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Old 07-19-2006, 11:08 AM
 
Location: new jersey
21 posts, read 199,544 times
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I would like to hear both positive as well as the negative aspect of the Wake County Schools. I do hear they were ranked the third best county in terms of education for big city areas. There must be something said for that, right? Any thoughts?
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Old 07-19-2006, 09:25 PM
 
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That's one of the reason why we chose Johnston County instead of Wake County. My son can be able to ride his bicycle to his school. They are building a new high school within 3 years.
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Old 07-19-2006, 09:54 PM
 
5,265 posts, read 16,539,770 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SHERI5302002
I would like to hear both positive as well as the negative aspect of the Wake County Schools. I do hear they were ranked the third best county in terms of education for big city areas. There must be something said for that, right? Any thoughts?
Test scores are pretty high in Wake county overall. It's not (yet) the quality of education that is suffering, it's the social stress that kids (and parents) get after being shuffled around and treated more like numbers than people every year. They just keep doing so many new things to try and deal with all of the issues that they can't actually pinpoint the problem. They just announced new graduation requirements in today's paper that I'm sure will cause quite a stir.
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Old 07-19-2006, 10:59 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Weis02
how is the year round schools working? There is suppose to be a vote in the fall asking residents if they want more schools to be year round...

I actually sent the WCPSS an email asking about the re-districting issue and they never responded.

WCPSS was too busy re-drawing, re-districting, making plans for year-round schools and trying to figure out how much tax money to request to pay for it all.....check with them again at a later (much, much later) time!

They may also be busy fighting off irate parents!

Johnston county has problems also....too many students, not enough schools. Last year there was a big flap over bussing from East Clayton to a school quite a distance away. From what I read, the Supt. of schools is not a popular man.
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Old 07-19-2006, 11:10 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SHERI5302002
I would like to hear both positive as well as the negative aspect of the Wake County Schools. I do hear they were ranked the third best county in terms of education for big city areas. There must be something said for that, right? Any thoughts?
I'm a product of WCPSS, and so are my close friends and family. And believe it or not, WCPSS's main issue is one that they've been fighting since I was enrolled in the school system: there's a lot of money out there that is allocated for the schools, but very little of it gets to the classroom, if you understand what I am saying.

The other big issue with WCPSS that has been there for some time is the issue of planning for growth ... or, more specifically, the lack of planning. Population growth in Raleigh tends to be cyclical and when the cost of housing goes through the roof in other states, southern states become very popular. The last time this was in effect was in the 80s, when many families fled the more expensive Northeast to settle down south. I grew up surrounded by displaced Northerners who all expressed the same kinds of bewilderment and excitement about Southern life and culture. Raleigh has always been a popular place to live, and growth issues have always been a concern with the WCPSS ... but they still fund and operate the school system like it's still the 1960's.

Don't get me wrong; the schools are modern and there are many educated and wonderful teachers. But there is no forward planning. There is no accountability for having even the barest of plans to deal with even a little growth. WCPSS could not handle a little growth; now, it has to deal with over 7,000 new students.

WCPSS has never handled change well, and 20 years later, it's still flunking in that regard. I wouldn't blame any parent for looking outside of WCPSS.

Quote:
Originally Posted by RaleighRob
Actually that's a BIG misconception. Many of the best schools in Wake County are located deep in the core of Raleigh.....smaller traditional neighborhood schools (a few have a dual-status as a magnet sometimes).
One of the very view places left in Wake County where children can still walk or bicycle to school are in the neighborhoods Inside-The-Beltline near downtown raleigh.
These schools are also far less likely to be overcrowded or to have frequent reassignments because, this deep into Raleigh, the population isn't fluctuating up as much as it does in the Cary, Apex, Morrisville or Holly Springs suburban areas. It's mostly built already, so less of a need to shuffle the students around.
Yeah, the best schools are in Raleigh. They are much less crowded. That is because ITB Raleigh is marketed to a different demographic ... one that is less likely to have kids (but more likely to have money).

I went to ITB schools and so did my brother and sister. I think they're pretty cool. In fact, I'll name names ...

Lacy Elementary is AWESOME. Love the school, though I hear the neighborhood around it is so exclusive now that you have to give up your firstborn (and a lot of cash) to live near that school.

Martin Middle School was nothing special.

Enloe High is consistently on the Top US High Schools list, usually in the Top 100. It's in a crazy neighborhood, but the learning is top notch.
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Old 07-20-2006, 08:49 AM
 
1,531 posts, read 7,389,827 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SeattlitefromNC
Yeah, the best schools are in Raleigh. They are much less crowded. That is because ITB Raleigh is marketed to a different demographic ... one that is less likely to have kids (but more likely to have money).

I went to ITB schools and so did my brother and sister. I think they're pretty cool. In fact, I'll name names ...

Lacy Elementary is AWESOME. Love the school, though I hear the neighborhood around it is so exclusive now that you have to give up your firstborn (and a lot of cash) to live near that school.

Martin Middle School was nothing special.

Enloe High is consistently on the Top US High Schools list, usually in the Top 100.
Yeah, from what I see, Enloe's definitely the best High school...with Broughton up there too. Both happen to be the two closest to downtown...imagine that.
Best middle school is actually in the heart of downtown: Moore Square Middle. The stories I hear about that school make me positively jealous they didn't have anything like that in the town I grew up in. All I can say is WOW.
Centennial Middle is also pretty good...they work alot with NCSU for programming.
Lacy's a good elem. I also hear a LOT of good things about Wiley, Olds, Underwood, and Washington.

And yes, overcrowding is the big problem in Wake Schools...but Johnston is now facing it more than it used to, and even Durham County has to deal with it some. The only Triangle area school system that seems to be handling the growth issue without too much trouble is Orange County...but that's probably because the growth hasn't been as explosive there.
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Old 07-20-2006, 11:33 AM
 
Location: new jersey
21 posts, read 199,544 times
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Thanks for the input. I have a lot of decisions to make and all the posts help. IOn a much more lighter aspect of the Wake County Schools, do they also do the switching in schools in the high school grades and if so, how does that effect athletics and proms and such.
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Old 07-20-2006, 12:17 PM
 
5,265 posts, read 16,539,770 times
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Yes, they do redistrct students in highschool.... but only the lower classmen. They just did a huge reassignment this year which included many high school students... but rising juniors and seniors get to stay at the school they started at. Because of this, if we do end up staying here for another year (which is not what I want but may end up happening), my son will be a senior at one highschool (Apex High) and my daughter a freshman at a different one (Panter Creek high, 25 minutes away in Morrisville)
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Old 07-20-2006, 01:41 PM
 
Location: new jersey
21 posts, read 199,544 times
Reputation: 252
Interesting. Are all are the schools there equally as good as the next? Or are there some that parents really hope their kids don't have to go to?
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