Quote:
Originally Posted by Bull City Rising
There are plenty of good charter and magnet school options in Durham, and I suspect one reason why some Durham schools are struggling is the flight of parents motivated to seek the best for their children to charter and magnet options.
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While I think your reason scratches the surface, it's much more complex than just some parents seeking the best for their children.
To the OP, I asked if your child was AIG because even within the same school in Durham there are different levels of experiences for the students.
In Durham if your child is AIG, imho, he or she will be fine. If he or she is the top 1-2% in the country (not the state) then you might find public schools in general lacking. AIG in elementary school in Durham is different than CH/C. In CH/C each elementary school has 1 AIG teacher and he or she differentiates within the classroom setting. The parents that I know w/ AIG kids in Ch/C said this means their kids just get harder homework. BUT the class level experience for ALL kids in Ch/C is more challenging than Durham. (Per friends who have had kids in both Durham & Ch/C). So if your child is on grade level then he or she will get a more challenging class experience in Ch/C. If your child is AIG then he or she starting in 3rd grade will be more of a challenging setting in Durham.
DPS pulls out AIG students starting in 3rd grade for 90 mins of literacy and 70 mins of math. This is great for these kids. But if you have a DPS student on grade level it can be problematic. All of the motivated, AIG kids are pulled out and the grade level classes can be stuck w/ less motivated kids. So if you have a child who is on grade level this may or may not frustrate them.
In DPS kids identified as AIG in 1st and 2nd grade get 2 sessions a week of pull for 30 mins. The teacher also does differentiation w/ those kids in the classroom. They do not do more than this because there is a lot of conflicting research when a child should be labeled AIG.
Ch/C also gives all their teachers more autonomy than DPS does. So the Ch/C teacher is teaching more to the ability of the class. But in DPS the on grade level classes are taught to a very strict pacing guide, which will be too slow for some and too fast for others. The state has a general pacing guide but each district decides how closely they stick to the guide. Again if your child is AIG in DPS, this does not matter because the AIG teachers have much more autonomy. For me, having quality teachers that have autonomy is more important than test scores or special programs like AIG. Because if you have a great teacher who can teach to his or her students then your child will be fine.
IMHO, Ch/C does a better job at giving teachers autonomy. But every AIG teacher in DPS that I have met has been a very high quality teacher who has autonomy. So overall I think Ch/C is doing a better job because of how they treat their teachers. BUT there are pockets of success in Durham in just about every school. You just have to make sure you kid fits into one of those pockets.
Since you work at UNC I'll recommend some schools based on commute.
Creekside Elementary- one of the better school in DPS. They have an extremely strong AIG program and very involved PTA. LOts of international students! (Many are children of grad students or visiting professors at UNC-Ch who can't afford to live in Chapel Hill.) But it's a big school and is once again over capacity. DPS is very slow to responding to growth, but to be fair these are tough economic times for all districts.
Forest View Elementary- involved parents, cool nature preserve area that they use for science, good AIG program.
Hope Valley Elementary- involved core of parents and strong AIG program.
Githens Middle School- good honors classes there. Good band. A large variety of sports. (I fully admit that we did not send our child to Githens because it was not a good fit for him. )
Jordan High School- lots of AP & Honors Classes. Is the top non-magnet high school in Durham. High SAT scores. Strong schools with good support. It ranks in the top 500 high schools in the country every year.
These schools are NOT Ch/C schools. Durham has so much more diversity (racial, Socio-economic, and educational levels of parents etc.) than Ch/C. These things impact test scores and they can impact a students view of school as well. But also in Durham your children are exposed to a wider range of students than they probably would be in Ch/C. There are lessons in this exposure too.
DPS has done a much better job of addressing the achievement gap and working to close it than Ch/C has. Ch/C is behind DPS on closing their achievement gap, but they are starting to work on it.
Lastly, I have a friend who worked with high school students in Ch/C. She said she had several students who were "average" in Ch/C schools and had self-esteem issues. These kids thought of themselves as not intelligent, because the bar is so high there. But when they went to college and realized how much smarter they were than the average college student the regained their self worth. But this made the high school years tough.
You might also want to consider applying for Kestrel Heights Charter School's new elementary. The lottery has already taken place so there is a waiting list. But the wait list varies by grade. And since Kestrel just got approval at the end of February it may not have as long of a wait list as some other charters. Our son is in 6th grade there and we have been very happy with the school. And it's the first time we have felt he has been consistently challenged. All of his friends (even the top performing kids in elementary school) have felt the same way... consistently challenged. But yet they all love it because the teachers are so engaging. My son's favorite teacher is now his toughest teacher and she teaches what use to be his least favorite subject in elementary school. This subject is now his favorite and I credit it all to this fabulous teacher. All his teachers are fabulous this year. And I expect no less from Kestrel's new elementary school. BTW, call Kestrel to find out how long the wait list is for individual grades. I do know some people who applied, got a spot, but are going to turn it down, because their kids really don't want to leave their friends at their current schools. So there will be some shake out with the lottery.
Good luck!