How happy are you with the schools? (Durham, Cary: for sale, homes)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have a child currently in 4th grade, so I'm doing a little research on the schools in Wake County and Durham.
How happy are you guys/gals with the school system here? In particular I'm looking at the magnet schools with a focus on STEM and IB. Are they challenging and engaging? I went to a magnet school for middle school in the deep south and found it be rigorous (a good thing).
I'm also a little confused on the magnet school's selection process. One of the criteria is socio economic status, which is based on the SES status of the home address. Does this mean low SES have priority? Are said schools difficult to get in?
I've been perfectly happy with the education and overall experience of WCPSS for 17 academic years with my 2 daughters.
In WCPSS, your node's SES should be HIGH, so that the magnet school wants to pull you out of your comfortable cocoon to attend the lower-SES magnet location.
Magnet slots are filled first by siblings of existing students, then by a lottery that's weighted towards students from crowded schools and high SES. Then, about 10% of the slots are a pure lottery from everyone else.
Been here almost 7 years and quite happy. Would put the kids in our schools up against the ones from our vaunted school district in NY any day. You are reversed on how magnets work - Bo explained it.
You will hear bad things about Durham public schools - some warranted, some not. I have kids in the system, and there are definitely some good neighborhood schools but the magnets often have better reputations (generally speaking, quality varies there as well). The magnet system in Durham doesn't take SES into account per se, but each school has its own set of rules and policies regarding attendance, which can get confusing. Some magnets have sibling priority and some don't. Some are open to the whole county and some are only open to people in certain zones. Some are total lottery and others have an assigned area where you can go automatically plus a lottery. Some have priority area that favors students in certain zones. It's basically school dependent.
I've been perfectly happy with the education and overall experience of WCPSS for 17 academic years with my 2 daughters.
In WCPSS, your node's SES should be HIGH, so that the magnet school wants to pull you out of your comfortable cocoon to attend the lower-SES magnet location.
Magnet slots are filled first by siblings of existing students, then by a lottery that's weighted towards students from crowded schools and high SES. Then, about 10% of the slots are a pure lottery from everyone else.
Thanks for explanation. Everything is just hearsay for now, wife and I just weighing our choices. I've checked a few homes in Cary online, which would be our target city. The few homes I've seen for sale in Cary and plugged in on the WCPSS site have all been labeled "High SES" so that's good in terms of magnet weight.
Been here almost 7 years and quite happy. Would put the kids in our schools up against the ones from our vaunted school district in NY any day. You are reversed on how magnets work - Bo explained it.
Good to hear... my personal experience with magnet schools is a positive as well.
Funny thing is I currently live in a top rated school district in WA state, but I don't see anything impressive in the teaching or curriculum that garners a top rating. I suspect it's these helicopter parents basically forcing their kids to study and take AP tests ad nauseum.
How is the curriculum and teachers where your are at?
in almost every Wake County location where the median housing is over $300K, your children can get a "magnet-level" education in the regular public schools. And each magnet has a base area, some of which are in high SES areas ... the catch is that if you're in the base, you don't automatically get the magnet classes.
And if your child is in 4th grade now, your energy would be better spent looking at middle and high schools than 1 remaining year of elementary.
I have a child currently in 4th grade, so I'm doing a little research on the schools in Wake County and Durham.
How happy are you guys/gals with the school system here? In particular I'm looking at the magnet schools with a focus on STEM and IB. Are they challenging and engaging? I went to a magnet school for middle school in the deep south and found it be rigorous (a good thing).
I'm also a little confused on the magnet school's selection process. One of the criteria is socio economic status, which is based on the SES status of the home address. Does this mean low SES have priority? Are said schools difficult to get in?
Thanks...
Are you trying to get into a magnet schools for the 2017-18 school year? You've way missed the magnet school application window in Wake. The really popular ones are going to be full so the ones you might be able to get into have open slots for a reason.
Magnet schools are a crapshoot. We applied to them and didn't get in. A lot of it depends on your base school so buy in an area with a good base and you have a better shot. We did get our calendar option so took that as our base was not an option. And we lived in a 300k-ish neighborhood in raleigh.
I'm on the early end with a 1st grader but so far have been happy with the schools for the most part. I do find the interaction with other parents to be kind of limited and wish they'd publish a directory for phone numbers for play dates and such. Also it really depends on your teachers more than the school.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,766 posts, read 15,721,918 times
Reputation: 10865
Be aware, that there is a proposal in the state to lower the maximum number of students that can be in a classroom. While that sounds good on the surface, it may cause the school district to cut out arts and specials so that they can meet the state requirement. The money has to come from somewhere.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.