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Old 04-01-2008, 01:55 PM
 
413 posts, read 1,253,054 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bluedevilz View Post
Dude,

Chill out....

There was NO reference to Orange county in the OP first post and since the person looking for info is not FROM here it is not unreasonable to clarify which school in the UNC system is being discussed...

Also, the person you are taking to the woodshed over this MASSIVE oversight which has so incensed you is either a native of Chapel Hill/Orange County or a very long time resident based on his/her previous posts...certainly has been here longer than you.....

Sheesh....
Thanks Bluedevilz. I think I like you. Go Heels!
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Old 04-01-2008, 02:02 PM
 
Location: WA
4,242 posts, read 8,760,686 times
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I don't know where you heard that NC public schools are good. They're pretty terrible. The only decent ones are in Chapel Hill. That's why property values shoot up when you cross the Durham/CH line.

I have students from elsewhere in the state coming to my college classroom not ever having used a microscope. It's sad.
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Old 04-01-2008, 02:23 PM
 
27 posts, read 81,358 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ALT-X View Post
There are plenty of great schools throughout NC. People put too much stock in "school report cards" and other things that measure how good a school is. Kids that are highly motivated have no trouble learning and performing well in the NC school system. If you have a highly motivated child then all you need to concern yourself with is the performance of students that share the same characteristics as your child.

Many schools might appear to be underperforming to the undiscerning eye but this isn't the schools fault. You can't force kids to learn, the desire to do well in school comes from a kid's parent(s) and his/her home environment. The education system in this country is not failing, (No Child Left Behind is such a joke) what is failing is family values and the importance of school to many of today's youth.
I have to disagree. Yes, the family's role in a child's education is of utmost importance, but when you have motivation but not the right resources, it's 10 times as hard. I know this for a fact, because I started primary school in a lower-class neighborhood with limited resources. Only after eventually entering a "good" school system (quantified by tests scores) in high school, did I see so many doors of opportunities open up. There was never a question of motivation or encouragement coming from my family (or I myself even), but there's nothing you can do when you don't have the resources to further your abilities. I think you're underestimating the power of a "good" school in a child's future.

Of course, I have to admit that going to a lowly ranked school had its psychological benefits, it made me realize the value of education, the value of perseverance, and the value of having teachers who believe in you. I wouldn't have traded that experience for the world, but at the same time, I recognize that I lost out on a lot of opportunities, simply because my school didn't have such programs or didn't advertise such and such opportunities, not because I couldn't do or my family didn't motivate me to.

With the "no child left behind" thing, that's a completely different conversation. I won't say much, since this is a touchy issue. In general, I think it's good conceptually, but the way it's implemented is horrid. Redistribution at the college level (via merit-blind financial aid) is only hurting the middle class students who can't afford private school tuition but worked hard their entire adolescent years in order to get into such and such school. In my opinion, redistribution can be highly effective at the primary school level, when children are most impressionable and the costs of bringing one child "up to par" is much less than at the college level. But the importance there lies in where the redistributed funds are going into, the pockets of principals or books or what is it? Do increased number of books matter when children aren't attending school to begin win? etc. It's a much more complicated situation that can't be summed up by "Yes, it's great," or "No, it's wrong." Just my 2 cents.
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Old 04-01-2008, 02:25 PM
 
27 posts, read 81,358 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by seattlenextyear View Post
I don't know where you heard that NC public schools are good. They're pretty terrible. The only decent ones are in Chapel Hill. That's why property values shoot up when you cross the Durham/CH line.

