South Brunswick County Schools - how good? (Charlotte, Wilmington: middle school, college)

[al wood]

I would stay in Jersey until they graduate. Seriously, we are from the metro area of NYC and the schools here lack the caliber that you and I are used to. However, your kids will bring up the local GPA and be the top in their class no matter how bad they may be in your Jersey school. And I mean that... Really, schools here in the Southport area have not met the state standard, which is lacking, but that is another story, and parents have been given the option to move their children to other locations. I wouldn't jeopardize your children's education if you can wait it out a few years. You really need to check out the records. You can start with the local paper, which is the State Port Pilot, and the school district's records. Students aren't expected to go to college here.

[Warthog]

I moved to Southeast NC two years ago. I have no children but do pay attention to what goes on with local government and the schools. My impression is that the public schools systems in this area are not very good. Wilmington's schools are probably the worst. Even UNCW is a a Chapel Hill wanna be and nothing to brag about. There are parochial and other private schools that may be worth a review. I would not move here at all, specially with children. There are plenty of other places to live where the winters are mild and the ocean nearby or you may consider the Triad. The cost of living here is high, taxes are high, crime is bad. This is just information based on my experience.

[MJinNC]

Yet you stay here?????????

[Selling NC]

I am not sure that Sea Watch children would even attend South Brunswick. However a number of private schools such as Cape Fear Academy and Wilmington Christian School do transport children from Southport to Wilmington daily. They have a great reputation.

I am also a real estate agent and my children attended South. They have a wonderful Aquaculture program(one of the best in the nation). All the children performed on their levels, but all graduated with honors and all are either attending college or have graduated. There is a lot of negative publicity about public schools throughout the country but I feel that everyone is right, if you stay involved your children will thrive no matter what school they attend. Good luck.

[cjbeach]

What about private?

We're contemplating a move to Southport area as well and I'm not certain about this (if you have answer, please chime in) but I was told that there is a new Montessori that goes to grade 6. A small but growing local Christian school and the poster above me who posted about the 2 Wilmington schools just made my night! Thank you Selling NC!!!!

[Selling NC]

South Brunswick was rated 313 in a list of top high schools in the country. See America's Top Public High Schools | Newsweek Best High Schools | Newsweek.com for whole article

[kareybear]

There is an excellent Charter School in Leland. It like a Magnet school and you don't have to pay tuition but it is a Lottery..... If you child is starting Kindergarten next year put your name on the list. There are no bus to from southport to leland school but there are numerous moms that do carpool for this school. I would check it out.

[rarehope]

I was told south brunswick had great schools, which is why I was considering moving here? Is that not the case?

[melizilla]

The South Brunswick Middle and High Schools are ranked rather highly among the NC schools; that does not mean it's good compared to schools in other states, however.

Most of the kids don't apply themselves, so when it comes to pass that these teenagers are praised as prodigies, it's pretty discouraging.

Things that children are taught in the North in grades 5 and 6 are taught at an eighth-grade level.

At the school I went to up north, we had electives (no, we were REQUIRED to take them, actually) including art, home economics, sewing, band, choir, woodshop, etc., and in HIGH school here, the electives are art (which is very hard to get into your schedule, because everyone wants that instead of the other electives), drama, band, agriculture/horticulture, parenting, and, if you feel like you have slim pickings, you have to sign up for JROTC.

I suppose that the education was fairly decent in SBMS, but it was sup-par compared to what I was raised with (and I was raised with public schools; it's not like I was raised to be high-class or anything, just intelligent).

The end-of-course and end-of-grade scores are appallingly low, but apparently nobody seems to notice this.

The whole state has stupid laws.
The course requirements confuse the students, because they're organized helter-skelter, and the end-of-course tests are even worse.

The cafeteria food is horrible. I kid you not; it tastes like plastic. The children are told from an early age that they're not allowed to buy anything else (like in vending machines), because those other things aren't healthy and the school lunches are. Well, they're not. The meat is stringy, all the fruits and vegetables seems to have been robbed of much of their original nutritional value, and if you're to eat chicken (god forbid), all you will find is (a) breading or (b) skin over a tiny layer of meat, mixed with bone and caritlidge.
It's disgusting, and even if you're in a place where other food is easily accessed, it's illegal to buy anything while the school is peddling its wares.
Not because it's healthy, but because it's subsidized.

I can't really put into words how horrible the experience really is;
the rules are strict to the point of being suffocating (mostly because the children here aren't raised to have any social courtesy, common sense, or brains).

The bus routes here waste gas; there is one bus in this county that I have SEEN waste a good forty-five minutes on its route that it can easily shorten (because after the point of shortening, there are no stops), and it doesn't come from the county; all bus routes are made by a computer program by the STATE. This bus must be from the 1970s, and it most likely only gets fifteen miles or so to a gallon; it route is around two hours long.

I keep hoping that maybe sometime something will change, but it hasn't. And everyone seems unwilling to do anything about it.

[melizilla]

By the way, I don't know if you were inquiring about elementary schools or not, but...

A few months ago, a county/state notice went out saying that ONLY eight of the schools (ONLY eight, hahaha) were contaminated with asbestos. I think as many as five or six were the elementary schools, the majority of which have been built less than fifteen years ago.

According to a social services worker in my network of friends, by sending this notice, the county (possibly even the state) is... I can't find the right word for it now, I'm so worked up... this notice means that they are not responsible for the damages that may occur. So when a kid gets cancer at 27, it's not the state's fault (even though it's not replacing the tiles and such that contain asbestos).