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Roughly yes, I would agree Chapel Hill= Berkeley or perhaps Davis if you know what Davis is like.
Durham= Oakland also yes, and Cary= Walnut Creek or maybe even Fremont.
Raleigh is tougher since it's large and so many neighborhoods. I actually think Sacramento in terms of size, capital city, downtown and then spread out if you know Sacramento you know what I mean.
This seems spot on. We lived in Sac for 5 years and my first visit to Raleigh instantly made me think of Sacramento, but in a good way. Like if Sac got it's sh*t together it would be like Raleigh. Sacto is still the best food and drink city we've lived in. Our visits to Raleigh have put it right up there in that respect too. Its not a party vibe, like Austin, but great quality offerings that are easy to get to and enjoy in a laid back sort of way.
Then again, we've not made the move yet so take this as impressions from someone intensely studying the area as an outsider.
Spring is an awesome time to come, weather is great! I agree on Sacramento, it's still affordable but has lots of cool stuff in Midtown/Old Town.
I think with the new Kings arena and cleaning up K Street should be good. And also you are right, not the party status like Austin or Asheville or Portland.
Just wanted to give an update -- I did not hear the most encouraging things from the various Triangle school districts regarding inclusion and mainstreaming, so we will, unfortunately, have to be looking into alternatives to the Raleigh-Durham area for now. Very disappointed...but better we find out now rather than later.
Just wanted to give an update -- I did not hear the most encouraging things from the various Triangle school districts regarding inclusion and mainstreaming, so we will, unfortunately, have to be looking into alternatives to the Raleigh-Durham area for now. Very disappointed...but better we find out now rather than later.
Thanks to everyone who replied!
@Fata Morgana
Can you expand on what you mean here? The primary thing that makes us nervous about the move to Raleigh area are the schools. Seems like Wake County schools are waaaaaay too complicated to navigate. We are used to just sending our kids to the neighborhood school. Wake has all these schedules and charters and some programs like orchestra are only offered at some schools but not others. VERY frustrating. Then on top of that everyone says to ignore the online rating sites, as if we have any other method to gauge where to land as a family.
But I'm unclear about what you mean here by "inclusion and mainstreaming" and clearly something I have not researched.
Feel free to direct message me if that is more comfortable.
why do you care about the schools, seriously? You're going to move into a community full of ambitious hard working transplants, the county sways liberal, what is your hang up?
Schools are funded at a county level so you wont theoretically hit a 'poor' school compared to a neighbor
why do you care about the schools, seriously? You're going to move into a community full of ambitious hard working transplants, the county sways liberal, what is your hang up?
Schools are funded at a county level so you wont theoretically hit a 'poor' school compared to a neighbor
Can you expand on what you mean here? The primary thing that makes us nervous about the move to Raleigh area are the schools. Seems like Wake County schools are waaaaaay too complicated to navigate. We are used to just sending our kids to the neighborhood school. Wake has all these schedules and charters and some programs like orchestra are only offered at some schools but not others. VERY frustrating. Then on top of that everyone says to ignore the online rating sites, as if we have any other method to gauge where to land as a family.
But I'm unclear about what you mean here by "inclusion and mainstreaming" and clearly something I have not researched.
Feel free to direct message me if that is more comfortable.
Thx!
"Inclusion and mainstreaming" are in reference to the special education program. Go back to the original post of the thread and note that Fata mentions a son in a SpEd program.
why do you care about the schools, seriously? You're going to move into a community full of ambitious hard working transplants, the county sways liberal, what is your hang up?
Schools are funded at a county level so you wont theoretically hit a 'poor' school compared to a neighbor
We simply want a safe environment that offers the same or similar opportunities that my kids enjoy now. The move will be hard enough without adding in the lack of orchestra or choosing a school that has a bullying problem, or some weird schedule, or will be bused to some random school miles away, for example.
I don't want to put my kids someplace where they'll get their ass kicked simply because they are new or because they are not sporty or they are smart or not smart enough or because of any other random thing because Wake doesn't work to mitigate bullying as well as our current district.
I don't want to just slam them into some random school and hope things work out.
I want them to continue to have opportunities to enjoy being kids, things like orchestra, drama, and choir, which not every Wake school offers. STEM is important and testing is great, but so is being able to have fun and be challenged in different, creative ways.
So that, and other things I don't want to go into here, is my hang up.
We simply want a safe environment that offers the same or similar opportunities that my kids enjoy now. The move will be hard enough without adding in the lack of orchestra or choosing a school that has a bullying problem, or some weird schedule, or will be bused to some random school miles away, for example.
I don't want to put my kids someplace where they'll get their ass kicked simply because they are new or because they are not sporty or they are smart or not smart enough or because of any other random thing because Wake doesn't work to mitigate bullying as well as our current district.
I don't want to just slam them into some random school and hope things work out.
I want them to continue to have opportunities to enjoy being kids, things like orchestra, drama, and choir, which not every Wake school offers. STEM is important and testing is great, but so is being able to have fun and be challenged in different, creative ways.
So that, and other things I don't want to go into here, is my hang up.
Green Hope HS has what you are looking for in terms of the fine arts. Your kids will most likely never be bullied for not being sporty at any of the local high schools. Can't guarantee weird schedules, that just depends what you are used to. Our biggest hiccups were classes taken not matching up with classes offered and we had to delay our move (wait until summer) due to the different block schedule. It was somewhat frustrating but in the end it has worked out.
I think sometimes as parents we tend to over analyze things and worry what will become of our kids if we pick them up and move them. It usually ends up being a growing experience for them and they learn to adapt, cope, and excel.
Wishing you the best in your move!
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