Need help with schools, no drama please!

[Miai]

We are so there with you and your concerns. We have not sold our house yet, though..dreading it as there are 4 more in our neighborhood up for sale with no offers yet. I would like to know what neighborhoods are worth pursuing as well, and thanks to some of the people who responded I now know to ask about "walk zones" when considering a home near a school. I would also like to hear from you regarding your experience with realtors, etc in the area. We are still considering renting in an area before buying just to make sure we know the "real deal" before making a commitment to a particular neighborhood/area. One thing I have learned and someone correct me if I am wrong....NC does not require teachers to have their Master's Degree? In NY it is mandatory, and in IL most teachers even at my son's district run pre-school had them. I noticed online that the schools do list how many of their teachers have their Master's.

[weluvwakeforest]

How do you measure "What your children know" ? Hoping to install a desire for life long learning goes without saying but I'm not so sure how you can know what your child knows and their full grasp of the concept without some sort of standardized testing.[/quote]

Good question.
Our daughter went to a well known private school in Raleigh - yet she didn't know who lives at 1600 Pennsylvania - or the name of the ships Columbus sailed to the US - couldn't name the planets, etc. I could give dozens of examples. My husband and I are somewhat disappointed in what we call her lack of "general knowledge" for the K-8 level.
Yet, she performed very well on standardized testing and an overall good student... go figure?

[PDXmom]

Originally Posted by weluvwakeforest

Our daughter went to a well known private school in Raleigh - yet she didn't know who lives at 1600 Pennsylvania - or the name of the ships Columbus sailed to the US - couldn't name the planets, etc. I could give dozens of examples. My husband and I are somewhat disappointed in what we call her lack of "general knowledge" for the K-8 level.
Yet, she performed very well on standardized testing and an overall good student... go figure?

There is a series of books by ED Hirsch, What Your First Grader Needs to Know. And there is one for every grade. Hirsch developed a cirriculm that institutes a "Core Knowledge" that all childrens should know to function in this society. While I'm not completely on board with all of Hirsch's ideas, I do like these books. The second grade books had a great series on Greek Mythology that my son LOVED. It covers history, government, fairy tales for Kindergarteners etc. I usually read the sections to my kiddos so we can talk about the stuff together. I bet you can get them from the Wake Co library. I have checked them out from the Durham Co library before.

[dubya2]

As a former realtor in Wake and Johnston county, I always advised my buyers never to purchase a home in Wake county based on school assignment. They are all subject to change very quickly and then everyone is in a stew and upheaval. The schools in the Clayton area have end of grade scores as high as those in Wake County and it is still such a small area that there is not the constant reassignment plus there is a sense of community and place in that most of the teachers work here, live here, attend church here and have a real interest in their community.