New Bern and Schools (Kinston, Trent Woods: homes, YMCA, elementary school)

[arianaryan]

Hi,

My husband and I will be moving to New Bern in June with our two children. We love the main Historic District but understand the elementary school there (Trent Park) is not very good. (It received a score of 3 on greatschools.net.) Does anyone know if it is possible to pay tuition to attend one of the better public schools? (e.g., Brinson, Creekside, Ben Quinn). I would not mind driving my kids to and from school; education is very important to me. Thank you!

[Steven McCurdy]

You may want to move just 40 more miles if schools are a concern, I did...Checkout the Western Carteret schools or Swansboro/Hubert Schools...

[LLN]

Some schools are open to folks that live outside the school's boundaries. I would call the Central Office of Craven County schools to find out exactly what is what. There are some exceptional schools in Craven County. There are also some not so great ones. Good Luck.

[newbernian]

We faced the same problem when we moved here. We wanted to live in the historic district but did not want our kids going to Trent Park.

You can go out of district by applying with the school board. Many of the kids at our local elementary are from all over New Bern. Realtors will tell you to stick with the 3 B's Brinson (james city across the river), Bangert (Trent Woods) and Ben Quinn (near River Bend).

There is also St. Paul's Catholic School (private school), The Epiphany School/Nicholas Sparks founded (right now grades 5-12, still expanding) and Parrott Academy located in Kinston (1hr bus ride from the YMCA)

Also, remember that if you live downtown you might expect a somewhat lonely child. You will have to make the extra effort to schedule activities and play dates for them. You will find a lot of kids in Ghent and be able to walk to the YMCA (kid magnet).

After looking at the immense amount of work that the downtown homes needed (I know that they are charming) and the lack of kids we ended up in Trent Woods and are very thankful for the sake of our kids that we did. Many people choose to move in town when their kids are old enough to drive and have an established group of friends with cell phones.

Welcome in advance to New Bern.