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We are planning on moving to Cary/Holly Springs this summer. We have two girls, and they will be entering the 4th and 6th grades. My biggest concern is going to the school where we live and where we are zoned for (moving from Greenville County SC, and we don't go to our zoned schools because of, what I feel, a big case of gerrymandering like zoning designs).
So it looks like some of the neighborhoods we have been researching/focusing on are now capped on the Elementary level.
My question for all of you area vets is this. Say we move into a neighborhood this summer, and while our elementary school zoning is capped, our Middle isn't. So assuming we get our 6th grader in the zoned middle school, my 4th grader would have to go to an alternate school. What happens when our 4th grader reaches middle school? Are we already accounted for in the correctly zoned middle school? Or are we moved to the new feeder path?
Looking ahead to High School, and one of the High Schools we'd be zoned for is now capped. I am assuming that, since in the above scenario, we are already in the correct zone, that when our oldest gets to high school, it would be for the HS the neighborhood is zoned for, correct? (I know zoning can change as well, and very well may, but looking to get an "as of today, here is the path of the school" idea).
Your ES to MS kid should be fine since MS is not yet capped and you will, presumably, be moving to the area before any such MS capping could occur. Your MS to HS kid would have to be prepared to go to an overflow school since the HS is capped before you move into the area.
Caps tend to be lifted. I think Davis Drive Middle had a cap but was lifted. However, Holly Springs area probably has a higher rate of development which means you should plan for the caps to remain in place.
Of course, contacting WCPSS student assignment could give you better information. Since these caps and rules tend to change, and most schools in this area are not bad, you could consider scaling back the importance of picking a specific school.
your MS goes to the assigned MS.
your ES doesn't get in the capped school, unless there's an opening in their grade not claimed by someone who moves & registers before you.
when your ES gets to MS, they will most likely be in the zoned MS. They will have a 6th grade, and your then-MS will have the same chance every other rising MS does.
Same occurs for both at the HS level - all those HS's are having 9th grades, and the rising 9th graders in areas assigned to them will likely go. They'd have to go back to when you located, which 3 years hence I cannot fathom being a qualification.
All of that, by the way, assumes there's no reassignment plan between here and there. I would generally assume however, that if "all" the schools in an area are capped, that there will be new schools and reassignment sometime in the next 5 years.
your MS goes to the assigned MS.
your ES doesn't get in the capped school, unless there's an opening in their grade not claimed by someone who moves & registers before you.
when your ES gets to MS, they will most likely be in the zoned MS. They will have a 6th grade, and your then-MS will have the same chance every other rising MS does.
Same occurs for both at the HS level - all those HS's are having 9th grades, and the rising 9th graders in areas assigned to them will likely go. They'd have to go back to when you located, which 3 years hence I cannot fathom being a qualification.
All of that, by the way, assumes there's no reassignment plan between here and there. I would generally assume however, that if "all" the schools in an area are capped, that there will be new schools and reassignment sometime in the next 5 years.
Thank you, that is what I was thinking/hoping. It makes sense to me that each year the rising class would be filled first with kids zoned. I understand that entering a school in the middle (2nd, 7th, etc) to a capped school may not work out.
This helps a little. I know we can't predict what will happen in the next 3 years, but helps minimize the "damage" as it would only be the next 2 years in elementary that would, potentially, be the issue.
To make it simple, if you are in the zone for a school before the cap date, you will get into that school. And siblings are always guaranteed a spot at a capped school. The cap date is yearly - so if you move this summer, you will be in the MS zone by the time your current 4th grader reaches MS. No matter what, she'd be going there.
And even when a school is capped, unless it is "hard capped" you can usually get in once January rolls around. They will let you know if a seat becomes available in, say, 4th grade. You may not want to switch her again, but if you do it's an option.
I also think they mentioned the desire to build another High school somewhere in the Apex/Holly springs area in the future south or east of Rt. 1; but who knows when/if it would happen. There is another High school opening soon in Apex, called Apex friendship. It is on the North/west side of Rt. 1.
I thought that I read somewhere that if you are capped out of Holly Springs your option was Middle Creek and one other school. Not sure 100% sure though.
another question when moving from out of state: kids just go into the grade they are from despite age requirements different in other states? not talking about KG but older grades?
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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Originally Posted by SINY2NC
another question when moving from out of state: kids just go into the grade they are from despite age requirements different in other states? not talking about KG but older grades?
We are out of state now and plan to move after the 2014-15 school year ends. I see some of the neighborhoods we looked at are in the capped list.
So if we plan to move next June, would my 4th and 6th graders likely be put into an overflow school?
Does anyone have an idea when the capping decision is made? Is there a certain date we should move by in order to be included in the neighborhood's base school? The kids would like to go to the same school as their neighborhood friends.
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