Ok...here we go with WCPSS...not happy!! (Raleigh, Cary: 2009, transfer)

[stephz1008]

Originally Posted by saturnfan

A large influx of students makes it hard to do things in an orderly manner.

If people would stop moving here, WCPSS could catch up.

Saturnfan, I have to say, it seems like you are always bashing people about moving down. How it is not utopia. How people should stop moving here. Aren't you a transplant yourself?? I seem to remember a post where you indicated...

We live in Raleigh since 1989 but lived in Oceanside, Long Beach, Island Park, Manhattan, and Hempstead.

As the saying goes, what is good for the goose is good for the gander.

As to the OP, all school districts go through growing pains. While I agree that it is inconvenient, it is unfortunately the price paid when living in an area of growth. You take the good with the bad and as someone said earlier, do your research. Worst case there is always private schools.

[maxpower212]

Originally Posted by NC man

I would ask you this, if you transplanted here did you research the effect of high growth. Dont take it wrong I actually agree with you that its a big mess, but people continue to say that the kids schools are the number one issue and still move into a bad high growth system. Let me tell you from a home grown resident of NC that the schools here in wake are sliding fast. I have raised two sons in this system one 17 in high school and the other in Middle school. This is my experience, my 17 year old attented two middle schools in cary and did very well the teachers did a great job and he did well. he is now at Apex high and this has been a good school to this point. My 13 year old went to Farmington woods two years ago and was top of the class, good teachers ect. He now attends a Middle school which I will not name. The change that has taken place at this school is astonishing. My son has come home from school totally stressed out many times. He is scared to use the bath room because groups of kids hang out there and tear the place up and beat on other kids. Gangs have developed and they hang out in the halls and intimidate other students. The teachers cannot control this newgroup of kids and my once happy go lucky child has changed. It effects the kids ability to learn and this all happened in the l;ast couple years. Dont get me wrong its not all related to growth its mostly the wake county BS degrading the education of our children.

I know what you mean. My high school was never great, but was good. Now, 10 years later, it's a "magnet" school, but I went back to do some volunteer work, and I swear they haven't painted a single wall or replaced a desk since I was there. Money isn't always the answer, but I can tell you that even then I had classes in the library, gym, and occasionally the cafeteria due to overcrowding. I always thought Dillard was pretty good... Being in Cary, and it looked pretty! (Although this may have been 10-15 years ago, too.)

[NCMommy2-4]

Reason 3 why we chose to homeschool.

[NC from MA]

Is the bullying at the middle school level the "norm"??? I currently have 2 sixth graders and so far they haven't talked about anything like what has been described on this post. I know it can happen anywhere...does anyone out there have a positive middle school experience to share, specifically in WCPSS???? I can deal with year round schools and reassignments, but bullying should not be tolerated anywhere. Is there a zero tolerance policy in place?

[findingmesomeday]

Originally Posted by NC from MA

Is the bullying at the middle school level the "norm"??? I currently have 2 sixth graders and so far they haven't talked about anything like what has been described on this post. I know it can happen anywhere...does anyone out there have a positive middle school experience to share, specifically in WCPSS???? I can deal with year round schools and reassignments, but bullying should not be tolerated anywhere. Is there a zero tolerance policy in place?

Bullying should never be "the norm" and it should not be tolerated. I really get uncomfortable when I hear people blow it off as "oh that's middle school for you".

[SarahMom]

Originally Posted by saturnfan

A large influx of students makes it hard to do things in an orderly manner.

If people would stop moving here, WCPSS could catch up.

Its my theory that its not about growth at all. I think that's the koolaid they've been feeding everyone.

We've been looking at the mandatory year round conversions and they are not happening for reasons of overcrowding.

We have spreadsheets showing the Wake County schools that were converted in 2007-08 and their capacity and enrollment numbers for 2006-07, 2007-08, and planned numbers for 2008-09 (Copy of Converted Schools). Schools were converted in West/Southwest Wake County that are going to be way under capacity in the 2008-09 school year. Baucom Elementary in Apex has a capacity of 1035 and a projected enrollment of 757 (or 73.1% capacity) for the 2008-09 school year. Highcroft Elementary in Cary has a capacity of 1072 and a projected enrollment of 726 (or 67.7% capacity) for the 2008-09 school year. Holly Springs Elementary has a capacity of 1152 and a projected enrollment of 938 (or 81.4% capacity) for the 2008-09 school year.

