Moving into Wake County school assignments (Greensboro, Durham: 2015, apartments, to rent)

[Minerva78]

I currently live in Greensboro but we are considering moving to the triangle area in the next 6 - 12 months so my husband can attend a better technical school in Wake county and we can hopefully have better job opportunities. I can keep my current job and likely work out of our Durham office or a home office, though I will continue looking for a better job. We have two girls who will be in kindergarten and first grade in the fall. At first I was completely against living in Wake county, because I had heard how much of a mess the schools were, but after doing more research on Durham, I'm thinking Wake county may be a better idea. Since I travel for work across the middle and western regions of the state, and I may end up with an office in Durham, I'd prefer to live somewhere in the western part of Wake county, in the Morrisville or Cary area. We would just be looking to rent for a few years until we get to know the area and get settled into jobs while saving for a house.

At any rate, if we can swing it we're aiming to try to move the beginning January 2015 but if not, later that spring or summer. I've been reading up on Wake county schools and boy is all of this confusing! While I don't like the idea of moving my girls mid school year, I'd rather be settled in a Wake county address in January so we can apply for whatever available options for schools for the following year. What I don't understand is how are school assignments made if you move mid year, and your base assignment school is a magnet or year round school? For instance, I was looking at some apartments in Cary whose base school assignment is a Track 4 year round school. Would my girls still be assigned to that school even though they'd be coming from a traditional school calendar in Greensboro? And what if the base assignment is a magnet school? I think I actually like the idea of year round schools, I think it would be a good fit for my children's needs, so I would be looking at that as an option regardless of where we live.

[twingles]

Yes, if your base school is a YR school you'll still be assigned to that school. A Track 4 YR is closely aligned with the traditional calendar and they are actually on break until the 3rd week of January usually. I don't think your kids would be too far off where the curriculum is.

I can't think of a magnet school that is a base school in Western Cary or Morrisville, so I wouldn't worry about that too much.

Be aware if you move to Morrisville, your base school may be Cedar Fork which is capped.

[Minerva78]

Thanks for the info! I think there was somewhere else I was looking at in Cary that was assigned to a magnet school - a STEM theme, I think? I'll have to look again and start taking notes on all of this. I'm fine with living anywhere in Cary, I think. My girls have been in a Montessori magnet for pre-K and kindergarten in Greensboro, so I would consider magnet schools again depending on the theme. But I think I'm liking the year round option a little more, I'm just trying to learn all I can at the moment.

[Minerva78]

One more question - in multitrack year round schools, if you have two kids at the same schools in different grades, they WOULD assign them it the same track, wouldn't they? Or is there a chance of having two kids at the same school on different tracks? That would be a disaster for us.

[twingles]

The only STEM school I know of in Cary is Weatherstone - it's not a magnet, though. That school has lower test scores but it's coming along with a newer principal and teachers. I know some people there. I'd be happy to send my child there.

Or maybe you're thinking of Kingswood? Yes, I think they are going to a Montessori model. It's a Title I school but it looks like they are bringing it along as well.

Also, I am sure you will hear from people whose kids are in different schools on different tracks but I think that's a rarity and probably usually a clerical error.

[Minerva78]

I looked it up and the school I was looking at was Kingswood, it lists itself as as Montessori STEM program so it looks like it has both themes. I would hope siblings would be on the same track, but I had to ask, because who knows what schools will do!