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Hello all
I have been reading this post for a while now and thought of writing and getting my questions answered...we are planning to relocate to NC from North East... We visited the area last week and tried to get the feel of the place we liked whatever we saw but house prices are almost like here. We have a budget of about 370K-420K. We have two daughters 5 and 3 so school is very important. But after reading thru the posts i am still confused about how the school system works. We plan to sell our home and rent for a while. So where should we look to rent and what schools do i have the option to apply if we move there in Sept sometime. Would magnet and charter be full?? do i have more than one base school??
All the moms with all the research please help...
Hello all
I have been reading this post for a while now and thought of writing and getting my questions answered...we are planning to relocate to NC from North East... We visited the area last week and tried to get the feel of the place we liked whatever we saw but house prices are almost like here. We have a budget of about 370K-420K. We have two daughters 5 and 3 so school is very important. But after reading thru the posts i am still confused about how the school system works. We plan to sell our home and rent for a while. So where should we look to rent and what schools do i have the option to apply if we move there in Sept sometime. Would magnet and charter be full?? do i have more than one base school??
All the moms with all the research please help...
The Triangle is a big place. Have you narrowed down potential towns you want to live in? Where is it you will be working? Raleigh? Durham? Chapel Hill? Each have their own school systems and each of those areas is run differently so the answers to your questions depend a lot on what towns you are considering.
With the exception of Chapel Hill...all of the school systems in the Triangle are county-based and reassignemnts happen often so buying a house for a particular school is not the best thing to do. Also, schools in NC start in August and not September so if you wanted the kids to start at the beginning of the year you'd have to be there sooner than that.
If your 5 year old is starting school, it will probably be too late to get into a magnet or charter, your 3 year old will not be in school yet. You can check the schools with where you will be renting, and if it is in Wake County you will probably have a year round and a traditional option.
At this point, charter schools and magnet schools have finished the application process for next year. You can however get into a magnet by living in the base attendance area, but if you rent first and then move OUT of the base attendance area, you will have to change schools for your new attendance area. Your options depend on your base school assignment (in Wake). If your base is year round, you will have the option of traditional calendar. You can apply to magnets and charters next Feb for the 2010-2011 school year.
Your three year old will be eligible for one of the private preschools but they have already completed their application process too so it may be hard to find one with open spots at this point.
At this point, charter schools and magnet schools have finished the application process for next year. You can however get into a magnet by living in the base attendance area, but if you rent first and then move OUT of the base attendance area, you will have to change schools for your new attendance area. Your options depend on your base school assignment (in Wake). If your base is year round, you will have the option of traditional calendar. You can apply to magnets and charters next Feb for the 2010-2011 school year.
Your three year old will be eligible for one of the private preschools but they have already completed their application process too so it may be hard to find one with open spots at this point.
The one thing I know now that my wife and I wish we knew then (sort of like where you are now) is that by living in a neighborhood in which the base school is one of the magnets you can get your child enrolled there. But as Lamishra pointed out, unlike when you've been selected via the application process once you move your child can't stay in the school. There's also the possibility that the school assignments can chance but I'm thinking that we're nearing the end of that being a constant threat.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kelly237
Durant Trails neighborhood and Durant Elementary & Middle School are nice.
Excellent recommendations. We don't live there but have heard very good things about these schools. We're hoping to get my son reassigned to Durant Middle for next year as we're not exactly thrilled with his current assignment.
thanks for all the prompt replies....so from all ur posts i understand that for my 3yr old to get into any pre-school kind of a thing would be difficult to get into in sept. And for Kindegarten do u get two base schools as in traditional and/or year round or that is not always true. Are there some areas where the base school is magnet?? What are the schools you have by lottery??
As far as work goes my DH would be working from home but still want to be at 20min drive from RTP(for future options). We liked Cary/Apex and north raleigh. We liked the new communities from Toll, Shea and drees at bedford falls but for any of these new communities we have to be 500K+
Every school in Wake, whether YR, traditional or magnet, has a base attendance area which is based on your address (your node) That is where you are officially assigned to go to school. You can apply to magnets during the application period if you want. If you get in, you can choose to attend the magnet. If you don't get in, you go to your base school. Some base schools are year round schools, and the original intent of the system was to "force" people in these attendance areas to go year round. The school was system was sued by a local citizen's group and the group won. The judge decided that people could not be FORCED to go to year round and ordered the school system to offer anyone assigned to a YR school as a base,the option of going to a traditional calendar school instead. The school system had to comply with the judge's ruling and now if your base school is YR, you must be provided the option of a traditional calendar school, but they decide what that option is. You can't ust choose one.
If your base school is a traditional calendar school and you WANT YR, you have to apply to go to a YR school assigned to your "node" (which the whole county is split into small geographical areas called "nodes). If you don't get in, you go to your base. Magnets, which many people have to apply to, also have base attendance areas as well. If you live in a n ode that is assigned to that school, you automatically go there. If you are a "magnet student" (accepted through the lottery) you will not be reassigned. If the magnet is your base school, you can be reassigned. If you move out of your node for any reason, you are subect to have to switch schools to the school your new address is assigned to.
Clear as mud????
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Some good advice.
