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We are in the process of moving to Cary in summer of 2016 from NJ and the assigned school for us is Green Hope High School. We have been told it is a good school. We have also applied to Cary Academy and would like some information from anyone who has had experience in both schools. My son will be going to 9th grade and is not a great ahtlete but does like to play sports and participate in extracurriculars. We are looking for specific pro's and con's only on these schools. Any information will be highly appreciated.
We have a child at another private school as well as the one at GHHS and it's pretty hard to fairly quantify the differences between public and private but that should be very obvious from the get-go.
I don't think are going to find anyone - at least here - who has sent their kids to both schools. I have some neighbors who use CA and we live in the GHHS base zone.
CA is for the most part a VERY wealthy demographic - if you are going to send your kid there be prepared to pony up not just tuition.
CA is probably easier to make sports teams based on neighbors I have who've made said teams and seeing them play
We have one neighbor who sent one child there for MS, pulled her out for HS at GHHS and send the next child right to Davis Drive Middle. Both kids and parents are happy.
GHHS is a major pressure cooker environment - the parents are academically ambitious and it trickles down to the kids. My child who goes there is not on that level but he still hears it all day, every day. It can be a strain, too much of a strain, for some kids. And GHHS is huge, especially if you are coming from a small district in NJ.
OP, the only comment I can make on CA is that I know someone whose children attend and they seem happy with the schooling but they have commented that it is expensive.
We fairly recently moved to NC and my children attend GHHS and are doing well. It still surprises me that it is one of the top schools in the state. Don't get me wrong, I do like the school a lot, but in my opinion it does not come close to the district/High School we left. From my viewpoint, Wake County and NC does not fund schools at the level they should be funded. I believe school districts that are based on the county tend to be a detriment to the schools. Wake County has too many schools to properly manage. That said, the administration, teachers, coaches, and even the custodians at GHHS that I have had the pleasure of interacting with have all been amazing!
As for the pressure cooker atmosphere, my kids have never expressed feeling any pressure academically. My kids (3 at GHHS) are 4.0-3.25 unweighted GPA students with the oldest being an AP scholar with Distinction- school seems very easy at GHHS compared to where we came from. The homework load is pretty light or they have plenty of extra time in class to get work done. My kids are very happy at the school and that in itself makes this mom happy as well.
OP, the only comment I can make on CA is that I know someone whose children attend and they seem happy with the schooling but they have commented that it is expensive.
We fairly recently moved to NC and my children attend GHHS and are doing well. It still surprises me that it is one of the top schools in the state. Don't get me wrong, I do like the school a lot, but in my opinion it does not come close to the district/High School we left. From my viewpoint, Wake County and NC does not fund schools at the level they should be funded. I believe school districts that are based on the county tend to be a detriment to the schools. Wake County has too many schools to properly manage. That said, the administration, teachers, coaches, and even the custodians at GHHS that I have had the pleasure of interacting with have all been amazing!
As for the pressure cooker atmosphere, my kids have never expressed feeling any pressure academically. My kids (3 at GHHS) are 4.0-3.25 unweighted GPA students with the oldest being an AP scholar with Distinction- school seems very easy at GHHS compared to where we came from. The homework load is pretty light or they have plenty of extra time in class to get work done. My kids are very happy at the school and that in itself makes this mom happy as well.
Best of luck in your decision!
Just out of curiosity... where'd you come from?
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GHHS is a major pressure cooker environment - the parents are academically ambitious and it trickles down to the kids. My child who goes there is not on that level but he still hears it all day, every day. It can be a strain, too much of a strain, for some kids. And GHHS is huge, especially if you are coming from a small district in NJ.
I don't have any experience with either, but wouldn't one surmise that CA, being an elite private high school, is similarly academically ambitious? Especially with parents coughing up $25K a year. I mean, some parents will send their kids there for other reasons such as prestige, to keep their kids away from a wrong crowd, or to have a closer watch on their kids by staff, but I have to believe there is a decent cohort that places the highest emphasis on academic performance.
I don't have any experience with either, but wouldn't one surmise that CA, being an elite private high school, is similarly academically ambitious? Especially with parents coughing up $25K a year. I mean, some parents will send their kids there for other reasons such as prestige, to keep their kids away from a wrong crowd, or to have a closer watch on their kids by staff, but I have to believe there is a decent cohort that places the highest emphasis on academic performance.
I didn't say it wasn't. I have no experience with it and have not that it is from the people I know who go there.
As for the pressure cooker atmosphere, my kids have never expressed feeling any pressure academically. My kids (3 at GHHS) are 4.0-3.25 unweighted GPA students with the oldest being an AP scholar with Distinction- school seems very easy at GHHS compared to where we came from. The homework load is pretty light or they have plenty of extra time in class to get work done. My kids are very happy at the school and that in itself makes this mom happy as well.
Best of luck in your decision!
A lot of kids like the block scheduling for this reason. Few HS kids have the attention span to get lectured to for 90 minutes so they do end up getting work done in class. My child is in the academic level and gets resource help and having only two core classes has been great for him. Much less "stuff" for him to keep track of.
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