[SarahMom]

Originally Posted by NChomesomeday

Bullying should never be "the norm" and it should not be tolerated. I really get uncomfortable when I hear people blow it off as "oh that's middle school for you".

But its the norm for the BOE to bully the whole citizenship! lol!

[I'minformed2]

Originally Posted by maxpower212

I know what you mean. My high school was never great, but was good. Now, 10 years later, it's a "magnet" school, but I went back to do some volunteer work, and I swear they haven't painted a single wall or replaced a desk since I was there. Money isn't always the answer, but I can tell you that even then I had classes in the library, gym, and occasionally the cafeteria due to overcrowding. I always thought Dillard was pretty good... Being in Cary, and it looked pretty! (Although this may have been 10-15 years ago, too.)

YOU ARE SO RIGHT! Dillard Drive middle is a BEAUTIFUl building, relativley new (it was brand new in 1998 when my oldest son started there in 4th grade, and the 4th graders were actually in the middle school building). It is very modern, clean looking, huge fancy skylights in every classroom...but the administration is a MESS! Don't even get me started on that Principal Abron lady (I hope its OK if I use her name, it was in an article somebody posted on here a while ago so I'm assuming it isn't against the rules to say it on here) and the socioeconomic make-up of that school just makes for an all out brawl between cultures. I always thought of Dillard as the posterchild for the negative effects of bussing to get the proper "ratios". I'm not sure if this is still the case now, but that school was very overcrowded the last year that my son went there (2002-2003) and it seemed ridiculous that they were taking kids from Poole Road and bussing them there to the Raleigh/Cary border to a school that would have been at full capacity with kids just from the immediate area.

[lamishra]

Originally Posted by SarahMom

Its my theory that its not about growth at all. I think that's the koolaid they've been feeding everyone.

We've been looking at the mandatory year round conversions and they are not happening for reasons of overcrowding.

We have spreadsheets showing the Wake County schools that were converted in 2007-08 and their capacity and enrollment numbers for 2006-07, 2007-08, and planned numbers for 2008-09 (Copy of Converted Schools). Schools were converted in West/Southwest Wake County that are going to be way under capacity in the 2008-09 school year. Baucom Elementary in Apex has a capacity of 1035 and a projected enrollment of 757 (or 73.1% capacity) for the 2008-09 school year. Highcroft Elementary in Cary has a capacity of 1072 and a projected enrollment of 726 (or 67.7% capacity) for the 2008-09 school year. Holly Springs Elementary has a capacity of 1152 and a projected enrollment of 938 (or 81.4% capacity) for the 2008-09 school year.

Sounds like perfectly reasonable enrollment figures to me, especially considering these schools can accomodate at least 1/3 more students than most traditional schools. They have to leave room for future expected growth or else we'll be right back in the same situation with needing more schools.

[findingmesomeday]

I'll probably get bashed for saying this, sarahmom since I don't live there, but I totally agree with you about the koolaid. The reassignment program, under-enrolled YR schools, etc., are all a social experiment in disguise, in my opinion. Most other cities found out that forcing diversity does NOT work. Perhaps one day WCPSS will realize this too. Though the more I read, the more I really think it's about the almighty dollar which WCPSS realizes as they boost their overall scores up through mandated diversity.

I have a friend who lives in an area assigned to Broughton. I don't know what elementary school her kids were assigned to, but when they were in elementary school, Wake bussed a slew of F&R lunch kids into the school and bussed a whole bunch of local kids out to make room for them. Overnight it went from a nuturing environment to one where the teachers spent more time breaking up fights and disciplining children than teaching. The turning point for my friend was when some kid in her daughter's class purposely killed the class frog by stabbing it with a pencil. She pulled her kids out and put them in private school.

Now that they are high school level, she has returned them to Broughton. I know there is much diversity at Broughton but I got the impression from my friend that it was a natural diversity--made up of mostly areas around the school and of course the magnet program, but it wasn't forced as it was at the elementary level. She's been happy with Broughton so far. Her advice to me was, that if I wound up in Wake Co, to try to settle in an established area where the numbers were less likely to be messed with by WCPSS and the reassignment program. Or send the kids to private school. Or homeschool them. (Or move to another county--but she was just addressing Wake Co for me.)