Marvin Ridge, Weddington, or Cuthbertson High School? (Charlotte, Matthews: apartments, rentals)
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Moving to the Charlotte area this summer. Have a daughter that will be entering her senior year of high school. We are looking to rent in an area where she can attend one of these schools (Marvin Ridge, Weddington, or Cuthbertson). As far as I can tell, the towns in these school districts are Waxhaw, Weddington, Matthews, Marvin, and Wesley Chapel.
Is one school better than the other? Recommendations of one town over the others? My husband will be flying out of the Charlotte airport every week--how is the commute? I read that it is difficult to find a house for rent in the Waxhaw area. Is there one area where there are a lot of rental houses available?
Any help you can provide would be appreciated! It's so hard trying to find an area to live when you aren't familiar with the towns/schools, etc... Thanks!
We were in the same situation last year. We moved down in August with our daughter going into her senior year. We chose Cuthbertson and she has had a great experience. I won't lie, it was tough at first. But, she is involved in sports and initially met friends that way. By mid year, she was settled in and she has said that she wished she had been here since 9th grade! I guess that says it all.
Any of the high schools you are looking at would be good choices. As far as rentals, there are plenty in the Waxhaw area that would feed into these high schools.
It is very difficult to rent, however, some people do get lucky. The schools are close in many areas, I would say depending on where you are coming from and what you are used to may help you pick schools better. For example Cuthbertson imo is smaller so if class size matters to you it could be a consideration. If you are looking for certain sports or say certain arts one of the 3 schools may be a better fit. SO we would need a few more details.
Another choice would be Ardrey Kell High school, there are many apartments in that area if you can't rent a house
Thanks for the replies. She plays lacrosse and runs cross country. She isn't good enough that she could get a scholarship but loves the sports just the same. I'm hoping that being on a team right away will help her quickly make a few friends. We will be coming from Michigan. Her current school is ranked 10 on greatschools.org and has about 1500 students, so it is a bit larger than these schools. Smaller class size is definitely a plus!
We have 2 dogs so I don't think an apartment would be appropriate.
Is the commute to the airport about the same for each town? It appears that way on google maps.
There are limited rental possibilities in all 3 of these school districts, as they mostly have only single family homes. All 3 schools are good enough that, if it were me, I would base the decision on 1) wherever you can find the right rental now, and 2) where the best long term housing availability will be - which I would rank as a) Cuthbertson, b) Marvin Ridge, c) Weddington (based on the amount of undeveloped land in each district). Commute to airport will not be significantly different from either of the three areas.
We moved here last July, with one senior and one freshman. My daughter and I toured each of the three high schools, and we let her decide which district she wanted to live in. The curriculum is basically the same in each school (all run by Union County Public Schools), but each has a distinct feel to it. She ultimately chose Cuthbertson - she immediately felt right at home there.
Now that we've been here for nearly a year, it was definitely the right decision for us. Cuthbertson was fabulous - they both made good friends, and we were very happy with their teachers and classes. (The guidance dept leaves a bit to be desired, however, so double check everything they tell you.)
Good luck! We bought a house in Wesley Chapel, and LOVE the area.
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Without any science to figure out best schools in Charlotte area with 2 kids that have attended a couple schools in Union County (CATA, WEDD) and knowing and conversing with many people with HS/college age children (I might mention I have nickname 'mayor' at my local Starbucks) I would say Providence HS is the best in the area. Marvin Ridge and Weddington are virtually a 'dead heat' and great schools. Marvin might have a little more affluent families in their school district (which may be good or bad) and Cuthberson is an excellent school, a little more rural and smaller school. Obviously all schools have small sector that party hardy..talking to a number of parents and teachers from both MR and Wedd, I have heard commented more than once that MR kids have more money to spend on drugs, WEDD tends to stick mainly to alcohol, pot. Fortunately my kids never got involved in drugs, alcohol ad tended to hang with jock crowd. But I am happy to say my son scored 100% on both science&math on PSAT and rarely studies and carries a 4.9 (tooting my own horn) 2011 Top Ranked Public High Schools - Charlotte Magazine - October 2011 - Charlotte, NC
We moved from Michigan that being said we picked Marvin Ridge which has an excellent girls lax team, however it could be hard to make depending on skills. I will say that I highly recommend getting in touch (your daughter not you) with the coach of the school district asap, by email. I believe 110% that this helped my child not just get passed over at tryouts, since she took the opportunity to email the coach, express her wanting to play here and also she wrote about what her summer training was like and askede what they did here so she could "join in right away".
Cuthbertson have less kids trying out for lacrosse. Weddington, may have the same number as Marvin Ridge.
Are you coming from Troy or Bloomfield Hills? Just a guess...anyway I would say in the are marvin Ridge would be closest to that kind of feel. We do have blocks (at the Union County schools you are looking at versus hours) which my kids said is okay but without changing classes every hour, you meet less people.
I believe cross country for all the schools may be a no cut sport. I know Marvin Ridge won some awards for cross country because they announced it at the football game.
I don't think you can do wrong at any. Do ask more questions, and hope this helps some.
My daughter said there are those that party and those that don't you pick the crowd you hang out with.
Great suggestion on my daughter getting in touch with the LAX coach. Thanks! We are coming from Rochester. Regarding the drugs/party scene--I think it is the same, no matter where you live and what school you attend--public, private, boarding, etc. As you all have said--you choose your friends based on your interests.
Rental housing does seem a bit hard to find in the Waxhaw area. I found a lot more rentals available in the Davidson area--in the William Amos Hough High School district. How does Davidson compare to the Waxhaw area? Is there a lot more traffic in Davidson? It seems closer to the airport, which would be a plus for my husband.
Thanks everyone! I really appreciate your responses!
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) I would say Providence HS is the best in the area. Marvin Ridge and Weddington are virtually a 'dead heat' and great schools. Marvin might have a little more affluent families in their school district (which may be good or bad) and Cuthberson is an excellent school, a little more rural and smaller school. Obviously all schools have small sector that party hardy..talking to a number of parents and teachers from both MR and Wedd, I have heard commented more than once that MR kids have more money to spend on drugs, WEDD tends to stick mainly to alcohol, pot. Fortunately my kids never got involved in drugs, alcohol ad tended to hang with jock crowd. But I am happy to say my son scored 100% on both science&math on PSAT and rarely studies and carries a 4.9 (tooting my own horn)
