Question about Zillow School Listings (Raleigh, Durham: appointed, rent, homes)

[irish7lass2]

Hi Everyone. My husband just had a great interview and will be flying out for his final later this week. We were hoping to find something and relocate to the Raleigh/Durham area from Wisconsin. This position will be in Rocky Mount which seems to be a bit east of there. I was looking at homes in the surrounding areas but the school listings for a lot of the places are not promising. Can anyone tell me a good way to research the school areas? I have two children (7 & 9) who will be going into 3rd/4th grade. I was kind of hoping to look in the Clayton area but that seems like a far drive to Rocky Mount. Thank you!

[emelvee]

GreatSchools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community

I'd be surprised if Rocky Mount government schools are very highly rated. It's not exactly the most vibrant, desirable areas.

Also, I believe Zillow shows the closest schools to a particular home, not necessarily the ones you would be assigned to.

edit: I did a quick glance; nothing above a "6" in Nash County; most are in the 3-5 range, with several 1s and 2s. While the rating doesn't ever tell the whole story, I'd be leery of the public schools there. We have a second home in Franklin County (adjacent to Nash), and the schools are a bit better. Wake County will generally have better schools, but I've heard anecdotal negative comments of the East Wake County schools.

[Stagemomma]

Clayton is ridiculously far from Rocky Mount! Maybe look at Zebulon? Honestly, save the money from the commute and look at private schools. The price of gas is not going down and your husband doesn't want to spend your kids' childhoods in the car.

Get familiar with Google Maps It is a re-locators best friend.

Goodschools.com can be helpful also, but you have to take the comments with a grain of salt.

[fvncresident04]

don't expect the schools here to impress you. You may be disappointed. I know two families from Wisconsin who moved here and said it was a step down in education.

and I would also look at Zebulon if I were commuting to Rocky mount.

[irish7lass2]

Thank you. I currently commute 50 miles one way for my job (and have for 2.5 years). A better quality of life is one of the main reasons we are looking to relocate so we certainly do not want to spend our life in the car. I will definitely look into the private school option as it looks like housing is a bit lower outside of the Raleigh area. We will probably rent for a year or two until we find the community that best suits us. I just didn't want to uproot my kids more than once.

[NYC2RDU]

As a father/husband, what I'd want to do is focus on the Wake Forest area (Heritage, for example) and bite the bullet and accept a longer commute. The schools in the Rocky Mount area would fall short of our expectations regardless of where you're coming from (because we want the best for our children).

Now, I had mega-commutes for the first twenty or so years of my career before moving to Raleigh and so it's easy enough for me to signup for such a deal; and I know it's not for everyone. But consider that many people who live in Wake Forest have forty-five minute commutes to RTP and so Rocky Mount wouldn't really be so bad.

[VickiR]

I've had clients that work in Rocky Mount move to Zebulon or Wake Forest to avoid living in Rocky Mount.

Knightdale would be a good option, as well, but you'll have to check out the schools.

Vicki