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Just curious about a few things about the school. Are the girls' basketball and soccer teams competitive to make? Is the school band any good...is it active? Is there transportation to other parts of the state on extended weekends? Do most students, on regular weekends, stay at school or go home?
What is the view of the school in the surrounding community...well received or troublesome?
T
I give you my take on it as someone who worked there (in residential life)....Most students did not go home on the weekends. The ones who lived in the area may go home for the day, but many stayed around on the weekends. Students are not allowed to have cars, so it required parents to come and pick them up, sign them out, etc. Now, did students have cars? Yes, they did, and their parents usually arranged for their cars to be kept with a local friend of the family.
The school does not provide transportation for students on extended weekends or when the school is closed. Many students would end up carpooling together (especially the students who were coming from the western and eastern parts of the state). The school, generally, has students from every county in NC, and the students spend a lot of time together, so they are usually very good about getting rides from each other for breaks, etc.
The surrounding community is nice. The school is close to duke university east campus, it is within walking distance to 9th street (where there are restaurants, shops, etc0 and students are allowed to sign out and walk there after they are done with classes and before they have to be on their hall.
I think the school is for the most part well received. There have been some issues with the school and the neighborhood it's in (Watts Hillandale) because of proposed lighting enhancements to the playing field. I don't know what ever happened with that. But I think the students for the most part are a welcome part of the community. The worst thing I've ever seen one of them do is linger a little too long at a coffee shop.
I was a student ... but I just celebrated a big reunion, so my info. might be *way* out of date. It is a much smaller school than most triangle high schools, so I expect that it is less competitive to get on the team. But from what I remember, most sports teams had pretty good players filled somewhat with the overachiever/scholarship/gotta be good at everything types.
It is a very immersive environment -- many local students wind up not even wanting to go home until break. Some used to so they could eat something home-cooked, use their cars, and do laundry. But the students who were from farther away stayed almost all weekends.
Music -- like sports -- was supported much better than say some rural high schools. I remember my friends had opportunities to make their own music. But the focus of the school is academics. Many achieving kids pursue both music and academics however so they certainly have a group to draw upon ... I think a call to the school music director would be in order to get more info.
Thanks for the feedback. It it is helpful to fear from those who have attended or worked at the school...or who live in the area.
We are wanting to make sure it is not full of scholarly elitist rude kids who are hated by the 'locals'.
Thanks for the feedback. It it is helpful to fear from those who have attended or worked at the school...or who live in the area.
We are wanting to make sure it is not full of scholarly elitist rude kids who are hated by the 'locals'.
T
I was a student as well (a little over ten years ago). We used to go trick or treating and the neighbors all thought it was great. I remember more than one comment about how we had to eat cafeteria food so they understood why we wanted to trick or treat.
And we carpooled a lot for extends, and rarely went home when it wasn't required.
It was nice having Duke nearby as well. One time we had gone to the movies and realized we'd get back after hall check, the bus we were on had a bunch of Duke students who asked the driver to take us back first.
Thanks for the feedback. It it is helpful to fear from those who have attended or worked at the school...or who live in the area.
We are wanting to make sure it is not full of scholarly elitist rude kids who are hated by the 'locals'.
T
My admittedly limited interaction with some of the NCSSM kids at places around town (Ninth St., etc.) leads me to believe they are indeed scholarly but just about the furthest thing from elitist and rude. I'm glad they're in Durham, and the school does seem to emphasize community service. For example, back in 2010, a group of them did a mini-term project that involved painting the trash cans on Ninth St. I thought that was pretty awesome:
As someone who works near there and see the kids often around Ninth Street, I wouldn't classify them as elitist or rude. I think they're just your typical nerdy kids and there's nothing wrong with that
Although a fair number of kids come from more affluent and urban areas near the Triangle, Triad, or Charlotte ... a lot come from rural counties and high schools and are pretty far from elitist. Back in my day the staff member almost all the kids loved was a friendly, salt-of-the-earth security guard.
leads me to believe they are indeed scholarly but just about the furthest thing from elitist and rude. I'm glad they're in Durham, and the school does seem to emphasize community service. For example, back in 2010, a group of them did a mini-term project that involved painting the trash cans on Ninth St. I thought that was pretty awesome:
I agree. They also participated in a large community wide food drive. I see them the NCSSM bus out at the mall with some of the on weekends and they seem like just nice, normal, smart high school kids. Seems like some of them from smaller schools might have found a place where they can be around others like themselves, which is always a good thing. Glad NCSSM is part of Durham!
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