New job is in Clayton but here is the kicker.. (Raleigh: home, neighborhoods)

[mabre]

Hi everyone,

Let me first say that this forum is awesome! I have stayed up too late for the past two nights reading everything (atleast until page 12!)

Here is the scoop...My husband starts his new job the second week of January ( we are in Minneapolis but are not "from here") and like everyone we hit the highlights of Cary but I had a little in sight because I lived in North Raleigh as a kid for a couple of years and my sister lived (until last month) in Wake Forest. So that area as it is familiar. However, my husbands job is in Clayton and until I found this forum we were under the (apparently incorrect) assumption that Clayton would be too small of a town and too far out. So, it seems like an easy solution, buy in Clayton and live happily ever after right? The problem is that our kids (kindergarten and 2nd grade) are currently in Catholic Schools! The closest that we can tell is Apex or possibly Cathedral in Raleigh. Of course, this is if we could even get in. Any input on the Catholic Schools there? Are the public schools in Clayton good? I am really concerned with what I have read about the over crowding in Wake County and re assignment issues so I am a bit leery about buying in Apex or south Cary.
We would probably buy in the 300k-500k range. Please give any feed back so I can try to figure out a solution to this problem. Oh, just so you know, my husbands commutes have always been around 30-45 mins.
Thanks!!

[leighbhe]

Let me think.......there are a few more catholic schools to put on your radar:

Cathedral School
204 Hillsborough St.
Raleigh, NC 27603

Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary School
2710 Overbrook Drive
Raleigh, NC 27608

Both are closer to downtown raleigh (inside the beltline)

The Franciscan School
10000 St. Francis Dr
Raleigh, North Carolina 27613
Phone Number: 9198478205

(north raleigh near ray road)

St. Raphael's
5801 Fls of the Neuse Rd
Raleigh, North Carolina 27609
Phone Number: 9198763526
(north raleigh)

St Catherine of Siena Catholic
520 West Holding Ave
Wake Forest, NC 27587
(wake forest)

I have friends with kids at st. catherines in wake forest (where I live) and they love it, but that is the only input I can give is from them! I haven't had kids in school in clayton, some of clayton is in wake county, some is in johnston county so that would determine if your kids were in wake or johnston county schools.

I think a good solution (although some work) is to look up the schools and then google map their location to clayton, and see what places pop up in between. Anyhow, hopefully this will help you at least check into some other schools. There are more catholic schools, but some are just high schools.

Leigh

[RaleighRob]

You could live in southern Raleigh or northern Garner....thus being halfway between Clayton and the Catholic Schools in central Raleigh?

[mabre]

What is a good area in South Raleigh? I hear all of the neighborhoods in Cary and Apex but not much in that area between 1 and 401 south of 440. I know that 540 will go in between ten-ten and optimist Farm so I should avoid that. BTW I have a small map my sister sent me so please do think I actually know my way around!

[Erin1264]

http://www.privateschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/20980 (broken link)

I don't know anything about the school, but posted the link - it's in Smithfield, about 15 minutes South of Clayton.

Perhaps others can weigh in on the school.

[MikeJaquish]

I would suggest selecting the school(s) you are interested in, and living near the school. Then if you have a sick kid, you don't have to run to Raleigh to get 'em.
The commute from Raleigh to Clayton isn't so bad, if your husband is driving during normal drive-time. He will be 'against the traffic' flow during rush hours.

[Desdemona123]

Originally Posted by MikeJaquish

I would suggest selecting the school(s) you are interested in, and living near the school. Then if you have a sick kid, you don't have to run to Raleigh to get 'em.
The commute from Raleigh to Clayton isn't so bad, if your husband is driving during normal drive-time. He will be 'against the traffic' flow during rush hours.

We did this for elementary school (buy a home close to the school) but unless your child has chronic health issues, I don't find a drive for school that big a deal now with middle school. (We live in Wake Forest, she goes to school near downtown....and to top it off, we work in Granville county!!)

[whitney]

Originally Posted by leighbhe

Let me think.......there are a few more catholic schools to put on your radar:

Cathedral School
204 Hillsborough St.
Raleigh, NC 27603

Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary School
2710 Overbrook Drive
Raleigh, NC 27608

Both are closer to downtown raleigh (inside the beltline)

The Franciscan School
10000 St. Francis Dr
Raleigh, North Carolina 27613
Phone Number: 9198478205

(north raleigh near ray road)

St. Raphael's
5801 Fls of the Neuse Rd
Raleigh, North Carolina 27609
Phone Number: 9198763526
(north raleigh)

St Catherine of Siena Catholic
520 West Holding Ave
Wake Forest, NC 27587
(wake forest)

I have friends with kids at st. catherines in wake forest (where I live) and they love it, but that is the only input I can give is from them! I haven't had kids in school in clayton, some of clayton is in wake county, some is in johnston county so that would determine if your kids were in wake or johnston county schools.

I think a good solution (although some work) is to look up the schools and then google map their location to clayton, and see what places pop up in between. Anyhow, hopefully this will help you at least check into some other schools. There are more catholic schools, but some are just high schools.

Leigh

You have some good suggestions but I must add this. Clayton, which is in Johnston County (no part is in Wake County) has some very good schools. I would check the school situation there first, unless you are definitely sending them to a Catholic school.