All About Clayton.. Any Info Greatly Appreciated!!!! (Raleigh, Durham: house, neighborhood)

[NB9540]

Hey all,
I am a fairly new lurker here.. I am doing research day in and day out on NC because I am looking to move very soon, around July-August. I was initially looking at Cary but realistically, I think it's just too expensive for my fiance and I and the schools there seem.. well, confusing!!

So I have been reading all about Clayton and I am getting more and more excited. I have been reading other posts about Clayton on this board, but I was wondering if others could provide some more insight for me into some specific questions I have.


A few concerns I was hoping you could shed some more information about:

1) Clayton schools - are some better than others? We come with a 5 year old and this is top priority for us.

2) Commute - any info for commuters into Raleigh? It seems pretty far from Raleigh, especially in rush hour.. the company I work for is in North Raleigh (Parklake Ave)

3) Is there a lot to do in Clayton? Cultural activities, museums, libraries, restaurants, shopping, parks, etc..?

4) How diverse is Clayton? (I am Indian, the fiance is white, our son is just plain cute ... so diversity is important to us )

Your responses mean so much to me. Thanks again, you all have been wonderful so far

[jnj873]

I can comment on the commute. I work in Downtown Raleigh and I live off of Covered Bridge Road and it takes me anywhere from 25 to 35 minutes to get to work. The 25 minutes would be holidays and Fridays and the 35 would be any other day. I do leave the house at 7am, so it might get worse if you leave later into the commute. Hope this helps!

[Priorityonecb]

When choosing schools...if you plan to live her for quite a while I would suggest doing as we did. Pick the *high school you want. Any elementary, middle feeder schools are bound to be great if you choose the high school wisely. For us, West Johnston was exactly what we wanted (good academic record, fabulous arts/band/theater programs).

My husband works in Morrisville, myself in Lillington. Our commute is about 40 minutes.

We tend to go to Raleigh/Durham for museums. The libraries in NC overall leave something to be desired...but we go to the one in Smithfield. We tend to shop in Garner (White Oaks shopping center-15 minutes) or Cary (25ish minutes).

Diversity is fine...no one will blink an eye!

[LLN]

All I know about Clayton is that you cannot be in the Triangle Mommies Group if you live in Clayton.

lln

[giffman]

For schools, I'd focus on Riverwood for elementary and middle schools. Stay away from Cooper Elementary.

[jnj873]

Why do you say to stay away from Cooper? That is where we are zoned to go to. Can you request another school than the one you are zoned to go to?

[giffman]

Originally Posted by jnj873

Why do you say to stay away from Cooper? That is where we are zoned to go to. Can you request another school than the one you are zoned to go to?

They have some of the lowest test scores in the county. The neighborhood surrounding the school is also a little scary. I don't think they will let you enroll at another school without a good reason.

[giffman]

If your looking for school information, a good reference is zillow.com. Under community info, you can get all sorts of information. You can research end of grade test scores in addition to the percentage of students who receive free and reduced lunch (44% for Cooper Elementary, 17% for Cleveland Elementary, 16% for East Clayton Elementary, and 14% for Riverwood Elementary).

[JimnSue]

Riverdell elementary is where our kids just started and we are very pleased so far.....my youngest had a real hard time with the school switching part of the move and we literally left him kicking and screaming I was absolutely devastated and mortified at the same time....I felt like such a bad mom for making my baby feel this way and also embarrassed they couldnt have handled him and me...lol any better....they are very understanding and so nice.....

Needless to say 3 weeks later we are doing much better with the transition....I also have a 5th grader there and he is thrilled......

Archer lodge ms is also good.....I have an 8th grader there...

You can also go to greatschools or something like schoolreportcard.com or you might have to add nc to the front of that....can't remember but you can get all the test scores and do comparisons and other community information

[Francois]

Clayton would be an intolerable commute from North Raleigh, I suspect. You might want to look at places like Wake Forest.