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West Lake Middle School gets a 10 out of 10 by greatschools.net
West Lake Elementary School gets a 8 out of 10 by the same site.
If there were a problem at the West Lake Schools we would not be sending my 4 year old there. She starts school in July. Most of the children in the neighborhood attend the West Lake schools.
Also Sunset Oaks another comparable neighborhood is zoned for West Lake. I studied the bus routes and a lot of the buses are coming from Fuquay Varina to West Lake.
I have no idea what the previous poster is talking about.
I checked the stats and these schools are primarily white at 70% +
So 30% are black/hispanic/asian.
20% at West Lake Elementary are receiving free & reduced lunch
17% at West lake Middle are receiving free & reduced lunch
Those are good #s & is usually a good indication of what kind of school it is.
NCREPORTCARD.COM shows the enrollment #s and class size.
When you go to ncreportcard.com it clearly states that the class size is LARGER than most schools. I know some people who have taken their kids out of the school due to the large classes and general overcrowding of the school. I can't wait to see those figures when the neighborhood is complete!
For the person worried about gangs and such.. NO NO NO! This is a VERY nice area and kids are very polite and friendly to adults and generally to each other. We just arent happy with the school and wont be sending our kids there. I understand that not everyone shares my same view of the school. Some are perfectly happy there. This forum is for everyone to state their opinion which I did. I know if I were to ask a question here I would want every opinion, good or bad, for me to make my decisions.
I'm sorry KellyCrash I didnt mean to offend you and your decision to send your 4 yr old there. The school is just not for us and I was just sharing our experience and opinion. I am by no means saying the school is a bad school. I know Wake is famous for their high ratings when it comes to education. When I was in elementary school I was in an area where they were building a lot of new homes. I wound up in an overcrowded elementary school with little to no individualized attention, portables for classroom overflow and generally crowded hallways. When I was in 5th grade my parents moved and I went to an elementary school with "normal" class sizes. Looking back I just realize what a difference that made.
I feel the schools are safe, the kids friendly and respectful. I have heard about many many changes at WLES in the past few years (new principal, reassignments) that have affected the culture of the school, mainly due to the unravelling of the PTA. I never quite grasped how important the PTA was until I realized why the spirit and fun were missing at WLES. GOOD NEWS!!! We all are the PTA. I know what I`m doing this July when school starts back. I`m going to stop fretting and complaining and I`m going to get to work bring some spirit into WLES.
My neighbor's daughter is on track 4 & she thinks there are about 25 kids in the daughter's kindergarten class. She says it is overcrowded. She also said Middle Creek Elementary (like less than 1/2 a mile) from WLES is under capacity. I heard from another neighbor that they are asking people on Track 4 to switch tracks voluntarily & if enough people didn't volunteer to switch then they would be switching people at random. I heard also that there are only about 5 women involved in the PTA, but that they had done a great job & had gotten new playground equipment & some picnic tables.
What does the PTA do exactly? I have a friend who is very involved in her child's school and she's there everyday for several hours. I want to help, but not sure I can make that big of a commitment with an infant to care for.
We've been to the pool a couple of times & the water is FREEZING.
To the pp who apologized for offending me - I'm not offended in the least. No worries.
Hi everyone! I was just reading this post and was amazed! We are in the process of considering a move from CT to greater Raleigh, and I just got home from being in the area for the last couple of days. We looked at the Park @ West Lake, and the prices were still a bit high for us, and I wasn't interested in The Commons. We looked at a neighboring subdivision in the northern part of Fuquay Varina called "Brighton Forest" off of Optimist Farm and Johnson Pond Rd, and we loved that area! The thing is, I guess Brighton Forest shares the schools at West Lake because of their close proximity. After reading this, I know there are always both pros and cons to the school situation at West Lake, but this is something I have to take seriously. I have a son who is almost 5.5 years old, and he is ready for kindergarten and he does have some special needs issues (mild attention problems and weak fine motor skills), and I am worried that he would not get the attention he needs. Maybe we should just stay in CT? I'm not sure how Fuquay Varina Elementary rates, so I'll have to check that out. I certainly can't afford private schools with baby #4 on the way!
