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Reassignments are only one issue apparently. The school board is currently being sued because of the forced year round schoos issue. Also according to demographics, 20% of grammar school students in wake county either do not speak english or are classified as english as a second language. If these students are being redistricted to more favorable schools( cary apex ), then that would impact my childrens education.
Don't students who need ESL teaching have their own classes that are separated from the students who primarily speak English? Growing up and then teaching in an area that had many ESL students, those children were either not assimilated into regular classes or they had their own teacher or TA that assisted them.
And I don't see how ESL students would affect your children's educations. There are so many different reading and learning levels just within the students who primarily speak English. Of course, if you are set on Wake County and only want your kids to hang around with only English-speaking children, then I suggest private or charter schools.
I'm not sure about WCPSS but I know that in other systems ESL (schools call them LEP - Limited English Proficiency ) kids are in the "regular" class. In elementary schools there is a pull out program where the child spends 30 minutes to an hour with the ESL teacher each day. In middle and high school the children either have pull out time or have a period/block with the ESL teacher.
In my experience in my children's classrooms over the years, the ESL kids are mainstreamed into regular classrooms, but have "pull out" ESL during the day. I have volunteered in many WCPSS classrooms and have yet to see an ESL child affect the quailty of non ESL childrens' educations. The teachers pretty much treated them the same and didn't spend "more time" with them. In fact, in my daughter's KG classroom, all of the ESL children spoke pretty decent English except one who moved here from Japan in the middle of the year and she was intentionally placed at a table next to my child who helped her with her work (probably because she is a solid student and very extroverted). This was extremely beneficial for both children as the Japanese girl met a new friend, got school help from a peer, did not distract the teacher from the lesson, helped the Japanese child learn English from a peer and helped my child by allowing her to learn to communicate with someone from a different culture, practice her leadership skills and helped her review the work by trying to explain it to someone else. I experienced the same thing with my other daughter in the 4rd grade and they had a new student from a French speaking African nation.
We currently attend a school with a fairly high ESL population and I have not ever seen it negatively affect the rest of the students' educations. In about one year, elementary school ESL students are speaking proficient English, which is just amazing!
I'm not sure about WCPSS but I know that in other systems ESL (schools call them LEP - Limited English Proficiency ) kids are in the "regular" class. In elementary schools there is a pull out program where the child spends 30 minutes to an hour with the ESL teacher each day.
This is correct for Wake county elementary schools too. My son's previous class had 6 to 7 such kids. But the children pick up so quickly so IMO they were not a detriment to my child's learning. I used to volunteer and it amazed me that the children who barely understood spoken English at the beginning of the year could write small sentences by December. They had a wonderful experienced teacher who could deal with the ESL kids and also kids like my son who could read small chapter books before he started Kindergarten. She challenged all of them with appropriate work.
I am not sure about middle or high schools.
I'm not sure about WCPSS but I know that in other systems ESL (schools call them LEP - Limited English Proficiency ) kids are in the "regular" class. In elementary schools there is a pull out program where the child spends 30 minutes to an hour with the ESL teacher each day. In middle and high school the children either have pull out time or have a period/block with the ESL teacher.
This is basically how Durham handles ESL as well. My dd's Kindergarten class here in Durham has an ESL cluster (about 1/3) of the class. Some of these kids are now reading well beyond their native speaking peers. These kids do have an impact on the class.... but it's a positive impact.
To the OP: In Chapel Hill you will also find ESL speaking students. Charter schools will be very difficult to get all 3 of your children in. If you feel very strongly about redistricting and exposing your children to ESL kids and private school is not an option, then it's probably a good idea not to move here.
I've lived in Cary for almost 5 years. We've been reassigned 3 times to different elementary and middle schools. My daughter's base elementary school is currently year-round, my son's magnet middle is traditional. My daughter was not selected for magnet status, so my kids will not be able to attend the same schools. My daughter was accepted to the traditional calendar, so luckily they are on the same calendar. No high schools at this time, as far as I know, are year round. My son's bus ride is 90 minutes one way resulting in a 6:05-3:40pm day, my daughter's is 40 minutes, I drive her to school in the morning.
I know people who have not been reassigned in the last 5 years. Another friend's base school went from being a 5 minute drive to a 25 minute drive from her house (still in Cary.) So it totally depends on what neighborhood you live in what you'll experience. I also have friends who purchased homes w/in a certain distance of the school to guarantee their school of choice. Because of the continuing development, the students get moved around to accommodate changes in student populations.
If the schools are a large concern for you- and it can really impact a family, do your homework and read about what's going on before you make a choice on where to live. This is a very "hot topic" and you will find folks can be really emotional about it. As you know, it's a completely personal choice in the end. Personally, we have found it to be quite annoying and are moving to Chapel Hill this summer.
Chapel Hill/Carborro does not have runaway development, so their schools are much more "normal" and stable.
Thank you to everyone who answered by questions about ESL. I grew up in Virginia and taught in Delaware, so I didn't know how schools in this area worked.
I think there is a great misconception, and I am not just saying in this area but country-wide, that ESL strictly means the Spanish-speaking population, which I don't think is quite accurate, especially using the recent examples of parents in this thread. I also believe that some people try to create a connection between percentage of ESL students in a school and the socio-economic characteristics of that area. Of course, anyone can find any correlation between two things if one looks hard enough.
I apologize if it looks as if I hijacked this thread. While I understand that parents want the best for their children, especially when it comes to their education, I find the OP's concern about ESL somewhat questionable. I can easily think of many more concerns we should have about the well-being of students and how we can make sure they all learn in the most enriching of environments.
I think there is a great misconception, and I am not just saying in this area but country-wide, that ESL strictly means the Spanish-speaking population, which I don't think is quite accurate, especially using the recent examples of parents in this thread. I also believe that some people try to create a connection between percentage of ESL students in a school and the socio-economic characteristics of that area. Of course, anyone can find any correlation between two things if one looks hard enough.
That's funny, because when I read, and think about, ESL I think Vietmanese, as those kids were always the entire ESL "class" when I went to school in the Seattle area. They weren't poor, and they sure weren't dumb. They were good kids and good friends.
Parents concerns about reassignments and year round changes in Wake County have been met with contempt from the school board.
They forget they are supposed to be representing the parents.
Maybe if the builders and developers start having concerns because people are scared to move here they will listen.
Maybe we should be more concerned about who we vote into those elected positions. Of the nine districts for the Wake County Board of Education, only five have a formal education background.
Maybe we should be more concerned about who we vote into those elected positions. Of the nine districts for the Wake County Board of Education, only five have a formal education background.
You got it!!!
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