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We received a letter last night that says that my kids kindergarten classes are so overcrowded that they need to create an extra 1st grade class to accomodate them next yr. I have twins in kindergarten. Now do you think that they would create that class on track 1..the most popular at this school...or maybe even track 4...no, they created it on track 3!!! So they are asking for voluteers to move to track 3 next yr or else they will make the moves themselves. So basically their complete lack of planning (like why would they let the kids that came to these classes mid year cram the popular tracks completely full?). They created this problem, but we get to pay for it. If they had a policy of putting kids that come in mid yr in less popular tracks, and then creating a new class if necessary, then those kids wouldn't have to change tracks. Not to put down kids that come in mid year, but we all have to apply for tracks and be accepted and not everyone gets first choice, so its no different. We have plans for Sept & Dec trackouts already...this would not be good.
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.
NC man I venture to guess your son may go to Dillard Middle...don't feel obligated to say if it is or not. But my son went to Dillard Middle and HATED it, and then Apex high, which eventually he loved (and is IMO the best High School in Wake County). I'm so glad our youngest son won't have to deal with the WCPSS mess.
NC man I venture to guess your son may go to Dillard Middle...don't feel obligated to say if it is or not. But my son went to Dillard Middle and HATED it, and then Apex high, which eventually he loved (and is IMO the best High School in Wake County). I'm so glad our youngest son won't have to deal with the WCPSS mess.
We researched this move for 10+ yrs, so yes. The schools here are 1000 times better than the schools we left in S. Cal, so the move is still good for our kids, which is one of the main reason we moved here. But the amount of reactivity in the schools is amazing..this growth thing did not happen overnight. A relatively short period, yes, but in 7 or 8 yrs you would think that you could put a few simple measures in place. They could have prevented this problem easily, but didn't. They are scrambling...leadership is needed. To give the parents basically an ultimatum that in 3 months they have to change their whole schedule is unacceptable.
Crap! We're assigned to Dillard. However, my son is only 2, so I'm counting on things to change in the next 10 years.
Middle school is tough. Something about boys going through puberty that makes them want to pound the crap out of everyone. I had bullies pound on me during class when the teacher would look the other way
Crap! We're assigned to Dillard. However, my son is only 2, so I'm counting on things to change in the next 10 years.
Middle school is tough. Something about boys going through puberty that makes them want to pound the crap out of everyone. I had bullies pound on me during class when the teacher would look the other way
I went to school in Chapel Hill, and you get the same thing there. Middle School is hard for teachers and administrators b/c the problem kids are too old to discipline, and too young to suspend. Then when you try to talk to their parents, you figure out why they are the way they are.
My DD went to a DIFFERENT middle school in Cary and it doesn't sound much different than how you've described Dillard. It makes me think it may just be a middle school thing and not so much the schools themselves...I don't know. We switched her to a charter and let me tell you guys it's made a WORLD of difference.
I obviously live in Mayberry RFD here in MA. I've had two kids go through the middle school and there have been less than 5 incidents of fighting in the combined six years they were at this school. I've heard of some minor hazing and bullying but I've also seen kids suspended at least 4 times for it (on different occasions). There was a group in my older son's class that were a bad influence on a larger group of kids. In 7th grade, the prinicipal had ALL the parents in for a series of meetings (not mandatory but 95% of the parents showed up). She put some parameters in place and let us know about them. She followed through on the restrictions she made and if a kid broke the rule, they paid the consequence (which is why she wanted to get parent buy-in first--so she wouldn't have to argue later). By the end of 8th grade, the teachers and administrators decided to handle this group proactively for high school by breaking them up. We only have one high school. They held one back and had him repeat 8th grade. They told another his grades were ok for 9th grade but that the high school would be too competitive so they strongly encouraged him to attend the regional voch-tech school (open to any resident of any town in the county). Another was strongly steered towards private school. The remaining kids, once the group was broken, became "law abiding citizens" and there were no more problems.
Gangs and bullies make me nervous. A lot of it is part of the growing up process but when kids don't feel safe at school, I get very upset. There's a huge difference between hurting someone's feelings and physically threatening them.
As for the track changes described in the OP: Reason # 452 I will not send my kids to WCPS.
For Saturnfan: How do you propose to tell people to stop moving there so the schools can "catch up"?
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