Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I am curious about how other people in Wake County went about choosing a school. I love having choices, but the number of school choices, even if you narrow down to just public schools, is still a little overwhelming. For those of you with students in Wake County, how did you go about choosing a school? Did you look into all types (public, private, charter, magnet, etc.)? Did you tour? Read reviews? Go to education fairs or other events? Also, when did you start looking? I have a child who will be a kindergartner in 2015- am I early? Late? Thanks for the information!
Our base school is Yates Mill (Trad). If we wanted to, we could apply for our year-round options (Adams or Oak Grove). If we go Magnet, there are only 2 that offer neighborhood transportation (Washington and Fuller).
We have a rising kindergartner this year, and if it wasn't for the fact that we already have a 3rd grader at Yates Mill, I might choose Oak Grove (slightly closer to home, test scores about the same or better). But I'd rather have them both in the same school, so Yates Mill it is. Also, every other kid in the neighborhood goes to Yates Mill.
First criteria: Transportation logistics (i.e., "Can I get my kid to and from school every day?")
This ruled out most elementary magnets for us. We live in West Cary, I work in Durham, and most magnets are inside the beltline (Raleigh). So I couldn't provide transportation, since I'd be adding about an hour to my commute in the morning. Also, since I work, buses didn't really work either, unless I could find a route that dropped off at an afterschool place. Again, I couldn't use the school's afterschool care, because there's no way I could get from my office in Durham to a school in downtown Raleigh by 6pm every day. We did consider magnets when my oldest started middle school, but we didn't get in.
Second criteria: Lifestyle logistics
This ruled out private schools for us. We don't want a parochial school, and that's what most of the private elementary schools tend to be. The ones that aren't were too expensive or not logistically possible (see Criteria #1).
Third criteria: Of the schools made it through the first two rounds of criteria, which is the best fit for my child?
Pretty self explanatory. I read reviews online, searched the school's websites, asked around (in person and online), etc.
Fourth criteria: Which schedule works best for our family?
We actually chose year round school for the past 6 years (K-5 for my oldest), because I preferred the schedule. However, when she got to 6th grade, I preferred our traditional base school over our year round option (see Criteria #3 above), so we switched schedules. It also meant switching my younger child's school (in 3rd grade) from year-round to traditional, because having two kids on different schedules wouldn't work with our family situation (although if I didn't have to coordinate scheduling with my ex-husband, I could have probably made it work). Academically, the schools were about the same, so it wasn't really a difficult decision.
But at the end of the day, while it looks like you have a ton of choices, you need to be comfortable with your traditional base and your year round option. Those are the two most likely choices you really have.
Year round was our first choice because both of my kids have ADHD and a whole summer off would absolutely kill them. They start going stir crazy about 2 weeks into track out and a whole summer would be insane. We all need the structure of the school day. ;-)
Word of mouth also influenced my decision. I had heard that our school was great from many people. I also checked the school's website and report card.
You have a great advice here, Start now yes and do the ground work,Wake have so many Choices, Many magnets But again you have to do the bus route etc, Lot of our friends stayed in the home base because wanted the closet to home ,etc,We choice a Charter and Love it , Uniforms etc Yes we do the tran porting, But so worth the extra trouble small class size only 40 per grade and we know almost all the children kg-7 this year added a next grade each year, New building and techer are out standing , so start now and look at all the types you have ,remember the most part is the parent and your home life If it a greatschool but add stress to your life it not the best !
I didn't choose a school. I just sent my kids to the base school, Laurel Park, which I'm perfectly happy with. I wasn't interested in the magnet schools due to transportation and not bring year round.
We also had to rule out the magnets because of the transportation. We just went to an open house at our base school (traditional calendar) and were quite happy with it actually, I see no compelling reason to pay extra for a private school. Heck, they had practically the same laptops I have at work and I'm in IT! Definitely go for a tour.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Definitely go for a tour.
