high school rankings. What does it all mean?
The highest ranked school in the metro area was Butler HS in Matthews #5 in NC #861 Nationally
Neither Providence HS, Ardrey Krell HS, or Myers Park HS(these generally touted as the "best" in the metro area on this forum) were ranked in NC, Nationally, or Nationally Recognized
My advise for what it is worth, pick an area you might like to live in, and talk to people in the neighborhood and see if there are satisfied with the public schools.
Maybe a better ranking would be how many are gainfully employed or have a college degree(this does not always mean they are gainfully employed) 6 years after their HS class graduated.
None of our children went to a nationally ranked or nationally recognized HS in Pa.
People ask about schools continually on this board. The only non-subjective answer is school rankings. To varying degrees the rankings lean on test scores. I suggested US News because it's recent & seems to be in the same ballpark as other rankings that I've seen. There are a lot of schools in the area that didn't get ranked. I have no answer for that as I don't work for US News.
If I recall correctly, the highest ranked area school was Highland in Gastonia. The OP asked specifically about schools west of Charlotte I addressed those schools.
Whether right or wrong I think sites like greatschools do seem like the first stop for at least getting an idea on how the schools are. As far as I know their rankings are not subjective and are based primarily on test scores. But most people don't use those as the end-all be-all and will also want to talk to the school as well as other parents.
So that said and hating to break it down to one number, it seems like the line for "decent" IMO is those rated "6," maybe 5, on greatschools. Depends who you ask though of course.
Student performance on educational testing depends greatest on two factors: Parent educational attainment and family income. Those two factors outweigh all other factors combined. The school attendance zones that have the greatest number of high income families and families with high parent educational attainment (factors often overlapping) will have the highest student test achievement.
Student performance on educational testing depends greatest on two factors: Parent educational attainment and family income. Those two factors outweigh all other factors combined. The school attendance zones that have the greatest number of high income families and families with high parent educational attainment (factors often overlapping) will have the highest student test achievement.
Agree. But take a look at the Union County thread and you'll see that many people want their children in schools that are filled with kids whose parents have high incomes and high educational attainment.
Edit: I don't think you need to have a school full of kids like that, but you probably also don't want a school full of impoverished kids either. So in relation to my previous comment and in line with some of the other posts in this thread if your kid is in a school that has an average to slightly above average "score," as long as you are involved in their education they should be (at least) fine.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
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Originally Posted by GoPhils
Agree. But take a look at the Union County thread and you'll see that many people want their children in schools that are filled with kids whose parents have high incomes and high educational attainment.
Edit: I don't think you need to have a school full of kids like that, but you probably also don't want a school full of impoverished kids either. So in relation to my previous comment and in line with some of the other posts in this thread if your kid is in a school that has an average to slightly above average "score," as long as you are involved in their education they should be (at least) fine.
This is true but there's a title one elementary school in Kings Mountain that is a Blue Ribbon school. The parents are poor but involved.
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