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I've combed this forum for people's opinions on the Durham school situation, but I have a couple more questions I'd like to solicit feedback.
A little background: couple in mid thirties, baby under 1 year old, been house hunting for the past two years. We were new to the area (I work at Duke) and really didn't have a sense of the different areas and what they have to offer. We love Durham and have many friends here. At first (before children - ha), Durham's reputation did not scare us away from considering buying in the city. However, as we hone in on the area we'd like to be in and questions about schools come up, we are not too sure and have been spinning our wheels and getting nowhere.
Price range up to 300k although would be more comfortable at 250k.
At first, I was willing to go outside of Durham, but thinking about the precious little time I have with my little one during the week, I just can't imagine living further out and having to spend more time commuting. I'd rather be able to see her during my lunch times and have at least my hour and a half with her by the time I get home and have to put her to bed at 7. Therefore, I've resigned myself to trying to buy in Durham and reevaluate after elementary school. Therefore, I'm looking at areas in Durham with the best elementary schools. Our other criteria is, of course, family friendly and a good neighborhood vibe. Where we currently rent has alot of families but no good community vibe. Our cars have also been broken into multiple times (we live near American Village - considered pretty safe on the crime maps!).
So my concern is: I've somewhat narrowed down the elementary school districts that we feel most comfortable with: Forest View, Creekside, Easley and possibly Hillandale (any other recommendations?). I know about magnet and charter schools, but I don't want to take my chances if we do not end up in one of them because we didn't make the lottery. The housing market has shot up so much since we have started looking which makes us wary. I have looked in areas around Durham where I feel the house prices don't measure up to the reputation of the schools. I just hate to pay a premium for a house to get into a school district that might not be worth it.
I understand that the rankings (greatschools, etc) don't tell the whole story of the school. I've based our list above on talking to people in the area. We want to get a house so much but figuring out where to go is the hardest thing. I am sure we are completely overthinking it, but I'd like others opinions on the matter. I've seen families buy into a not so hot school district only to move when their kid is about to enter elementary. If we went that route, we would have four years in the house and I am not sure we could sell with good equity in that short of time (I'm not chancing it - i've lived through the previous bubble - plus I hate moving). We've also considered Hillsborough.
Any input from the most-wise forum would be very much appreciated. Thanks!
in every single school, there are children that do just fine. My general philosophy and recommendation to my clients is that there is NO WAY to tell what's going to be a good school 5 years from now - which is basically your situation.
Now, yours is a bit different from some because it sounds like you both work full-time and don't have time to be involved in school. Based on my experience, the most important factor in student and school success is parental involvement. So, my advice would be to find out which schools have that. Maybe you need to get the WORST house in the right school that has a lot of parent volunteering.
We've been looking into this too. No kids yet, but thinking about it and planning to buy within the next 6 months. Trying to take that somewhat into consideration.
I'll defer to what others think since I really don't know much about schools - but you may want to consider Little River as well. From what I'm hearing, it has a good reputation and strong scores (for Durham). It "feels" further out, but is really no worse than many of the places in South Durham given traffic seems to be lighter.
I live in Hillsborough and have a 15 min commute to Duke. The school that my kids go to is amazing (Cameron Park). That area is full of UNC/Duke professors and doctors, and other professionals. You could definitely get something with your budget in Hillsborough and it is a very short drive with no traffic to Durham.
I have a friend who had her kids at Hope Valley Elementary and they liked that. They went on from there to Githens Middle (which she seemed to like okay) and Jordan (generally regarded as the best traditional high school in Durham).
I have a lot of friends who have their kids in Central Park School For Children charter. I'd definitely recommend applying there.
Creekside is fantastic. Also be sure to lottery for Vovager the year before kindergarten. Easiest time to get in.
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