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Old 06-04-2013, 02:11 PM
 
2 posts, read 4,502 times
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I just wanted to post one parent's perspective. Personally, both my husband and I attended public schools and were not harmed (we both received scholarships for our respective colleges). Pragmatically,if I have excess money for education, I am going to save it for my children's higher education. My 2 (White) kids go to a Durham public magnet school. I have kids on both ends of the spectrum and in each case they are served well by the system. One has been in AIG since Kindergarten. She is both in a class with her age based peers learning the core curriculum, but also have step out classes to get additional enrichment in math, problem solving, reading comprehension/criticism, and writing. On the other hand my kindergartener has been identified as a slow learner (reading). She qualified for after school reading program, including a summer reading program (which is provided free of charge) and we have regular meetings with the group of teachers and specialists who are working with her. Like a lot of things, it is what you make it. I just wanted to post in case there are other middle class white parents who are reading this thread and getting a misleading view of Durham public schools.
I suppose another thing that Wake county people often don't bring up is that the US news and world report ranked a a Durham public school (School of the Arts magnet school) the top ranked high school in North Carolina, I guess because it doesn't fit with the private=better view.

Last edited by durhamite9; 06-04-2013 at 02:17 PM.. Reason: just wanted to add another line.

 
Old 06-04-2013, 10:37 PM
 
1,950 posts, read 3,518,998 times
Reputation: 2770
What I have gathered from this board is that the "good" schools in Durham are lottery based (except for Math/Science). The assignment/neighborhood schools are undesirable. True? And primary reasons for this are student disruption, uninvolved or dysfunctional parents, and high class ratios. Students are protected from this somewhat in gifted programs, and those with identified learning disabilities receive additional resources, but kids in general education who don't get into a charter/magnet/lottery school are screwed. Is this accurate?

Last edited by west seattle gal; 06-04-2013 at 10:54 PM..
 
Old 06-05-2013, 06:11 AM
 
Location: Durham, NC
2,586 posts, read 9,087,756 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by west seattle gal View Post
What I have gathered from this board is that the "good" schools in Durham are lottery based (except for Math/Science). The assignment/neighborhood schools are undesirable. True?
Not necessarily. We live in the Easley ES assignment zone, one of the best elementary schools in the county. It happens to be a YR magnet but also has a regual attendance zone. If we would prefer a traditional calendar school we could opt into Hillandale ES which is also a good school. We are also zoned to Brogden MS and Riverside HS, also considered "good" schools within the system. DPS also offers walk zones for areas within close proximity to a school, whether magent or otherwise.
 
Old 06-05-2013, 10:28 AM
 
1,036 posts, read 3,188,407 times
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There are boosters for a number if non magnet elementary schools: Forest view, Powe, creekside, easley, hillandale. Some of these schools may have lower than average scores, but they have involved parents and communities. I know friends who have requested transfers to Powe because it is known to be a wonderful community of teachers, parents and kids--but its test scores under perform. Doesn't mean their kid is going to under perform.
 
Old 06-05-2013, 10:51 AM
 
1,950 posts, read 3,518,998 times
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Good to hear! We may just do Durham public school when we move there. Just checked real estate prices in the Easley/Brogden/Riverside zone -- very reasonable. Real estate sites show their own version of school attendance zones, but is there one great zone map online that I can use to determine where we would like to live? Thanks.

Last edited by west seattle gal; 06-05-2013 at 10:59 AM..
 
Old 06-05-2013, 11:03 AM
 
1,950 posts, read 3,518,998 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dcgrl View Post
There are boosters for a number if non magnet elementary schools: Forest view, Powe, creekside, easley, hillandale. Some of these schools may have lower than average scores, but they have involved parents and communities. I know friends who have requested transfers to Powe because it is known to be a wonderful community of teachers, parents and kids--but its test scores under perform. Doesn't mean their kid is going to under perform.
I agree that involved parents make all of the difference in the quality of a school. The PTA can make a huge difference. Test scores are one indicator for quality, but the strength of the community is even more important -- it's difficult info to obtain via an internet search, so I appreciate all of the parent input here.
 
Old 06-05-2013, 11:09 AM
 
14 posts, read 22,235 times
Reputation: 22
We visited Powe this year and loved both the school and the community. We are moving to Durham this summer and are thrilled to know that our child will be attending there. I've already met plenty of middle-class parents who love the school and would not want their child attending elsewhere. So many people on the forum make judgments without any first-hand experience to back it up. Durham is large school system with some poorly performing schools, but also has so many wonderful schools filled with students who are thriving and being challenged appropriately.
 
Old 06-05-2013, 11:31 AM
 
533 posts, read 1,196,570 times
Reputation: 460
Quote:
Originally Posted by west seattle gal View Post
Good to hear! We may just do Durham public school when we move there. Just checked real estate prices in the Easley/Brogden/Riverside zone -- very reasonable. Real estate sites show their own version of school attendance zones, but is there one great zone map online that I can use to determine where we would like to live? Thanks.
The DPS website has an on-line school locator that lets you plug in a property address and see the schools assigned to it as well as a more general district map.

District Map


Find your Assigned School: New Online Service

FWIW, my neighbors children attend Little River Elementary, and they have all been very happy with it.
 
Old 06-05-2013, 01:58 PM
 
2 posts, read 4,502 times
Reputation: 20
I guess what I would do is if you know what school your child is assigned to, go ahead and talk to parents who have children in that school. It can give you a more complete picture than just looking at test scores.
 
Old 06-05-2013, 02:02 PM
 
Location: Durham, NC
162 posts, read 460,057 times
Reputation: 212
My kids have all attended Durham schools and two are now successfully in good colleges and the last one is in high school. The schools they attended are Mangum Elementary, Little River Elementary, Carrington Middle School, Riverside High School and the last one is at Voyager Academy, a charter school. My experience is that the schools in the northern part of the county are great. They have high parent participation and good scores. My kids did well at all of them. Though my neighborhood is zoned for Northern High School, we were able to transfer them to Riverside. So there is some flexibility. I think if you stick to the ones out in the county, the education is just fine.
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