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My grammar school was over 40 years old and we read from textbooks that were 5-10 years old. If you can read them and the building is safe what is the problem? If a kid wants to learn he will.
My grammar school was over 40 years old and we read from textbooks that were 5-10 years old. If you can read them and the building is safe what is the problem? If a kid wants to learn he will.
If it all came down to "if a kid wants to learn he will" then why are we so concerned with schools? Based on your theory, any and all schools are fine, whether they are in Wake, Durham or Orange county.
For the record, I came from a very small town, about an hour from Raleigh. Our buildings were old, as well. However, we only had 2 elementary schools so no one was as concerned about scores and free lunch programs, etc.
And THAT is the point...people are soooo concerned about the scores and that is why so many choose Chapel Hill schools!
If it all came down to "if a kid wants to learn he will" then why are we so concerned with schools? Based on your theory, any and all schools are fine, whether they are in Wake, Durham or Orange county.
For the record, I came from a very small town, about an hour from Raleigh. Our buildings were old, as well. However, we only had 2 elementary schools so no one was as concerned about scores and free lunch programs, etc.
And THAT is the point...people are soooo concerned about the scores and that is why so many choose Chapel Hill schools!
Vicki
I imagine you are talking about individual students scores. If parents spend time with their children when they are very young and encourage them to read they will do fine. I wouldn't advocate sending a child to an extremely poor and unsafe inner city school but by the same token I wouldn't spend money I didn't have sending them to private grammar and middle schools.
Our main motivation for moving would be a change of lifestyle. Ideally we would love to move to a "Better or equal" school system, but that is extremely tough to assess.
We would be moving from the North Penn School District here in PA. My oldest is in 1st grade and she has 21 students in her class. The elementary school she is attending is great, I have heard nightmares about the middle school though. And the High School, well it seems that everyone we asked around here who have kids going to college would not choose to send them back through our school system for various reasons but mostly the size of the school. The high school alone has over 3000 students (grades 10-12). Kids get lost if they are not in the top or bottom 1%.
And yes, we both have jobs. We are both work-from-homers. So are pretty lucky in that aspect.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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North Penn is a decent school district if I remember correctly. I think you'd like the Chapel Hill schools. The system is smaller, similar to some of the PA ones and probably comparable to some of the better Phila. schools like Central Bucks/Lower Moreland, etc. in terms of test scores. We've been pleased with the class size. And if you want a small high school then look into Carrboro high school. Under 1000 students for 4 grades!
i'd move here just for the college/university system! I think WCPSS is great for folks who think they will need different schools for their very different kids. Or just want a choice of kids. The breadth of WCPSS allows you to do that.
If you want the kids to go to the same schools, get similar teachers and curriculum, and have the convenience of single drop-offs, etc. then you may want to consider moving to a very stable area within wake county (and you can find those areas, but it probably won't be in a new house) or moving to chapel hill.
if you want your child to go to UNC CH, then you may consider *not* moving to chapel hill as it is very competitive to get in from there.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WeLuvNC
i'd move here just for the college/university system!...if you want your child to go to UNC CH, then you may consider *not* moving to chapel hill as it is very competitive to get in from there.
Remember though that is person is thinking of moving here from the Philadelphia area which is a much larger city with way more universities in the metropolitan area alone, not to mention the whole state and those in nearby states. While there are good universities in NC, I cannot imagine moving here from PA FOR the university system unless I was sure my kid was going to get into UNC or NCState and I wanted in-state tuition. There are many more university choices in PA.
No place is perfect. I accept that our teachers and principals are doing the very best they can, and that schools just don't work the way they did when I was in 'em.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chellemi808
I always feel like I am in the minority when I say that I have been completely happy with my experience with WCPSS, but it's the truth. I came to the area knowing full well what the current situation was and knowing that it could be just about anything going forward. It really helped that my son and I are both adaptable, go with the flow kind of people.
I would do it again in a heartbeat.
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