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Thank you all! TarHeelNick, that seems to be where we keep coming back to.
I don't know the differences between Rougemont, Cedar Grove, Mebane and Hillsborough directly though yet. We fell in love with a house in Rougemont when we went looking a few weeks ago but not knowing anything about the area, we walked away from it.
We thought about CHCCS but heard that the special needs program there is pretty lacking as it focuses more on the gifted aspect. Something about Hillsborough keeps me coming back to the area. Plus with his office by the stadium, if he does have to go in, it's an easy commute.
For a little bit on each of the towns you ask about, City-Data does have basic info pages on every municipality.. You may have to choose a different category for some of the smaller cities, as I think it cuts off at population 6000 on this one, but there smaller ones are there. Mebane is becoming a popular "bedroom community" of the larger Triangle and does have a lot of small-town feel, but also many newer neighborhoods with "McMansions" coming in (a dear friend of mine lives there, in the older part). It would be easy enough to avoid the newer parts, but just be aware that like any town in this area, older-world charm is being replaced with newer construction and Big Box stores as the population skyrockets--that's kind of part and parcel of being in this metro area in the first place.
I know little about Rougemont or Cedar Grove but I know they are definitely smaller.
BullCityEric, thank you! That's what we are thinking too. I read Little River and Easley are good schools. What are the better middle and high schools? He will be going into 6th grade next year.
Cedargrovegirl, thank you also! We are 5 miles from civilization but to get to Kroger, it takes us 15 minutes. I more meant that to feel like we are out of the country, its just a few miles. I don't mind driving a bit for the stuff I need. We did find a beautiful house in Rougemont off Old Sharon Church Road (I think it was) but we didn't know the area enough to be confident in a purchase. It was $315k and I'm not sure how that really does in the area. It was on 2 acres and the house was about 3000 sf I believe. We are not against a subdivision, we don't live in one now, so either way that has the house we will do. House size is at least 1800sf. There are only 3 of us but we do have 3 dogs and 4 cats so a bit of space for them is good. We are pretty open to what we want vs need which in some ways makes it harder because there are so many options. The one thing we want is character in a house. Not a run of the mill house. Whether it has a ton of windows, a stone fireplace, maybe a tray ceiling, just something that sets it apart. The Rougemont house kept "wowing" us with each room we went into. The real estate pictures didn't do it justice as there was so much detail in it. What held us back was it was a foreclosure and not knowing the area, we didn't want to take the chance (well me, hubby wanted it). Actually it was listed contingent yesterday as it's been open for bids.
Poppydog, thanks! My son will be 11 and going into 6th grade when we move. He is very gifted at math and reading but his comprehension is horrible. He can memorize a book cover to cover but can't understand it which hurts him in science, social studies and language arts. We'd rather not do private but I'd love to look into the charters! That might be a great alternative.
Francois, thank you too! Good to know about Mebane, that's what we were thinking it was. We don't mind the newer construction as long as we are separated from it. One of my friends just moved to the next street over in a new community (where we actually considered buying before hubbys old company went bankrupt) and while it's only 5 minutes away, it's a beautiful wood lined drive. As long as the McMansions don't back to up my backyard, it's ok. I just want my little slice of heaven and not have to hear the traffic outside my window.
"We are not limited to area since hubby doesn't have set office hours and can work from home thankfully. So if he goes in once or twice a week and it's a bit of travel (an hour or just over), that's isn't a problem."
We moved to Hillsborough from Durham almost 2 years ago and love everything about it. We are on the St Marys/New Sharon Church Road side and it's so quite and peaceful, yet 4 miles to the schools and grocery store.
One thing to be careful of with Hillsborough (and Cedar Grove/Rougemont) is internet access. We put an offer in on one house and thank goodness it fell through - it only had satellite internet with limited data each month and was very expensive. If you husband works from home and needs to use the internet a lot or if you son does any computer gaming, I would make sure the houses you look at have Time Warner for internet.
I don't know anything about special services at the schools. We toured Orange Charter, it seemed really nice if you want a small school experience.
I know a lot of folks who have their kids in charters. It might be worth it to tour some of them at open houses and get a feel for how they might work for your guy.
I don't know that much about PACE/Carolina Academy, but I had the feeling that it might be better for kids who struggle more academically — maybe have some developmental delays — I don't really know. Not sure if it would be the place for your guy or not.
