Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We are planning to move to Charlotte either this coming summer '08 or the following summer, '09. We have two very bright, very well-behaved, lovely daughters who will be going into either first and fourth or second and fifth grades depending on which year we make the move. We would love for them to both go to the same private school; our first choice being Charlotte Latin and second choice being Providence Day. We have already visited these two fine schools and are beginning the application process. The problem is that my husband must give one year's irrevocable notice at his job and he will have to do that before we know if my girls have been accepted into one of these schools as the schools do not send out notification letters until March. We also need to be looking at homes and would like to buy in the vicinity of the school they will be attending. Does anyone have any idea what the odds are that both my girls would be admitted? Also, do certain grades generally have more openings than others; i.e., would they have a better chance in first and fourth vs. second and fifth? Finally, has anyone had any personal experience with transitioning your children at this age? My girls are both quite outgoing and sociable but still I worry about them fitting in and making friends. Thanks so much for any feedback. MJ
Well, I cannot help with your school situation. However, we moved two years in a row (unfortunately....) when my younger daughter was beginning 3rd and then 4th grades. She did great, better than I had expected. There were some bumps along the way, I think mostly this 2nd time (to Union County, just outside of Charlotte), but overall, it went very well. For us, more importantly than the friends she has made at school (and summer camp at Providence Day, just for a week--loved it) have been the friends she has made in both of our neighborhoods. It really helped being able to make friends over the summer when we first moved in, and she's made new friends as our newer neighborhood fills up. Having friends who she can just walk over to within view of our house has been FABULOUS. We did not have that where we lived in Connecticut and after our experience with our last move made sure to move to a similar neighborhood so she would again be able be with friends easily.
I'm not saying we don't have friends not in our neighborhood, as I'm not averse to setting up times to get together, however, when there's just an hour before dinner and homework is done nothing beats just going down the street to play.
Thanks for the input. I hadn't thought of the possible impact of moving at the beginning vs. end of summer in terms of making friends in the neighborhood!
We are planning to move to Charlotte either this coming summer '08 or the following summer, '09. We have two very bright, very well-behaved, lovely daughters who will be going into either first and fourth or second and fifth grades depending on which year we make the move. We would love for them to both go to the same private school; our first choice being Charlotte Latin and second choice being Providence Day. We have already visited these two fine schools and are beginning the application process. The problem is that my husband must give one year's irrevocable notice at his job and he will have to do that before we know if my girls have been accepted into one of these schools as the schools do not send out notification letters until March. We also need to be looking at homes and would like to buy in the vicinity of the school they will be attending. Does anyone have any idea what the odds are that both my girls would be admitted? Also, do certain grades generally have more openings than others; i.e., would they have a better chance in first and fourth vs. second and fifth? Finally, has anyone had any personal experience with transitioning your children at this age? My girls are both quite outgoing and sociable but still I worry about them fitting in and making friends. Thanks so much for any feedback. MJ
The lower grades at the private and Catholic schools are usually where there may be an initial problem getting a child in - BUT, usually if you get an older child in your younger child is given priority to get in as soon as possible. You might have to wait a year, though things change year to year so it is hard to say exactly what you might face by the time you get here.
However, if you just go ahead and move to south Charlotte you would easily be able to commute to whichever school they finally get accepted to - all the big private schools are in fairly close proximity to each other.
Did you ask at the meeting about how many apply per year vs. how many actually get in? Both are good schools. We can't afford 3 kids in either of those schools. :-(
Thanks for the response Dawn. We did ask that question but didn't get a very direct answer - "some applicants are more qualified than others, etc." Probably isn't any real good way of sizing up our odds! I guess we'll just have to wait and see and play it by ear! MJ
Kind of a silly question until the kids take the entrance exam and see the test results. All the private schools in the area are good.
As far as affording the schools, that should be a non issue. Each school has financial assistance and are more than willing to help those who ask. It is a social stigma to ask for assistance to a private school because everyone thinks that the kids who go there are from wealthy upper class families, not true. Ask and I bet you shall receive.
I agree with that if you ask you may well receive!
What Loves says about the lower the grade the harder it is to get into is true. What she says about the two-sibling situation is also true. Get one in and the other is sure to follow.
The only problem that I can foresee for your daughters is the fact that many of these kids have been together since pre-school and junior kindergarten as well as in Sunday school and have formed social groups (cliques?) which may at the outset be hard to crack. On the other hand, kids in these schools are usually eager to have new kids enter the stream to add spice/flavor to the water. The groups tend to get tired of each other - a lot of same old, same old. So this will work to your girls' advantage.
I also agree that if you move into a neighborhood between Latin and PDS (Foxcroft or someplace south of Hwy 51 for instance) you will be able to find someone to carpool with. I wouldn't go way out just to be near Latin because you might be stuck there with the burden of driving your girls to PDS down Providence road with the traffic each way. Another possibility would be Medearis or one of the neighborhoods down Sardis Rd. from PDS. This way you could easily attack PDS or even Latin (by going east to Hwy 51.)
I hope this makes sense. Loves, does this make sense?
I agree with that if you ask you may well receive!
What Loves says about the lower the grade the harder it is to get into is true. What she says about the two-sibling situation is also true. Get one in and the other is sure to follow.
The only problem that I can foresee for your daughters is the fact that many of these kids have been together since pre-school and junior kindergarten as well as in Sunday school and have formed social groups (cliques?) which may at the outset be hard to crack. On the other hand, kids in these schools are usually eager to have new kids enter the stream to add spice/flavor to the water. The groups tend to get tired of each other - a lot of same old, same old. So this will work to your girls' advantage.
I also agree that if you move into a neighborhood between Latin and PDS (Foxcroft or someplace south of Hwy 51 for instance) you will be able to find someone to carpool with. I wouldn't go way out just to be near Latin because you might be stuck there with the burden of driving your girls to PDS down Providence road with the traffic each way. Another possibility would be Medearis or one of the neighborhoods down Sardis Rd. from PDS. This way you could easily attack PDS or even Latin (by going east to Hwy 51.)
I hope this makes sense. Loves, does this make sense?
Perfect sense, great job
I too would not plan to live near Latin unless you knew for sure you were going to Latin. Even then, living further in would have you going against traffic in the morning to get to Latin (a very good thing), so living "inside" 51 is a great choice (puts you in a good position for all the private schools).
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
