what's the real story with Durham schools? (Chapel Hill, Carrboro: for sale, real estate)

[Elizabeth_John]

We're in Chapel Hill and very happy with our home and school situation, with no plans to move any time soon.

But... Our friends bought a house the same month that we bought, for the exact same price. Their house is bigger (and, honestly, nicer) than ours. They are close to amenities and fun things, and their situation seems great. Their home is in south-west Durham, easy access to Southpoint and other shopping, and a short drive from downtown and all the great stuff that Durham is known for.

Until you get to the issue of schools. I was at a party recently when our friends from Durham with small children were all talking about the school situation. Two sets of parents are planning to home school, one family is within the walk zone of a school that's "not horrible" (their words), another family is going to apply for a magnet and if not, go private, and the fifth family is moving out of state before their oldest starts K.

So what's the deal? Are the Durham schools really that bad? Other than the magnet schools, are there good neighborhood schools in Durham? Or is education the one challenge in an otherwise wonderful city?

We love our home and our neighborhood, but it's small and we will outgrow it sometime (probably the second we have a teenager in the house ). I'd love to be able to consider Durham and Durham schools when we consider where we move next, but I won't do that if the situation is as bad as my friends in Durham all seem to think it is. Am I stuck in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro city school district forever?

[evaofnc]

Durham schools get a bad rap but for the most part they're fine. I would have no problem sending my children to Durham County schools, especially somewhere like Hillandale Elementary which from what all my coworkers who live in Durham tell me is a fantastic school. At least if I lived in Durham I wouldn't have to deal with the headache that is Wake!

[cchampagne232000]

Sounds like if all those parents would send their kids to public school instead then the situation might change a bit. Middle to upper income families fleeing from lower income schools just exascerbates the problem.

[poppydog]

I think the thing is the Chapel Hill/Carrboro schools have such an excellent rep so any school system in NC suffers by comparison especially one that's right next door.

I think if you look at the school report cards (District Profile - District Level and http://www.ncreportcards.com/src/sea...durham&Srch=GO) Durham schools get a pretty mixed review, but there's only so much you can tell from those kinds of scores. There are Durham schools that do well and Durham schools that don't and there are other interesting free options like Central Park School for Children and the Durham School of the Arts.

I know folks who have their kids in the Durham Schools and are very happy with it, but I also know folks who left Durham to move to Chapel Hill for the schools here.

Here's a love-letter site to the Durham Schools: Strong Durham Schools .

[jill7930]

Originally Posted by Elizabeth_John

I was at a party recently when our friends from Durham with small children were all talking about the school situation. Two sets of parents are planning to home school, one family is within the walk zone of a school that's "not horrible" (their words), another family is going to apply for a magnet and if not, go private, and the fifth family is moving out of state before their oldest starts K.

I wonder if any of these parents actually sent their kids to any DPS schools or visited their neighborhood school? I have lived in Durham for 12 years. I have two children - one in a DPS school and another starting K there this year. None of our close friends/neighbors in town go to private schools. Some of them attend charters and magnets, but the rest are at good neighborhood DPS schools. There are other DPS schools that I absolutely would not send my children to. Some neighborhood (non magnet) elementary schools with good reputations include Hillandale, Creekside, Forest View, Mangum, Little River, EK Powe & Southwest. I have friends with children at these schools and they having nothing but good things to say. I'm sure there are some other schools that I know less about. Watts and Morehead are magnet schools but because they have a priority walk zone, function similarly to neighborhood schools. Similarly, Easley, which is a wonderful year round school, has its own zoned area but also allows children from two neighboring zones to lottery in.

How are these friends you speak of evaluating the schools? Are they just looking at scores? That's not going to tell you a lot. I attended a very interesting meeting at our school where the principal explained indepth all the info of EOG scores, the AYP goals for No Child Left Behind, and it was very eye opening. I had considered myself to be savvy about such things (have a teaching certificate though I'm not a practicing teacher) but I learned so much; it really hit home how judging a school on a few scores and percentiles doesn't make sense.

As my children are still elementary age, I know less about the upper grades except from what I hear from colleagues and neighbors. The Middle Schools as a whole don't have great rep here, but Middle School is no picnic in most places. Jordan and Riverside and considered decent high schools.

As is the case for just about everything, what you are looking for in a school is very personal. What's important to one family isn't going to meet the needs of another. I toured a very popular Durham charter option that people swoon over and decided not to apply because I personally wasn't impressed by what they have to offer. I love my children's elementary school but know families who left it for private or magnet options because they were looking for something different.

I know that I'm rambling, but you will get opinions that run the gamut and at some point, you need to visit the schools yourself, talk to people who ACTUALLY ATTEND THEM and see if you think it would be a good fit.

[michgc]

What's interesting to me is to see the price differential between Chapel Hill Schools and Durham schools by looking at the Meadowmont Neighborhood. Most of the development feeds into CH schools and the rest feeds into Durham schools. If you look there you can see how much more the homes sell for that feed into CH schools versus the best Durham schools (Jordan High). For example, two houses are pending on a real estate site. For about the same price, on the Durham side you get a brand new house built in 2012 with 3800 square feet on about 1/2 acre. On the CH side, you get an 8-year old house with 3200 square feet on a very small lot (.18 acre). Another example is a 6000 square foot home on a 1/2 acre for sale on the Durham side for about the same price as a 5000 square foot home on 1/4 acre on the CH side.

Of course, that's just a quick, cursory look as there might be other differences. But I know when we looked at Meadowmont, we would get excited when we saw a lower-priced home, and each and every time it was on the Durham County side. Based on the fact that these homes are in the same development (providing a control), it seems people are willing to pay a lot more to be in Chapel Hill Schools.

Having said that, I truly believe that most schools' reputations are 90% based on the students who attend them rather than the teaching quality or the curriculum. The higher the income of the students, the better the test scores, the better the reputation. Although with higher-income schools overall, classes tend to be faster-paced and offer more advanced offerings, if that's what your kid needs. That's just my general impression of schools overall everywhere. I don't know anything specific about Durham County schools.