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Hello everyone! My family and I are seriously considering relocating to the Greenville area and are very interested in the Weatherstone subdivision. However, we are alittle concern regarding some of the information available online about the schools assigned to this subdivision. Therefore, I was wondering if anyone could share their perspective on both the Weatherstone subdivision and it's assigned schools (Fork Shoals, Woodmont Middle & High)? Thanks!
I can tell you that my grandchildren who are the light of my life attend Fork Shoals and we have no complaiints. They ae K5 anf 3rd Grade. Fork Shoals offers after school programs such as science camps and piano lessons as well. My third grader is starting geometry next week. She is already multiplying and dividing. The middle school is only two years old but I have no personal input to provide on it. Give me a couple of years. The Weatherstone community is nice. You will like that area. My son lives in Verdmont.
Thanks for the quick response Ruvidu! It does appear that the Weatherstone community would truly be a very lovely place to live and raise our family. However, I think that is ultimately the thing that is so confusing....If the Weatherstone community and surrounding area is so appealing, why is the Woodmont Middle School receiving such mixed reviews online? Are the other "feeder" elementary schools that send students to Woodmont Middle School that bad? Are these ratings more reflective of socioeconomic factors, behavioral issues or just lack of effort? Also, the Woodmont High School has better ratings than the Middle School but I would think that a large percentage if not all of their entering freshmen would come from Woodmont Middle School which should then skew their rating as well. I know from your previous posting that you have no personal experience with Woodmont Middle or High School, but was curious if you or anyone else had any perspective on some of the above issues? It is just very difficult to assess some of these issues when you are only in the area for a week or so and the information online is somewhat mixed. Thanks again and have a awesome weekend!
First, South Carolina as a state has some of the worst schools, students, and lowest paid teachers in the country. Greenville is one of the highest population densities in SC. Greenville has some of the best schools in the state, but the overall "below average" disease is hard to overcome because so many students, parents and grandparents have the attitude that "school is for nerds" or "don't work too hard, or you are uncool."
Woodmont is in a growing area (Simpsonville). It has attracted all the newcomers to the shiny new neighborhoods there. I know a nice girl who went to Woodmont 20 years ago. She is a successful person now.
Greenville best high schools are Christ Church (private), St Josephs (private), maybe Southside Christian (private). The public high schools that are great are Riverside, Mauldin, Greenville, Eastside, JL Mann, Wade Hampton. Your kid will be around lots of college bound kids at those schools.
Hillcrest is a HS close to Woodmont (as is Mauldin) so you might call them to see if it is possible to transfer. There are other options too if your kid is gifted like the magnet academies and the art schools and charter schools. Hard to summarize in a quick post.
The elementary schools in Greenville are hit and miss. Try to get one at least rated average by the greenville schools report card (website). Fork Shoals and Woodmont middle look okay.
Greenville EAA School Report Cards 2008 - South Carolina Department of Education (http://ed.sc.gov/topics/researchandstats/schoolreportcard/2008/2301.html - broken link)
If your kid is college bound, they might excel more at another Greenville high school, but Woodmont is not the worst.
I can't really comment on the associated schools, but I do know people who live in Weatherstone with kids in those schools, and I haven't heard anything negative about them. Personally, I think getting too concerned over school ratings is probably wasted energy (unless they are obviously an absolute disaster) because schools generally are like most things in life...you get out of them what you put in. An intelligent child can do well in nearly any environment. But that's just my opinion, obviously.
I can tell you that Weatherstone is a great place to live. Very friendly people and the location is great. It's also seems to be one of the few subdivisions in the recent housing market that I have seen where building has continued. At least 4 houses have been constructed in the last nine months, and building is about to start on another very soon. Yet there are 4 fewer houses for sale now then there were 9 months ago.
LeavingNJ thanks for your insight. I too agree with your philosophy on education however it is better to be safe than sorry later on and not fully research the issue. After much research, talking with a variety of folks (including people here on the forum!) and actually driving out to the schools and their respective areas, most of my questions have been answered. Weatherstone indeed does seem like a great place to live and raise our family. Take care and thanks again for the info!
LeavingNJ thanks for your insight. I too agree with your philosophy on education however it is better to be safe than sorry later on and not fully research the issue.
I agree, you certainly need to do your homework. I'm just dubious about the value of these school ratings, unless there are obvious documented problems in a given school. But I'm not suggesting that you don't explore all the info you can get.
I live in Weatherstone....bought last July. Had the same concerns. Been volunteering at Fork Shoals and am very pleased from what I see so far (I am a veteran teacher turned stay at home mom). I do understand hesitations about the middle and high schools. My son is 3 so if we are still living here at that point and districted for those schools, I will do some volunteering there to get a true picture. We may be living closer to town by that point so I'm not stressing over it quite yet. Plus there are so many school choice options and private options if we need those that I am not worried.
Calico77 thanks for your perspective. This type of information is exactly what we are looking for to help us make our decision. Take care!
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