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I am a single mother who just relocated to Durham with my 10 year old daughter and 14 year old son. We have found a nice house in a new division however the schools have terrible ratings! Can anyone weigh in on the following schools:
Spring Valley Elem
Holt Elem
Southern HS
Do you feel your children are getting a good education? Do you feel they are safe? What do you think of the administration? Everything I am reading on the sites like greatschools.com says these are horrible schools. If you had your child in any of the above schools, what was your experience? If you pulled your child out, would you mind letting me know what alternative school you enrolled your child into?
We just moved here over the labor day weekend for my job. This has been a rough move and I am still on the fence on returning back home to Frederick MD. While we did not like Frederic county either, I wasn't afraid to send my child to the high school.
You are not likely to find anyone on City-Data who has experience with those schools. They've been brought up a fair number of times and I haven't seen a single person here talk about first-hand accounts.
I know a fair number of people who attended Southern - both pre- and post-93, and like any school accounts have differed. They all are from the area though and coming from out of state could be a bit of a culture shock, just IMO.
I would recommend talking to other families in your sub-division and neighborhood. Going to the schools and talking to the administration and teachers. Being pro-active. If you're looking to fast-track your children to Harvard or Yale, you might be in for a bumpy road. NC schools are having a difficult time by the sound of it these days and Southern has been one of the lowest performing in the area for some time. Doesn't mean you can't make it work.
You might just look into moving into a better school zone in Durham. Jordan is regarded as one of the better high schools in Durham and Durham School of the Arts, also, which is a magnet. If your kids have any interest in that you could apply there for next year.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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If you look at NC Report Cards you can find out more information about these schools. Passing rates of 20% in reading at the 4th grade level. Worse than the state and the district as a whole on most measures at the high school level. Acts of crime and violence in the school almost 3 times the state average at the high school level. Nearly 2/3rds of students at the high school level economically disadvantaged. Teacher turnover rate twice the state average at the high school level. It certainly is not a school I would put my kids into.
As mentioned above, the high school is one of the worst performing schools in this whole area. On Great Schools it got a "1" - meaning it's in the lowest tenth percentile in performance (state test scores) in North Carolina. There is no high school in Frederick that is nearly that bad. Not to be snarky, but didn't you look into this before you moved?
I am a single mother who just relocated to Durham with my 10 year old daughter and 14 year old son. We have found a nice house in a new division however the schools have terrible ratings! Can anyone weigh in on the following schools:
Spring Valley Elem
Holt Elem
Southern HS
Do you feel your children are getting a good education? Do you feel they are safe? What do you think of the administration? Everything I am reading on the sites like greatschools.com says these are horrible schools. If you had your child in any of the above schools, what was your experience? If you pulled your child out, would you mind letting me know what alternative school you enrolled your child into?
We just moved here over the labor day weekend for my job. This has been a rough move and I am still on the fence on returning back home to Frederick MD. While we did not like Frederic county either, I wasn't afraid to send my child to the high school.
Thanks in advance for your insight!
There are plenty of great schools in Durham, at the elementary, middle and high school levels. I am not sure, however, that Southern in particular falls into that category. I know for a fact that Neal Middle School does not as well. Spring Valley is a newer school and was built into a massive subdivision (Brightleaf) being built in eastern Durham Co.; had thought there were high hopes for it but not entirely clear.
Durham does have fairly liberal school transfer policies. Additionally, I'd be shocked if any/all of the schools to which you are assigned don't qualify as failing schools under NCLB sufficient to be entitled to a transfer out upon request. I would explore this with the DPS central office.
On the high school side, Jordan and Riverside as well as possibly Northern would be better options, as would the magnet program at Hillside; given the timing of your relocation not sure what options there are.
My brother in law moved here last year too late for the magnet lottery; my nephew ended up at Brogden Middle and was very happy with it. However, not every base school is as strong.
BTW, in general I have a lot of problems with GreatSchools, which has a tendency to make it too easy to uplift or denigrate schools based on some mythical 1-10 scale. Check out the PTA at the school you are looking at for what is "really" going on at the school; the Strong Durham Schools web site also gives a nice contrast. Good luck.
You moved in and then checked the school ratings?
Or have you just moved into the area and are looking at a home but those schools are zoned for the prospective home?
If the latter, I'd maybe look into other housing options.
I used to live in the district for Southern HS and Neal MS. I moved when I had kids, and the primary motivator was the schools. I do know several people who have stayed in Durham and have gotten their kids into magnet schools or charter schools and have been happy with them though.
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