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We are relocating and have a little flexibility as to where we'll live. One of my main concerns right now is finding a good school fit for my rising 7th grade daughter. She is coming from a small school as she struggled with some learning differences early on. She is ready to mainstream now and is organized and motivated to branch out. We need some help/contacts as we know no one in the area with that age child who has much to say about Middle Schools in general.
Do you have ANY idea which geographic area you'll be in? Even within the Triangle, there are many, many private schools. Also, whether or not it is affiliated with a church is an important thing to consider--there are Catholic schools, "Christian" schools, a Quaker-based school, etc. Specify some of these points and it will help people narrow down the list for you.
I guess I was hoping others would offer feedback based upon choices they've made. Preferably, we'd prefer a smaller school (K-12
300 to 800 students) could be religiously based, but not heavily so.
My husbands business is part of the Brightleaf in the Park area so we were thinking that side of Durham, Cary and/or the Raleigh (airport area), but my geography is still not that strong around there so recommendations are appreciated. Any thoughts? If you have feedback on Public Schools in that area I'd love to hear that feedback as well.
Thanks
Well, I am an educator and a mom, and had my kids in private school prior to living in NC. And I always say this, but look for accreditation first, then ask for personal recommendations. I would go to the NAIS - National Association of Independent Schools website and then some of the other accrediting sites like SACS or NAES (national association of episcopal schools), etc. I wouldn't even think of a school that wasn't nationally or regionally accredited.
That being said, we've toyed with the idea of private schools too and the ones we have been impressed with are St. David's, Ravenscroft; Carolina Friends (Durham); Cary Academy; St. Mary's. Disclaimer: we're Episcopalian, so that's why we really haven't explored the other religious schools.
Carolina Friends School is great and is especially exemplary in the middle school -- they know how to help kids thrive during those awkward adolescent years, haha. It is a Quaker school, but children of all faiths (Christian, Jewish, athiests, etc) attend and it isn't really "religious" in the traditional sense -- no daily prayers or uniforms or anything -- just Quaker in the sense that they believe in things like respect and accepting everyone, and teach these values to the children in a big way. They have "meetings for worship" once a week or once a month or something, but if you know about the Quaker religion you'll know that these are pretty unobjectionable -- more "spiritual" than "religious". The kids sit in a circle with their teachers and are encouraged to say anything they are "moved to say" -- how lovely the leaves look in the fall, etc.
The families who send their children there are in general quite liberal, so if this would be an issue for you I'd suggest staying away . It's a pretty unique school.
My younger brother (age 11) goes there. The kids love the school and have great relationships with their teachers (who they call by their first names). It's a very small school so everyone knows everyone, pretty much, even among different grade levels. The kids feel very comfortable in the school. It caters to all learning levels (not a euphemism for "it caters to low learning levels"). We live in Chapel Hill, and the school is in Durham, so it works well for us. There are kids that come to the school from all over, though.
If you have any other questions about it, feel free to message me!
EDIT: Just read what you were looking for in a school, and I think CFS ("Friends School") would be a great fit for your daughter!
Last edited by flyingpiggy; 01-23-2009 at 10:15 PM..
Carolina Friends School is great and is especially exemplary in the middle school -- they know how to help kids thrive during those awkward adolescent years, haha. It is a Quaker school, but children of all faiths (Christian, Jewish, athiests, etc) attend and it isn't really "religious" in the traditional sense -- no daily prayers or uniforms or anything -- just Quaker in the sense that they believe in things like respect and accepting everyone, and teach these values to the children in a big way. They have "meetings for worship" once a week or once a month or something, but if you know about the Quaker religion you'll know that these are pretty unobjectionable -- more "spiritual" than "religious". The kids sit in a circle with their teachers and are encouraged to say anything they are "moved to say" -- how lovely the leaves look in the fall, etc.
The families who send their children there are in general quite liberal, so if this would be an issue for you I'd suggest staying away . It's a pretty unique school.
My younger brother (age 11) goes there. The kids love the school and have great relationships with their teachers (who they call by their first names). It's a very small school so everyone knows everyone, pretty much, even among different grade levels. The kids feel very comfortable in the school. It caters to all learning levels (not a euphemism for "it caters to low learning levels"). We live in Chapel Hill, and the school is in Durham, so it works well for us. There are kids that come to the school from all over, though.
If you have any other questions about it, feel free to message me!
EDIT: Just read what you were looking for in a school, and I think CFS ("Friends School") would be a great fit for your daughter!
Hmmm...I don't like the thought of students calling teachers by their first names... isn't that just a tad bit unusual???????????????????????????
Agreed. Many progressive private schools do this. It is unusual, but the students and teachers treat each other with genuine respect and friendship... It's actually really nice IMO.
My daughter's middle school does this as well (it's a charter school, not private). It's a mutual respect and the from what I've seen, the teachers have no problem with respect for authority. It works out very nicely for both the teachers and the students.
I just had the EXACT same thought! All of the stuff about CFS sounds wonderful--except the "calling by their first names" part! I just have a hard time with kids addressing adults by their first names unless they are related to them--probably a Southern thing, but in today's world where treating others with respect is ofte so very lacking, I don't see why it would be a big deal to use "Mr." or "Ms." with TEACHERS.
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. It's a pretty unique school.
