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We're relocating to the area next month and have been looking at townhouse rentals in Cary Park. Oddly, we found 2 townhouses that we love (both in Cary Park)....one is zoned for the year-round Alston Ridge Elementary and the other is zoned for the traditional Mills Park Elementary.
All things being equal with the house (besides the school) and us not knowing too much about either school besides the information on the school district website.....we need advice in helping to formulate our decision.
Any suggestions (including personal experiences) would be very helpful. Thank you!
My kids have been in Traditional every year except one, 2009 when the rezoning impacted them and given a change in school was inevitable i changed them over to Year Round for one year. Now they're back in Traditional as one started high school and I wanted the same schedule.
My thoughts:
I loved it. The long summer layoff impacted them in getting back on track in the Fall when on the Traditional calendar and occurred again after this past summer when they went back to Traditional.
The Track Out periods came at good intervals to give them breaks which they enjoyed and by the end of the track-out period, they were looking forward to going back to school after getting bored at home. Boredom is a bigger problem in Traditional calendar.
One of the main reasons I planned their one-year year-round stint was to allow us to take family vacations. Happy to say we traveled more that school year than any year in the past as I took them to Atlanta (family) in the summer, I finally took them to Disney in early November (GREAT weather and NO lines at theme parks!!!), Washington DC, and Canada. I hate long lines and refused to take them to Disney for many years.
I will say that Year-Round schools give more work it seems than Traditional even though the number of days in school is the same. The kids stated teachers get in a mode of "we have to finish this unit before we track-out" and sometimes push things through. But to be fair, this was because my kids were in a track that split teachers each time they tracked back in. This is not common but did happen to them (both in the same grade). Most times the class has the same set of teachers for the same subject throughout the year so make sure you ask your school about that. Their school did it due to shortage of teachers.
Generally Track 1 and 4 are considered the good tracks. Try for one of those. Dont know why they're better but that's what I heard from kids and others.
My son loves his year round schedule but I have to admit I find it a bit difficult. Because we moved here a few weeks before school started we were limited in options and ended up on Track 2. Most kids are not out of school at that time. His brother is in a traditional preschool so it adds to the confusion on preschool days. I usually end up putting him in Track-out camp at the gym to overcome the boredom and that costs $150 a week. From what I saw last summer the school year runs up the the 4th of July holiday then started July 9 so really no down time there.
I was really considering moving him over to Holly Ridge Elementary which is traditional and would work out better once he got in middle school and his brother was in elementary--I'd like them on the same schedule. However, the whole thing is moot because we are moving back to Texas as soon as I can get someone to rent my house--husband heads out next week leaving me to pack and hold the fort with the boys! We weren't planning on going back so soon but a great opportunity came along and we're grabbing it. So after trying the year-round, I think I would either go traditional or go with Track 4 which starts in August.
I love year round school, and both of those schools are good schools. But if I had to choose, I'd choose Mills Park over Alston Ridge. This is Alston Ridge's first year and they are under capacity. Apparently they are combining grades on some tracks. I've also heard negative things about the principal (she used to be the principal at Farmington Woods). In fact, when discussing this very topic with some friends who are WCPSS teachers (I will probably be moving to the Cary Park/Amberly area in the next year or so), they all stated emphatically that I should pick Mills Park over Alston Ridge because of the principal.
Thank you!!! In my heart I wanted Mills Park (I was so impressed with the students scores)...I think Mills Park it will be (with the Highcroft option). Thanks again!
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