I have students from elsewhere in the state coming to my college classroom not ever having used a microscope. It's sad.
Really! Amazing. I didn't realize that. I think there seems to be a generalization that NC schools are good, since they appear on rankings consistently. Now that I think about it though, it's most likely magnet schools and charter schools that are receiving such publicity.
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Old 04-01-2008, 02:32 PM
 
27 posts, read 81,358 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TexasNC View Post
as you see some people play dumb with respect to college rivalries in these parts as it pertains to UNC or UNC-Chapel Hill or Carolina or UNCCH or Chapel Hill or the Hill

people, particularly those from a central Raleigh, get overly sensitive when people refer to UNC as "UNC" of course we ALL know you meant UNC Chapel Hill, based on your description and mention of Orange Co but....nevermind, that's a different discussion. We all know what you mean, don't worry about it. There's no other "UNC-" system university with a UNC in front of it in the triangle and yet people act dumb.....

But as for your question, Chapel Hill City Schools would be your best bet. Though Chapel Hill is located in Orange Co, it's a seperate entity. CHCS are better academically IMHO and I would look there. The Chapel Hill City Schools are generally considered the top 3 in the state of NC. If it's public you want and you want to live in the UNC...opps University of North Carolina at CHAPEL HILL area, than I would go w/the Chapel Hill City Schools. NC doesn't have "Independent School Districts" probably like Chicago. I moved here from Dallas and it was pretty different in terms of how the school system is set up. Most cities are a part of the "County School District" if you will. Chapel Hill is a rare exception probably b/c of the money $$$ and influence over there with a well educated population wanting their kids to achieve academically. No offense to Orange Co Schools. So just keep that in mind when looking at schools. Even if you live out in the burbs, you really don't have independent suburban school districts which operate seperately from inner city schools. Everyone attends the same school or county district here.
That's interesting. I noticed that there was only a handful of schools in the Carrbaro - Chapel Hill district, so your explanation makes a lot of sense.


Also, I re-read ausmerika's post, and there was mentioning of the NC Math and Science Academy. I think that's one reason why I thought NC had good schools, because a friend once told me it was comparable to (if not better than) our IL Math and Science Academy.
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Old 04-01-2008, 02:42 PM
 
27 posts, read 81,358 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MI-Roger View Post
Remember; an average means half the schools are above and half are below.

Only in Lake Wobegon are all the children above average.
=) I understand what on average is. But isn't the reason why many strive for the 90th percentile is so that you're above and beyond the average? Thus, I was hoping to find such a school. I already accounted for the schools that are in more rural areas weighing the average down, and I was surprised at first to not have seen the counterbalance in schools around Chapel Hill (when I was checking for Orange County).

No idea where Lake Wobegon is but interesting point.
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Old 04-01-2008, 02:54 PM
 
13 posts, read 29,158 times
Reputation: 11
Does anyone know what reading curriculm they use?
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Old 04-01-2008, 03:04 PM
 
27 posts, read 81,358 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by raleighjayne View Post
If you're wanting something comparable to good Chicago suburb schools, then I'd go Chapel Hill all the way.

Foreign language isn't offered in all Wake County middle schools, but I think that most do. Its mostly the year round middle schools that don't offer it. Magnet schools will offer several different languages while 'regular' schools will offer 1 or 2.

The magnet lottery is not a true lottery. Applicants are given a 'priority number' based on where they live, what the F&R (Free & Reduced Lunch) participation rate of their base school is, and how crowded their base school is.

You could also end up in a year round middle school in Wake County. Right now you have the right to say no to a year round assignment, but WCPSS is currently appealing that court decision. The traditional 'opt-out' schools are often not nearby and WCPSS has said that they purposely make the traditional options unappealing so students stay at the year round schools.

If you want a school system that puts academics first and foremost, go to Chapel Hill.
Thank you for clarifying the lottery system. I was a bit disappointed when I was browsing the forums and read about these lotteries to get into magnet or chartered schools. I'm definitely leaning towards the Chapel Hilll/Carrbaro area as of right now.


