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Hi! I've been reading lots of threads on here about relocating to your area. We'll be moving to Beaufort in June, and I still have a few questions that I would love to hear resident opinions about.
We have 2 children, one will be in 2nd grade, one will be in 6th grade. My husband has military orders to the area, and I'm an elementary teacher. Does anyone have any experience with Beaufort Elementary and Middle Schools? I read the few reviews posted on greatschools.org, but I'm not sure where else to look for information. When we called the schools with a few questions, they were very friendly and helpful.
I would just love to hear any details/opinions about the area. Thanks!
Especially with the possibility that your sixth grader would be in high school, I would not live in Beaufort. Beaufort is great to retire to, wonderful to visit, but you'll have better education options in other areas. Do you have a job? If so what school will you be working at? Which base will your husband be working at?
Without knowing that info, I'd suggest Morehead City, Newport, and Havelock if he's stationed in Cherry Point. Cape Carteret, Swansboro, Hamsptead, or on-base housing/DOD schools if he's stationed in Lejeune.
If he's in the Coast Guard at Fort Macon, the same suggestions as Cherry Point. Coast Guard also has the option of living aboard base housing at Cherry Point, as well.
Croatan High School on HWY 24 is your best choice. From Wiki:
"In 2009 and 2010, U.S. News and World Report ranked Croatan among the top high schools in the United States, awarding the school silver medals.[2] Croatan High School's class of 2010 marked combined SAT scores (based on math and critical reading) of 1076, up from 1064 the previous year, this was 59 points higher than the national average." Croatan High School - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I've had two kids graduate from West Carteret. If I could do it all over again I'd send them both to Croatan.
Thank you so much for the replies! My husband will be stationed at Cherry Point for approximately 3 years. We looked at base housing at Cherry Point, however, the housing we would be living in feeds to Havelock Elementary and Havelock Middle. They are rated on Great Schools lower than the Beaufort Schools. The house we will be renting is in northeastern Beaufort, and an easy 15 minute commute for my husband. I do not have a position for next year lined up. I'm currently finishing my contract here in Florida, and hope to interview during the summer for any elementary openings in the area.
Macjr, does knowing we'll leave before my oldest reaches high school change your opinion? Can you tell me anything about the elementary and middle school?
Bill, thanks for the link! What an amazing high school!
I truly appreciate your advice and help. Anything that comes to mind, let us know!
You can request your kids go to a different school, as long as you provide transportation. Havelock Elementary and middle school are good schools overall, but have some failing demogrraphics. Havelock Elementary in particular had a rough couple of years with change in principals. Sill not the best school in Havelock, but not the worst, and not a bad school either. Consider that Havelock has a top performing high school ranked by US News & World that all of thes schools feed into so they must be doing something right. Albeit Havelock got a bronze reward, while Croatan got Silver.
The best schools would be Gurganus (elementary) and Tucker Creek Middle. May be an issue as Gurganus is traditional calendar, while Tucker Creek is year round. THose that go to Havelock Elementary have the option of going to Tucker Creek since they are both year round. Arthur Edwards is year round as well and is where your kids would go if you stayed in Staff Cape or Grants Landing on Base. Staff Cape if you're E1-E9, Grants if you're E6-Officer. My friends wife actually works at the base housing office on Cherry Point so I can direct some questions through her.
I advise you to PM Bill the address of the place you're renting to verify the school your kids would be attending, unless perhaps your husband is working in Bogue Field there is no where in Beaufort that is 15 min from CP. Also, being in NE Beaufort ZI'd verify exactly what schools your kids would be attending if you haven't already.
Thanks, macjr! I'll pm Bill, just to be sure. We did call the Carteret District office, too. I think I was mistaken about NE Beaufort - it's off of 101, towards the base from Beaufort. It's wonderful to be coming to an area with so many great schools available!
If you decide you can move to Havelock, you can send your kids to TUCKER CREEK MIDDLE SCHOOL, it is a year round school, and is one of the best middle schools IN THE STATE. It is also open enrollment, in the county. I think the two elementary schools that feed TCMS are also open. The base has a bus that picks the kids up at TCMS, I don't know about the others.
I know school rankings are required, but none of the ranking services dig very deep, they take the data easily available, and produce rankings. ANYONE and EVERYONE can dispute. Wide variance in demographics is normally the first "excuse" but unfortunately it is pretty valid.
W. Edwards Deming, the father of statistical process control to improve quality in manufacturing (considered a god in Japan, by the way) stated often that the statistic that is easiest to obtain, is seldom the morst relevant. Ranking schools based on SAT scores, standardized test scores and the like, is a classic case of using easy data to obtain to make far reaching assumptions, when such data may not be all that relevant.
I will let you decide.
If I had kids still in the public school system, the only data I would care about would be the following:
How many AP courses are offered at the high school?
How many students are in AP courses?
List the colleges that accepted students in AP courses?
Yeah, this data is a lot harder to obtain, but it, not some average SAT score, would be truly actionable.
LLN- Thank you so much for your replies! I completely agree about statistics and the problems therein. As a teacher, I also understand the role demographics can unfortunately play in student success.
My oldest will not begin high school before we will have to leave your area. I do wish this were a more permanent area, because your choices of high schools is fantastic! You're right - choices of AP courses is so essential.
I spoke with the district office in Craven County (and also left a message for military liaison), and she said that the open enrollment, even when the parent provides transportation, is not guaranteed. She said the section of housing we would be zoned for (Grant's Landing) does feed to Havelock Elementary/Havelock Middle. There are great schools available in Havelock, but I am concerned about my children being on a different calendar (traditional vs. year round) if we do succeed in getting enrolled in the two recommended schools.
I like the few parent reviews I've found of Beaufort Elementary and Beaufort Middle. If anyone has information they don't feel comfortable posting, positive or negative, please feel free to PM me.
I really appreciate all of you taking the time to provide information! We can't wait to move to your area!
I meant to write "I do wish this were a more permanent MOVE" not area. I realize your area is quite permanent.
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