Hi everyone! I was just reading this post and was amazed! We are in the process of considering a move from CT to greater Raleigh, and I just got home from being in the area for the last couple of days. We looked at the Park @ West Lake, and the prices were still a bit high for us, and I wasn't interested in The Commons. We looked at a neighboring subdivision in the northern part of Fuquay Varina called "Brighton Forest" off of Optimist Farm and Johnson Pond Rd, and we loved that area! The thing is, I guess Brighton Forest shares the schools at West Lake because of their close proximity. After reading this, I know there are always both pros and cons to the school situation at West Lake, but this is something I have to take seriously. I have a son who is almost 5.5 years old, and he is ready for kindergarten and he does have some special needs issues (mild attention problems and weak fine motor skills), and I am worried that he would not get the attention he needs. Maybe we should just stay in CT? I'm not sure how Fuquay Varina Elementary rates, so I'll have to check that out. I certainly can't afford private schools with baby #4 on the way!
Smatus,
Does he currently have an IEP in CT? If not, make sure and get him evaluated. If he has an IEP, they are suppose to follow it in his school. I have a child with mild autism but he is just 3 years old and has an IEP. He receives services through his preschool.
Is your child currently in Occupational Therapy for his fine motor problems? I don't know what private insurance you have but if you can get his pediatrician to write an order for him to take OT, then as long as your insurance covers it, then you can get the private OT services after school. We have United Healthcare and we are allowed 60 visits a year of combined speech, PT and OT. Our biggest issue right now is speech so we are using all 60 visits on speech.
I currently live in Fuquay and our base school is Willow Springs. All my neighbors rave about our school (we live in Lakestone Village). I just went to a Kindergarten information session early this year as I have a 5 year old who will be entering Kindergarten. I was impressed with what I saw and they are ranked high on greatschools.net compared to many of the elementary schools in Wake County. I know that Ballentine Elmentary and West Lake Elementary are good too (both service Fuquay). I haven't heard from anyone on Fuquay Elementary and I know Lincoln Heights lost their magnet status so I don't know much about it.
Yes, my son is on an IEP plan right now. He goes to the town's special ed preschool and is due to transition to kindergarten in September. I don't want him in an overcrowded classroom! We do attend both PT and OT privately outside of the school here in CT, and he also receives them in school. Our insurance sounds similar to yours, in that we have 60 visits per calendar year for OT, PT, and speech, but we are primarily focusing on the OT and a little PT, though I think he will finish up with PT soon since he has improved so much. We also looked at Lakestone Village, but couldn't find anything in there that we liked and was in our price range (maybe the newer ones in back of the development?). Anyway, thanks for your post, but this move is something to consider given our son's situation. He does have an IEP now, but he may not for the coming school year because he has improved, but I don't want him just mixing in with the crowd, either. He wouldn't do well in a classroom with 25 other kids! Just something to consider.
Yes, the Lakestone homes in the 2nd phase are much bigger having 4, 5 & even 6 bedrooms and the lots are bigger. We live in the 2nd phase with one of the larger back yards for our kids. Since some of the homes in the 1st phase have garages behind the house, there is very little back yards so they were out for us too.
I will say one thing to consider is that Wake County has an influx of children and a lot more IEPs too. I would make sure and get him re-evaluated by the CT school system and bring his up-to-date IEP with you. If you wait to have him evaluated here, I'm afraid that you might not get as many services. I don't know for sure but we got a lot less services when we were re-evaluated and my son has a diagnosis of autism. I had to battle for an additional speech session. They didn't want to give him OT or PT and I didn't battle it as he is doing much better there but that's because of all the therapy he was receiving on his IFSP. If he starts to lag behind in his motor skills, you can be sure I will be knocking on their door again. We are doing a lot on our own privately through verbal behavior therapy and speech therapy to help him.
I've heard that Johnston County schools are great with IEPs and special needs through meeting parents at the Autism Society of NC. Being new to the area, not sure exactly where that is though.
Good luck!
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I heard from another neighbor that they are asking people on Track 4 to switch tracks voluntarily & if enough people didn't volunteer to switch then they would be switching people at random. I heard also that there are only about 5 women involved in the PTA, but that they had done a great job & had gotten new playground equipment & some picnic tables. 
