Opinions on schools...Durham - Spring Valley Elementary (Chapel Hill, Brogden: chapel, home search)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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We are moving from Bucks County, Pa to Chapel Hill/Durham very soon and have 2 little boys - obviously school systems are an important part of our home search. I have been trying to get rating information on various internet sites and the results are a bit scary.... lots of 1s out of 10! One of the areas we are considering is the Brightleaf development which has Durham-Spring Valley Elem within the neighborhood. Can anyone please give me some feedback about this school? Are there any public magnet school options in the area?
I am not an expert in this area yet, as I too am moving to Durham this summer with my 7 yr old, therefore I have done TONS of research in this area. I don't know specifically about Spring Valley, however I'd caution placing too much emphasis on those ratings. They scared me at first too! However we visited a LOVELY school, EK Powe, which if I recall had pretty poor ratings on some of those sites, and not the best test scores. But wow, I was so impressed with the school. I offered so much that our current school in NYC does not, and I loved the small class sizes. I was sold after paying a visit. So if it's possible to scoot down for a tour before you make any decisions, I'd suggest doing that. It made us feel so much more confident that we were making a good choice for our child.
Also, I find the Durham Public Schools website to be very informative in terms of how to navigate the charter/magnet process and all those options.
I am not an expert in this area yet, as I too am moving to Durham this summer with my 7 yr old, therefore I have done TONS of research in this area. I don't know specifically about Spring Valley, however I'd caution placing too much emphasis on those ratings. They scared me at first too! However we visited a LOVELY school, EK Powe, which if I recall had pretty poor ratings on some of those sites, and not the best test scores. But wow, I was so impressed with the school. I offered so much that our current school in NYC does not, and I loved the small class sizes. I was sold after paying a visit. So if it's possible to scoot down for a tour before you make any decisions, I'd suggest doing that. It made us feel so much more confident that we were making a good choice for our child.
Also, I find the Durham Public Schools website to be very informative in terms of how to navigate the charter/magnet process and all those options.
Can you speak more to what you liked about the school, and what it offers that your school in NYC doesn't?
Thanks!
Sure, We currently live in Riverdale. Our son attends our local neighborhood school. His school is large and he currently has a class size of 30 kids in first grade. I loved that Powe seemed much more intimate, with roughly 20-22 kids per class, even as the grades go higher. I liked that the school has "playworks" staff who are responsible for fostering a caring environment throughout the school, particularly during recess, where they work to make sure kids arent engaging in behavior that excludes others etc. At our school, there are easily 200 kids out on in the yard during recess with no "playworks" type staff. I loved that the quality of Arts and Science instruction seemed leaps and bounds beyond what our current school offers, ex. I saw evidence throughout the school of creative work with clay, paint, masks, and other mediums, and they have a nice art room, with pottery wheels etc. Our current school seems rather bare bones in that regard. I like that they have a "Kidsnotes" music program where kids actually learn about reading music, there are actual instruments. Music at my son's school is a joke. Its' basically a teacher who plays piano and the kids sing songs. And as for science, their they clearly have a hands-on, experiential learning approach, where kids are building their own habitats, they have lots of live animals, etc. I don't see much of that happening in our current school. Sadly there seems to be lots of worksheets, and sitting behind desks, and not enough learning by doing. Riverdale is a very nice neighborhood, with a much higher average household income, compared to the average demographic found at Powe, yet the school was by far a better learning environment, in my opinion. This year, I notice that my son rarely comes home showing me much excitement about what he did at school, whereas when I visited Powe, I saw so many things happening that I know will excite him.
Now if I can just find a job, we can get our move on!! BTW I'm a social worker, just started sending out some resumes last week. If anyone has leads in the durham area, I'd love to hear about it
There are indeed elementary magnets and public charters in Durham, but they are all entry by lottery. So your best bet is to move somewhere where you'd be happy at the neighborhood school, and then if you do choose to enter some lotteries and none pan out, you still have a great option.
There are some wonderful neighborhood schools in Durham Public Schools! As Spring Valley is newer and on the other side of town from where I reside, I don't know much about it. But the PP is absolutely correct about visiting the school (and looking for feedback from current spring valley families, as you are doing) and not making judgments by test scores and other data. Each DPS school is very different in terms of what it offers curricularly, the demographics of the school, and the size, etc. A visit can go a long way in this regard. We are in a year-round DPS school and we love that aspect of it.
There are two montessori magnets (Morehead and Watts), a performing arts magnet (Sandy Ridge), a humanities magnet (Club Blvd), and there's also Burton, RN Harris, WG Pearson magnet schools, but I know less about those. Pearsontown, Holt, and Easley are year round magnets that serve different parts of the county. Holt is also starting a language immersion program this Fall.
A friend of mine taught at Spring Valley two years ago and had a very negative experience. She said that the school was disorganized and the administration provided no support with discipline problems. I sincerely hope that things have improved since then, but these problems are consistent with the reviews I have read online.
As for E.K. Powe, I know two teachers who work there and love it! The school has a history of projects with Duke and the Durham community, and its science program has an excellent reputation.
I've heard great things about Riverside, but is Brogden a decent middle school? Thanks.
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