Holly Springs

[NC_Paddler]

Originally Posted by NewUser

Crossroads in Cary is about 15 minutes, as well as Beaver Creek in Apex. Practically any kind of retail establishment or restaurant that you can think of.

All true. But the commute to RTP will suck . . . at least by my standards . . . so it depends on where you work and where you spend your free time. It's also quite a ways from what most people would consider "The Triangle"; that is, Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill.

Holly Springs is the burbs, basically. If you like the burbs, you'll like Holly Springs.

[justthe6ofus]

Originally Posted by JennC

Also - when you say only one school with "traditional" calendar, what does that mean?

Thanks so much - I'm such a novice.

Holly Ridge is the only school on a traditional calendar in and around Holly Springs. The calendar is similar to what you'd find in the Northeast as far as vacation times. We start on Aug. 25th and go through till June 10th. We have winter break (around Christmas) and spring break (typically around Easter) and then the 10 weeks summer break.

With year round schools they can accomodate more students by putting them on year round tracks. There are 4 tracks in a school, with one track being out on break at any given time so only 3 tracks are physically in the building.

The school year for year round calendars starts in July, either the week following the 4th of July or the 3rd week in July, depending on your track. Basically they go 9 weeks on and 3 weeks off for the year. They get the same instruction time as a traditional calendar school but it's broken up through the year.

Here's a link to the calendar systems so you can compare the two:

Traditional:
http://www.wcpss.net/Calendars/2009-10/09-10-trad.pdf

Year Round:
http://www.wcpss.net/Calendars/2009-...year-round.pdf


As for choice, you do and you don't get to choose. Areas of wake county are seperated into "nodes". Nodes are then assigned to the area schools and that would be the base school. If your base school is a year round calendar you would also have a traditional calendar option school. If you have a traditional base school you would have a year round option school. Each year in February you can apply to your option school or to magnet schools (another whole topic!). Sometimes you get in, sometimes you don't. We had applied for 4 years to our year round option school and finally got accepted on our 4th try.

As for HS schools, Holly Ridge is the only traditional calendar school of the elementary schools in the area (Holly Grove, Holly Springs, Holly Ridge, West Lake, Middle Creek and new to open this year is Herbert Atkins).

You can go to Determine School by Student Address

and put the address of the home in that you are considering to find out what school would be your base school and your option.

[plf86]

Originally Posted by North_Raleigh_Guy

It is definitely worth a visit. I think Holly Springs is a very good choice for some. However, your job location and commute should be considered. I work with several people who commute from Holly Spings to downtown Raleigh. As the crow flies it is not that far, but the traffic during rush hour makes their commute 45 minutes on a regular basis. That is a deal breaker for me.

45 minutes is so funny. when i moved down here from DC area, I was amazed that people turned jobs down because they had to commute 30 minutes. I was doing a 2 hour commute each way. Now i am upset that it takes 45 minutes to get from North six forks to fuquay if traffic is heavy.

[VickiR]

Originally Posted by plf86

45 minutes is so funny. when i moved down here from DC area, I was amazed that people turned jobs down because they had to commute 30 minutes. I was doing a 2 hour commute each way. Now i am upset that it takes 45 minutes to get from North six forks to fuquay if traffic is heavy.

That is just so funny! I have this conversation with my relocating clients all the time! I tell them that some days, the commute from Wake Forest to RTP could take them 45 min. or MORE and they LAUGH!

Sure, they come from DC and are used to a two hour commute but after a few months...they become used to having everything within 20 minutes and when the commute then takes longer, they understand my point!!!

Vicki

[Juanvald]

The wife and I moved to Holly Springs in August. We are late 20s and expecting our first child in July. So far, Holly Springs has been everything we hoped for and more. We were living in NE Raleigh off 401(5 miles south of Rolesville) and this is soooooooo much better!!

We moved into Sunset Ridge and its great. Perfect neighborhood to have a family. Shopping is not a problem at all. Even though everyone looks down on WalMart, the one in HS is really nice. Ill be in heaven once the movie theater and bowling alley open.

Commuting to work can be a bit of a challenge, but everyone that moves here has to be willing to do it. When we first moved in, my wife was working in Cary and it was a 15 min commute. But she got laid off. Luckily, she found a job after about 3 months. But now she is working up near RTP at the corner of 55/54. Her commute is about 45 minutes. We can only hope that 540 gets the funding to expand to HS. That will make the commute over to RTP a lot easier!

Even though I really didn't give any new info, I just wanted to add my two cents. If you want a place to raise your kids that is affordable, then this is the town for you!

[JennC]

Thank you all so much for taking the time to respond to me. It is beyond helpful!

[zinner]

Originally Posted by JennC

We are also considering Holly Springs. How is the traffic to RTP/Downtown Raleigh?

How does Holly Springs compare to Apex?

Also - when you say only one school with "traditional" calendar, what does that mean?

Thanks so much - I'm such a novice.

I commute from Sunset Ridge area to Weston Pwky every day in about 30 minutes, my wife goes to RTP in about 45 minutes.

Traditional means summers off. Some of the schools are year round here. I don't have any kids so I can't comment any further.

I will say that there is lots of building in the area, and hopefully some good stores and restaurants.