I hope this isn't too inappropriate to ask, but it's something we've been dealing with and I wanted to see if anyone can offer some advice. Our family is of Asian descent, and we live in a community predominately white. Every teacher that my brother has had recognizes that he's a very bright pupil, etc. However, the school recently changed principals (two years ago, I think), and all of a sudden my brother's been getting into "trouble" constantly. And a lot of times, the reason is so ridiculous in my opinion that a slap on the wrist should have been sufficient, but instead my parents are called in for a conference with the principal. I'll give that as boys get older, they're more likely to be trouble-makers so the increase in incidences can be partly attributed to the fact that he's entering his adolescent years.

However, many times these incidences involve other students as well, yet he was always the one targeted. For instance, he brought inappropriate lyrics of a parody of some song to school, other students read it, they passed it around, and he's the one who gets the parent phone call. He made a remark about another girl having boobs, his friends laughed about it, word is passed around, he felt apologetic and went to apologize to the girl on his own accord, but then he's chased around during recess by other inquiring students, and he lands in the principal office with another parent conference. Maybe we're just overly sensitive, but shouldn't other students who partook in the incident receive some sort of verbal reprimanding as well? He's the only Asian student in an all-white classroom, and we feel that there's such a high focus on his behaviors as opposed to other students. These perceptions and feelings are also coming from the mouthes of my siblings.

Another outlandish incident. My sister was diagnosed by the nurse as having a fever during lunch-time, so she was sent home. My parents obviously fed her Tylenol, and the fever was gone so she was sent back to school the next morning. Apparently, there's a 24-hour period that you must remain at home if you're diagnosed with a fever? (I never knew that). My parents receive an extremely rude phone call, saying why did they send her back and that the fever is only down because she was given Tylenol in the morning prior to leaving for school. My parents accepted it, allowed her to send my sister home once more. She went as far as saying that my parents are NOT ALLOWED to give my sister any more Tylenol in order to confirm that her fever has gone down. My parents were fine with it, since they knew her fever was gone already. So the following day (third day), my sister was called into the health office again and checked for a fever, which she didn't have one. Can a school really REQUIRE parents to not give their kids Tylenol in order to feed their ego of being "correct"? In the end, the nurse was wrong anyways. When I heard of this, I was outraged. I don't want to generalize, but it seems like my siblings are having to deal with unfair treatment in return for a higher education system.

I was in the same district briefly for my first year of high school, and I can confirm that there were many times where I felt I received very rude and unfair treatment.

Seeing how Chapel Hill would have similar demographics as our suburb, I was wondering if such instances would ever occur? Or if anyone could even offer some advice about whether or not such actions on the school's part are justifiable?
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Old 04-01-2008, 03:04 PM
 
46 posts, read 88,622 times
Reputation: 39
Wink Fyi

Quote:
Originally Posted by movingstudent View Post
=) I understand what on average is. But isn't the reason why many strive for the 90th percentile is so that you're above and beyond the average? Thus, I was hoping to find such a school. I already accounted for the schools that are in more rural areas weighing the average down, and I was surprised at first to not have seen the counterbalance in schools around Chapel Hill (when I was checking for Orange County).

No idea where Lake Wobegon is but interesting point.
movingstudent - just wanted to bring you into the loop... I'm an NPR junkie so I knew what the Lake Wobegon reference was immediately. Funny MIRoger! - It is an inside joke for NPR listeners... MI Roger was referring to a program that can be heard on NPR or PRI radio stations called "A Prairie Home Companion" hosted by Garrison Keillor. Mr. Keillor makes reference to all the children from Lake Wobegon as being "above average."
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Old 04-01-2008, 03:13 PM
 
27 posts, read 81,358 times
Reputation: 18
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ann72 View Post
movingstudent - just wanted to bring you into the loop... I'm an NPR junkie so I knew what the Lake Wobegon reference was immediately. Funny MIRoger! - It is an inside joke for NPR listeners... MI Roger was referring to a program that can be heard on NPR or PRI radio stations called "A Prairie Home Companion" hosted by Garrison Keillor. Mr. Keillor makes reference to all the children from Lake Wobegon as being "above average."
Ha. I see. I'm obviously not an NPR junkie. That's cute. Thanks for the info.
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