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I'll echo Rockinmomma's assessment of OCS. In my experience in and out of the schools, I find that all of the schools in the OCS have caring, dedicated teachers. There has been historically very little turnover at any of the schools As a matter of fact, one teacher at Grady Brown just celebrated 25 years at THAT one school. She is now beginning to teach 2nd gens! I have been quite impressed with the school and staff at CW Stanford and Gravelly Hills. Stanford is the oldest of the 3 middle schools, but you can't judge a book by its cover. The staff is great and they have a very strong math program. If your children are interested in music, I'd look at Stanback. Gravelly, the newest of the 3 middle schools, and is a bit "out there" but am impressed with the school. Grady Brown, New Hope, Cameron Park and Hillsborough Elementary are all super elementary schools with strong parent involvement and supportive staff. High School may be a bit too far off for you to look at now, and things can change over the years but both Orange High and Cedar Ridge boast strong programs. They have very different and unique cultures at each school, so it really depends on what your kids will be interested in when they get to that point. Hope that helps!
Oh...to address some of your other specific questions. Haven't heard about any gang activity, and there is very little in the Hillsborough area (it is sort of the "haven"). Drug and alcohol activity can be found in virtually any school system, but will say there is less evidence of chronic issues/problems based on suspension data. There was the incident at Stanback which was mentioned, and it was addressed. Based on youth risk behaviors surveys and social norms survey at the high schools, the majority of high school students do not use substances. Again, based on my observations in and out of the middle and high schools, I have not seen any evidence of racism or violence. Bullying is a nationwide epidemic and I believe the OCS is being diligent in addressing any such issues. Teen pregnancy unfortunately seems to be higher than we'd like to see, but I haven't looked at the data to compare with other school districts.
Could anyone comment specifically on Hillsborough schools from personal experience? I am also interested in the Orange County school district and living in Hillsborough. I know that Chapel Hill is "the best", but really would like to hear about other school districts in order to make a well-informed decision.
I like the 1:1 computer program, IB, AP, and EIE (which my 2nd grader loves here in Seattle, by the way), but what is the personal/subjective experience like in attending these schools? Are kids happy to be there, are families involved? Do the middle and high schools have a problem with drugs, alcohol, gang activity, drop-outs, teen pregnancies, racism, or violence? The type of community I place my kids into is WAY more important to me than overall test scores or the percentage of high achievers. I am searching for a friendly community with few social issues, character-building (not religious), and happy kids.
My daughter goes to the year-round Hillsborough Elementary and we have been happy with it. HES is an opt-in school, and admission is by lottery from those who apply. They try to keep 20% of the slots for kids from each of the 5 base schools. As a result of this, it is harder to get in if you are zoned for Central or Efland-Cheeks because those schools have lower scores and more parents zoned there apply for HES, so you have more competition. My understanding is that if you are zoned for one of the other 3 schools, it is easy to get into HES because fewer apply from those schools. We are zoned for Efland, which I think probably has a worse reputation than it deserves due to past performance. The folks in my neighborhood who go there seem to be happy with the school and feel that it has turned around and improved a lot. I toured both schools and felt like Efland would have been fine, but I got a really good vibe from HES. They felt really enthusiastic and intentional about what they were doing, and I also prefer the year-round calendar. There is a lot of parental involvement at the school, which is partly self-selecting because of the lack of bus transportation. The PTA is currently raising funds to build a new playground at the school.
There is also a new charter school set to open in Hillsborough next school year, called The Expedition School, and it will also be on a year-round schedule. They plan to have a STEM focus. While I am perfectly happy at HES and have not thought to leave, I will also be interested to find out more about this new school too.
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