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Dear Saturnfan-thank you so much. You see, all of you are why we knew we found the right place for us! We just have to work out a few things more.
My pleasure.
I saw your question and knew I had the info you needed. It's only right to share.
I lived in Mini-City because of financial constraints. Now in federal gov't and doing reasonably well.
Someone in good financial standing shouldn't have to get involved in such a screwed up school situation.
Now, as you were told, Wakefield HS has been in the news with high profile auto fatalities caused by parents giving teens super fast vehicles.This won't be a concern to you since I'm sure you'll instill responsibility and sobriety in your sons.
My son got a Saturn, of course. He now has a Corolla.
As the late Dr. King so aptly said, "We Shall Overcome".
Thanks. I can't understand how if we have Wakefield high school we don't also have them for the middle school. Nor can I understand how people are willing to accept this situation when they are paying the kind of money they do for homes. You would think they would have more input. I just can't come down there and start opening my mouth as I know I won't make any friends. I feel like I am walking a bit of a tight rope here. I truly understand how people are not excited to see us northerners. We have a bit of that here in our town as we get quite a few here in the summer. This is a big Irish/Ny city visitor area in the summer months. By the end, you can't wait for them all to leave. I will try to mind my p's and q's for a bit before I open my mouth.
Will try to contact the school system and see what they say on Monday.
Thanks again.
The system is very confusing here for newcomers and the WCPSS plan for healthy schools uses bussing to keep high income and low income students mixed to avoid inner city school situations, but they also have to balance filling new schools, filling Year round schools and constantly shifting students based on income to dilute too high income or too low income schools. *Most* of the time, their plan works pretty well, but there are a handful of schools in the county that have higher than average percentages of low income students, and unfortunatley, EMMS is one of those few.
There isn't too much area residents can do about their base school assignment. The school system is very, very rigid about this. I don't know how old your neighborhood is, but it's possible that when the original residents bought there, that EMMS wasn't even their original base school, they may have been reassigned at some point. I don't know that for a fact, but I just wanted to answer your questions about why the residents of your neighborhood are "willing to accept this situation". It may not have been the situation when they bought their house.
I suggest you read over some of the other threads on this forum about how the Wake School system operates and it might make more sense to you. Good luck!
When my son got EMMS, it was because we were in the base area living a block or so from the school.
As lamishra said, things have really gotten tough for Dr. Burns and his staff trying to balance seats with students.
The rich folks in Wakefield were up in arms a bit back when their kids got assigned to a temporary school in a low income area in Wake Forest. It was messy.
Since greed allowed unbridled growth without infrastructure in place to handle it, WCPSS has been struggling.
Dr. Burns was just quoted saying that he doesn't see an end to this mess in the near future.
In my opinion, this busing is a waste of time and money. You should go to the school nearest your home unless you are in need of a special program not available there.
A fleet of buses will not solve the income/racial issues in this society. Only good people working together to become one society can do that.
People put up with it for various reasons. Some pull their kids out and put them in private school. If you complain about it, you're a racist who doesn't want to 'mix' with minorities. Some people actually believe everything that the school system tells us--all downtown schools are hurting and in need of magnets and other special programs. The rest of out in far North Raleigh are rich so we don't deserve or need more than the minimum academic programs at our schools.
This year, they denied entrance to over 100 students at Durant Middle because they said it wasn't enough to fill another track. But the school is under capacity. I don't know what will happen next year. I would not count on WCPSS giving you any alternative to EMMS. They will view you as a racist/snob who thinks your kids deserve better. Even with the year round schools being underenrolled they are very stubborn and inflexible, especially if they feel that you are trying to get out of a 'bad' school.
Check out EMMS--it might not be as bad as you think. You might just have to do what Saturnfan suggested and really keep a tight rein on your kid. Make sure you know who his friends are and that they aren't trouble makers. I would imagine that since your son is a high achiever he will be in classes with other kids who also value education and aren't trouble makers.
I haven't posted to it recently (just bought a rental property that we are fixing up and its taking a lot of my time), but I have a blog that addresses inequity in our school system. There's info on some the issues of reassignment. Voice for Equity in Wake Education
Thanks for the input. I am acutely aware that once I open my mouth I will have a label put on me. It's just that I only have one chance to do the right thing for my boys. I am extra sensitive to this issue as it is part of the reason we are moving from where we are. Our goal wasn't to take our boys out of what I think might be the beginning of an EMMS problem to put them right in the middle of one. I hate to think that we are spending as much as we did to avoid this, only to have to pay more for them to go to private school anyway.No matter where you go in this country it seems that we are told " It's O.K. for your children to be smart, just don't tell anyone", or think you deserve the best start you can get towards the rest of your life. We champion mediocrity instead of keeping the bar raised and having our kids reach for it. There are so many views on areas in this country and why people don't like them. I think some basic principles lacking all over are respect and responsibility. If we respected each other for our differences and gave each other a chance it would be better. That doesn't mean however when we try these blending systems and they don't work, we need to continue beating ourselves against the same wall. It only works if all those involved bring their children up with similar core values.
When we make a mistake, take responsibility for it and apologize, don't make up an excuse or blame it on someone else. If we taught our children this and lived by it ourselves, we would be better off. Of course, who would teach our lawmakers and politicians this? Just a thought.
There are good folks and bad folks in all races, religions, and nationalities.
It's not racist to avoid being among a bunch of losers, regardless of their ethnicity.
There are, as a wise NYPD sergeant once told me, poor people and poor excuses for people.
It's no shame to be poor. My mother in law was on welfare. She kept a clean home and didn't throw her trash out the windows as did many others in my former NYC neighborhood, pre-gentrification lower East side.
I was able to talk to that teacher/coach from EMMS tonight.
I got an earful about some of the things being said here. She has a definate passion about her school and she's not wearing rose colored glasses either.
She said that last year there were no fights at the school. The laughed at the idea of new white kids being the targets at the school. No one has been taser'ed.
She proudly stated that their IB program was recertified last year and got the highest rating possible. Their program is held up as the standard to strive towards.
I take her to be a no-nonsense sort of person and teacher, and I know that she's kicked out at least one student from her class room, so she doesn't take crud when it happens....but she paints a completely different picture then some of the horror stories some have posted (and I asked poltely to the point questions.)
Yes, the area isn't great....but then again, there is no reason for a kid to be hanging around off campus near there anyway.
Heck, she had me wanting to look into switching from our magnet!!!
mbjjbtb, I wish you could have spoken to her in person. I think you'd come away with a vastly different picture then what has been painted here. I urge you before you panic to go see the school for yourself and make up your own mind.
Maybe you can ask your friend at the dog park if she's willing to exchange emails with the OP dispell her worries?
Just a thought!
I don't think I would call her a friend...I just do see her quite often! (The Wake Forest Dog Park has quickly developed a great 'core' group of regulars.)
I did let her know where these questions were coming from...so maybe she'll stop by.
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