Chatham County Schools recruiting (Raleigh, Durham: chapel, home, middle schools)

[Samrai309]

Hello all--

I just had a question and hope anyone with any feedback is willing to chime in. I am currently in Northeast Florida teaching high school biology. The local paper had an ad in the classifieds stating that Chatham county schools in Pittsboro, NC are coming to Daytona to recruit for experienced teachers in a bunch of different subject areas, one of which was my suject area, Science. I was curious why they are coming across state lines, in this case a few states, in order to interview teachers. Is there that much of a teacher shortage? Are the schools in bad shape? Is there a lot of turnover? Is pay good? Bad? I know I just machine-gunned a bunch of questions and I apologize. I was just wondering if anyone had any information on the schools and the surrounding areas. This peaked my interest and I was contemplating going down for an interview to see what they had to say. My fiancee, who is a nurse in NY, has mentioned the Raleigh area as an area she was interested in seeing and she had a friend who moved down to the Cary area a few years ago because she was in love with the area. This is something that also made me consider hearing what the county school board representatives had to say.

Once again, any info anyone may want to toss my way would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Joe

[Native NC]

Actually Chatham County is a beautiful place to live, much of the surrounding area is currently somewhat rural but it's growing, there are planned developments there that are very upscale too - Moderator cut: removed I am home shopping and ran into a young couple looking to move from Cary schools to the Pittsboro schools due to several issues. One, the schools in Cary/Wake County are quite overcrowded, but both Cary and Chapel Hill advertise some of the highest SAT score averages for the state? Also the traffic and flavor of Cary is very different than that of Chatham County, Cary is a planned city and as a result is very homogenous in flavor. Chapel Hill is much more diverse, Pittsboro is very quaint, and Siler City is even more rural in flavor.

When you look at the triangle now, Raleigh/Cary/Apex/Holly Springs are all literally back-to-back and although it's great growth for the triangle, the infrastructure including the schools has struggled to keep up with the growth.

I have no idea about teacher salaries or conditions in Chatham County but it does have a more 'southern' culture than Cary or Apex, which may or may not matter to you. An interview can't hurt and Chatham County is currently tagged as the next big growth area.

[Samrai309]

Originally Posted by Native NC

Actually Chatham County is a beautiful place to live, much of the surrounding area is currently somewhat rural but it's growing, there are planned developments there that are very upscale too - Moderator cut: removed I am home shopping and ran into a young couple looking to move from Cary schools to the Pittsboro schools due to several issues. One, the schools in Cary/Wake County are quite overcrowded, but both Cary and Chapel Hill advertise some of the highest SAT score averages for the state? Also the traffic and flavor of Cary is very different than that of Chatham County, Cary is a planned city and as a result is very homogenous in flavor. Chapel Hill is much more diverse, Pittsboro is very quaint, and Siler City is even more rural in flavor.

When you look at the triangle now, Raleigh/Cary/Apex/Holly Springs are all literally back-to-back and although it's great growth for the triangle, the infrastructure including the schools has struggled to keep up with the growth.

I have no idea about teacher salaries or conditions in Chatham County but it does have a more 'southern' culture than Cary or Apex, which may or may not matter to you. An interview can't hurt and Chatham County is currently tagged as the next big growth area.

Thanks for the input. Anyone else out there, feel free to thow your two cents in.

[rfb]

Pittsboro is a wonderful small town. I've only visited a few times, but it has a very bohemian feel to it. Definitely a small town, though. Much of the rest of Catham County is rural. I don't know about Chatham County or Pittsboro in particular, but much of the Triangle area is growing rapidly, so perhaps that is why they are hiring.

I've known a few nurses who lived in Pittsboro and worked at Duke Hospital in Durham. A good 30-45 minute drive each way. Raleigh would be farther still, and I personally wouldn't want to drive from Raleigh to Pittsboro.

Parts of Cary are adjacent to Catham County, and some of the Southwest suburbs of Raleigh like Cary and Apex might make a good location between Raleigh and Pittsboro. Hopefully someone who lives in that part of the Triangle can give some advice.

[ausmerika]

Originally Posted by Samrai309

Thanks for the input. Anyone else out there, feel free to thow your two cents in.

I don't know what the payscale in FL is, but can tell you that this is an area of high growth, and is difficulty finding teachers to fill all the slots. As far as pay goes, Chatham Co is less than CHCCS (one of the highest in the state), but I know of many teachers who give up (some of) the pay in order to be in a system with less stress. Wake Co has high stress due to the overwhelming growth and teacher shortage. If it's Northwood doing the looking, they have a strong program but it's getting overcrowded and due for a new HS to be built in that area. If it's toward Apex but in Chatham Co--big growth area!

[Samrai309]

Thanks for the info everyone. I will probably go down there and see what they have to say. It doesn't hurt to go see what its all about.

[MarianneH]

Please come visit! Much of Chatham County is still very rural but some of North Chatham adjoins Chapel Hill and even has a Chapel Hill address. The N. Chatham schools, Perry Harrison and North Chatham, have state ABC scores similar to Chapel Hill. A new high school is planned for N. Chatham.

[Samrai309]

Just thought I would let you guys know I am scheduled for an appointment tomorrow afternoon so I will get more details on the situation. It doesn't hurt to give it a shot and see what they have to say. Thanks again to those providing some feedback.

[pabluni]

Be sure to check out Woods Charter School just north of Pittsboro. K-12, just going into brand new building, state of the art. 2nd highest SATs in NC. Lots of UNC-CH professors send their kids here. Over 500 kids on waiting list.

[RPV2NC]

I got a call a couple of days ago for a position at one of their middle schools. They may have to recruit harder simply because it is a more sparsely populated area and something of a drive from the more populated areas. I'd imagine they are growing, too, with new developments spilling over from Cary, etc. I might have considered the position if I hadn't already landed something for fall.