Cary Vs Apex ? (Morrisville: houses, landscaping, neighborhoods)

[kirbsdc]

I have read alot of these treads and some are from years ago.
I just want to get the resent "scoop" on the differences between these towns.

I am confused about the schools and the districting.

Are all of the schools in Wake County Year Round Schools? If they are what does that actualy mean? Does your child go all year or is the break (that typically would be summer) at differnt times for differnt groups of children?

I have a 9 year old son and his education is one of my top concerns, any advise?

[FVmommy]

Not all Wake County schools are year-round, but many of the elementary and middle schools are (none of the high schools are). Kids in year-round go 180 days per year, just like in traditional calendar, but they have several breaks of approx. 3 weeks each during the year.

There are 4 tracks, or schedules, with breaks at different times. You can find a calendar with all 4 schedules on www.wcpss.net. Everyone is out for 2 weeks at Christmas and one week around July 4. It's a little confusing at first, but I have a child in year round and we love it. She's just finished her first 9 weeks of school for this year on Friday, and is starting her first 3 week break.

(You get to list your preferences for tracks, but aren't guaranteed to get the one you want. Some principals are more accommodating than others. It is also possible to change tracks - or to be asked to change tracks - from one year to the next. However, I think most people who are assigned to a track and want to stay on it are able to. )

[adlnc07]

Apex and Cary are adjacent to each other, and most the time I'd say you couldn't tell which one you were in. Apex has about 30K residents, Cary over 100K. As a result, I find that Cary has a much better offering for Parks and Recreation classes. Cary covers more area, so there are more parks. Apex has a very quaint downtown area that is fun to walk around. Cary has more older homes (i.e. 1950's-1980's) so if you are looking for a larger lot and mature landscaping, that will be easier to find in Cary. Apex really took off in the 1990's, so most of the houses are 90's or newer (except right near downtown). I'd say your housing dollar will probably go further in Apex, unless you are looking for the aforementioned larger lot and mature trees (which you can get for $175-$225K easily in Cary).

I lived in Apex for 2.5 years before moving to an older home in Cary last summer. Honestly I don't find it to be all that much different - and I still go to Apex to shop (Beaver Creek).

Hope that helps!

[annesg]

I just want to note that the "week off" in July is not really a M-F week, so for vacation planning it's pretty much useless, at least if you are someone who likes to take a jaunt to the beach or mountains nearby. This past year we had off WED/THURS/FRI/MON/ (not even five days). It stinks for extended families whose children aren't all on the same track (my kids' cousins are on a different track, so we can never vacation with them). In your neighborhood, you might not have ANY nearby kids your kids' age on the same track despite the fact that the neighborhood is full of kids. Those are the down sides.

The up side is that working parents have 3-week gaps to fill year round rather than a long 12 week stretch. Kids may retain more when they have a mere 4 days between grades. I love the October and May breaks we get for inexpensive travel opportunities, but the 3 weeks in the dead of winter in Jan/Feb. is pretty much a nightmare for a work-at-home mom since there really aren't that many options.

That being said, you CAN find all sorts of houses in traditional OR year-round neighborhoods in Apex and Cary. The two towns are similar but different (adlnc07 put it really well). We live in Morrisville and love it--I love the small community but we're close to most anything, and can of course use Cary's parks and recreation resources as well as our own in M-ville. Plus we have a new "Town Center" plan that's pretty neat: http://www.ci.morrisville.nc.us/Docu...ew.asp?DID=658

[kirbsdc]

Thanks, for youri nput.
How about the busing I have read so much about.
Is there any parts of Cary or Apex that you run a lower risk of having your school changes from year to year.y son has problems making good friends and it is difficult for him to be up rooted time and time again, he is now in 4th grade.

Please share what you can about the over crowding, busing and redistricting.

[WeLuvNC]

If you go to the wcpss website, and select PARENTS, then select the choice Registration & assignment information then select school assignment finder, you can get to the information you seek.

How it works:

type in the street, then the house number -- this will give you the 'node' and the current assignment. Write down this 'node' # -- you will want this in a minute.

Once you have looked at the current assignment - base and magnet, select the
'growth management' selection on the top left hand side, then select student assignment resources and then select 2009-2012 Assignment Plan. On the RIGHT hand side, type in the NODE # that you had written down and select 'GO'. This will take you to a 3 year plan of the house you are looking at.

I'll insert the direct links below but the mod may not leave them in.

Note: they do say that the plan does not include the changes due to the several school openings that were delayed due to budget/growth changes.

Check assignment: Determine School by Student Address

Check 3 year plan link: 2009-12 Reassignment Plan (http://ap2008.wcpss.net/assignment-proposal/index.html - broken link)

Hope this helps. Best of luck!

[kirbsdc]

We Luv NC - Thank you this this information was extremely helpful.Any additional words of wisdom?