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Let's say you move into Cary. The 5 choices you will be given will be 5 elementary schools relatively close to your home. In all honestly, there's VERY little chance that any of them will be so horrible you wouldn't want your child to go there. Yes, this system would work better if all the kids in the neighborhood went to one particular school. However, even the way the school system is currently set up, you won't necessarily find that. We've got kids in our neighborhood going to at least 4 different elementary schools (by parental choice) and the ones that have chosen year round can be on different tracks. The kids all still know each other. Pool communities and putting your kids on the swim team help with that immensely. They get to know each other and even when kids come from elsewhere they don't find it strange.
I get not wanting your kids to move from school to school also. But I grew up on Long Island and even though we never moved, I went to 3 different elementary schools. My school district was always changing things around (they still are, 40 years later!). I didn't really want to switch schools, but my friends were mostly coming with me, so not SUCH a big deal. Let's say Wake's school board decides to switch things up once again next year. Chances are, that's going to work in your favor. All the kids in the neighborhood would probably then be sent to the same school. So they would still be with kids they know. And there aren't as many middle schools so they'd probably all end up at the same one anyway....and then from there the same HS.
The whole system we are working with now is supposed to guarantee feeder patterns. I think most people really want that. How we are getting there is still a little wonky. I think we have to work thru this year to get the stability everyone wants, and I think it will come. Yes, this coming school year is going to be a sucky one to come down here. But one other thing that you should keep in mind is that area can be very transient. People move in and out all the time. People trade up to bigger houses. Kids are used to having new kids come in all year long. It's not that big of a deal and they usually are able to make a fairly easy transition. That's going to be cold comfort to your kids (it was to mine) but now that my kids have lived here for a while they see that it's true. Of course there are worse times to move than others. If you move your rising middle schooler they are probably going to have a tough time. That's a huge transition even for kids who are already living here.
I doubt the furthest/worst scenario would play out so definitively against you.
It's possible you might have to choose YR vs traditional or some such... seems a more likely scenario.
Then, when things change next year and you're already here? You'll know which schools your son's friends from the neighborhood are attending, and you can go for those if you are given a choice. If you don't have a choice, you'll wind up with the same school the other neighborhood kids attend, then follow that path along to whichever middle school they all attend.... on through high school.
Larger neighborhoods or PUDs might be split up some, but that's not what you asked.
I'll throw out an example that seems to be in your price range in Cary.
Weatherstone (the development) is large... not huge, but largish.
The base traditional school was Weatherstone ES. Not the greatest school in all of Cary, but a decent school.
West Cary Middle was the traditional-calendar MS for that development, and Green Hope was the HS.
If they rolled back the current reassignment plan, you'd get a grouping of schools in a nice neighborhood like that one that would be a decent variety of traditional options (with maybe some better YR or magnet choices), along with a solid HS. There's not really a bad HS in Cary... Cary High, Green Hope, and Panther Creek are all good schools.
Soo... that said? I'd look at the assignments from last year 2011-2012, then if you want Cary, give it a shot based on groupings of schools you like that combine proximity and the 2011-2012 assignment and feeder pattern.
That's your best chance of success.
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Thanks to all - My son is a rising 4th grader now. I guess in terms of school it would be ideal if we waited until NEXT year, but I would really rather not wait another 12 months tomove. I am thinking we woudl move during 4th grade and then (gulp) he might have to change schools for 5th and then start middle school. Do you think that is terrible for a kid? I never moved as a kid. (Also from Long Island) and never had redistricting or rezoning. As an adult I am excited for a move, but I can see how it would be disruptive to a kid.
Plenty of people are very happy in Wake county schools. If you think Cary or Apex is going to be thebest fit for your family then the schools will probably work out. Cary/Apex have a different vibe from Chapel Hill.
Chapel Hill has excellent schools with a high percentage of gifted students. I have heard that high school can be pretty competitive academically with kids super concerned about their class rank, etc. Of course not all the kids get into the academic race, but there are enough of them who do that the schools, esp high schools do have that reputation. There is always at least o e kid who makes a perfect score on the SAT or ACT. It is always the district with the highest SAT scores. I have heard CHCCS described as having a reverse bell curve with low numbers of average students. That's probably an exaggeration but something like 1/3 of students do qualify for one of the gifted programs.
The towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro are THE most politically liberal/progressive in the state. It can be a hard place to be a conservative as they are in a definite minority -- maybe 30%. Chapel Hill is a college town and there are lots of students and young singles, but there are lots of families too. It's very family friendly. There are lots of arts and cultural events. Many of the folks who live in CH/C are academics or associated with the university or the hospital but there are lots of folks who commute to RTP and Raleigh.
Hillsborough is a great little town and I think Orange High is a good school along with Cedar Ridge. Northwoods in Chatham is a good solid high school too. Both the Orange Co schools and the Chatham Co schools just pale in comparison to the CHC schools. Woods is a great charter but very hard to get into -- lots of applicants for the lottery. Many people do move to the CHCCS district just for the schools.
All these areas are much smaller than Cary/Apex/Raleigh. If you like a bigger city (not that Raleigh is really "big city" by any stretch) you might find somewhere in Wake to be a better fit.
In general, a rising 5th grader would not be forced to change schools even if there is any re-districting. They usually grandfather them in. Never say never,but historically that is what happens.
In general, a rising 5th grader would not be forced to change schools even if there is any re-districting. They usually grandfather them in. Never say never,but historically that is what happens.
That's what I was going to say. We moved here for 4th grade too. I really wanted them to get 2 years of elementary here before middle school. They are totally immersed in the schools here now. There was a whole slew of kids who'd been bused to our school who were moved out last year, but all the 5th graders stayed as they were grandfathered in. And, as I said - even if by some miniscule chance your 5th grader DID get moved, he'd be getting moved with a whole bunch of friends and although it wouldn't be ideal, it would livable for him, KWIM? But I highly, highly doubt that is something to be overly concerned about.
Everything else aside, you're going to run into the same financial issues in CH as you are used to on LI at your price point. Older housing stock and higher taxes. You can do pretty well in Apex and even some parts of Cary at $250K and under.
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