I know there are a few kids with autism/aspergers at my kids' charter near the Alamance/Orange line. There are a lot of kids there with ADHD, too. The smaller environment and greater flexibility seems to work for a lot of kids with some differences and they have more opportunity to move around. Overall it's a little less rigid. If your kid really thrives on calm and structure then it might be a little too loose for him. The kids seem very accepting, though. I don't know that much about the overall special needs program — I think the atmosphere just works for some kids.
I have heard good things about the Expedition School in Hillsborough, which is also a charter, and about Just Right Academy in Durham, which is private.
A challenge with the charters is that most are very difficult to get into as entrance is by lottery, and there are far more applicants for seats than there are seats. None will be a sure bet. Same is true for magnet schools, which at least at the Middle School level, tend to be the more highly regarded schools in the DPS system. Timing of the lotteries may be an issue too, though if your husband is already living here, you would have an address to apply with I suppose.
Little River actually expanded this year into a K-8 school. I'm guessing they only filled 6th this year and will expand out each year. That's a neighborhood school, so if you liked their program, you could find a house zoned for it and attend automatically. I'm not sure it was planned, but they did end up opening the middle school program to those outside the Little River zone, presumably because their enrollment numbers were lower than expected from the Little River elementary families. No idea how many kids they picked up from outside the zone - I'd think it would be an attractive option to those not pleased with their zoned school, but the location was likely a deterrent to those in the Central/Southern part of the county.
eta: I live happily in Durham and my children are both in DPS schools. They have been well served and we are pleased.
Last edited by jill7930; 11-13-2015 at 08:48 AM..
Reason: added info
Maybe I am biased, but I would totally recommend Hillsborough for you, which is where we are moving. You can get that 'out in the country' feel, but still be pretty close to everything you need in town. The commute to Durham is easy too. The area up St. Mary's Rd was my first thought, but there are lots of choices that could work for you in all directions around Hillsborough. Parts of Mebane and Efland might work for you too, but Rougemont and Cedar Grove feel way far out there to me - too far from things for my preference.
My kids are in Orange County Schools and my youngest is in the special education program (not technically for autism, but classified as developmental delay). We have been very happy with the special ed program and we get a lot of services. Our developmental pediatrician is always impressed by how much we get from our school system and says that most of her patients have to fight and struggle to get services that they need, but we have had no problems like that. My daughter is in a mainstream classroom for >50% of her day but gets a lot of pull-outs to resource as well as related services (PT, OT, speech). Our school does not have accommodations for children who need to be based in a resource class, so if we needed that we would have to send her to a different school. Our friends have a child with autism and he goes to Grady Brown for the autism classroom there, and they have been happy with that school.
Clayton to Durham daily is a recipe for being unhappy on any job. Unless you have a helicopter to go with your 1+ acre property.
LOL!! I was thinking the same! And wish i had a heli for my commute to Durham. My friend commutes from Clayton to midtown Raleigh and the commute is 45mins to 1hr. This is about the same as my Knightdale to Durham commute. It has become unbearable. Used to be 35-40 minutes.
OP - I agree with Francois, check out the schools first. And, Wake Forest isn't high growth. I'd say the school and work location should be your first focus. Everything else will fall into place after you've sorted this out.
Expedition School is new, so fewer applicants than somewhere like Woods.
Perhaps fewer applicants, but still long odds for the lottery and a huge wait list.
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We did find a beautiful house in Rougemont off Old Sharon Church Road (I think it was) but we didn't know the area enough to be confident in a purchase. It was $315k and I'm not sure how that really does in the area. It was on 2 acres and the house was about 3000 sf I believe. We are not against a subdivision, we don't live in one now, so either way that has the house we will do. House size is at least 1800sf. There are only 3 of us but we do have 3 dogs and 4 cats so a bit of space for them is good. We are pretty open to what we want vs need which in some ways makes it harder because there are so many options. The one thing we want is character in a house. Not a run of the mill house. Whether it has a ton of windows, a stone fireplace, maybe a tray ceiling, just something that sets it apart. The Rougemont house kept "wowing" us with each room we went into. The real estate pictures didn't do it justice as there was so much detail in it. What held us back was it was a foreclosure and not knowing the area, we didn't want to take the chance (well me, hubby wanted it). Actually it was listed contingent yesterday as it's been open for bids. 
