Can someone explain to me the difference between Cary High, Panther Creek and Green Hope High School? (Charlotte: to rent)

[howellchele]

Hi...My husband and I are moving to the Cary area from Charlotte. We are getting so many different opinions and speculations with the High Schools there. Our house is on the market here, and we are planning to rent for a year to get settled and understand the area a little more. We have heard wonderful things about Panther Creek and Green Hope High. However, we are from a more mature neighborhood here with lots of trees and yard. It seems many homes in Cary that come close to that are in Cary High school district. Does anyone have any guidance...and what do you think of Cary High in comparison to the other two?
Thanks so much!

[jln69]

I have heard good things about Cary High as well. Like the others said, it is just in an older established part across from Cary Towne Center Mall. Green Hope is the newer Western part of Cary on Carpenter Upchurch Road. Most of the homes in that area are within the past 15 years or so. Panther Creek is in the newest section of Cary off of Highway 55 in the Western part of Cary also not far from Green Hope. It is new this year so test scores aren't available. Some of the students from Panther Creek were taken out of Green Hope. My son attends GHH and I can say that I have been pleased.

Depending on where you purchase in Cary, some Cary neighborhoods attend Apex High and Athens Drive High also. They are not in Cary but some Cary neighborhoods are assigned to them.

If you are looking for some neighborhoods with wooded lots the Kildaire section is worth looking into as well as the Maynard Loop.

[urbywan]

There is really no difference. Kids from different parts of cary. Nuff said. there are no bad areas in Cary.

[Cary Area Student]

As a cary area student with many friends from each school, and yet no personal preference as I went to catholic school, i may be able to help you.

Green Hope high school is a very very good school as far as public schools go. It is very new with a great facility and athletic oppotunities for students. The average student is very well off, pulling from areas like Preston. The teenage opinion of Green Hope is "rich kids with nice cars." But it is a very good school and a very large school, so there is definitely diversity present, not just onesided.

Panther Creek, to be honest it is BRAND BRAND new. Not much can be said yet but as far as I have experienced it will be just like Green Hope, very good solid education and a good crosssection of kids. It was built because of Green Hopes overcrowding, and areas surrounding it, so the kids from both schools will live in the same neighborhoods and be very similar. Big rivalry between the two will probably arise because lots of kids from green hope were transferred there due to redistricting.


Cary High - unfortunately i have not had good experiences with cary high. any part that you would call the "rough area" (which is really not all that rough, just not as wealthy as the Green Hope/Panther Creek area) would be districted to Cary High. The building is very very old and ugly. Now I do know several run of the mill, preppy white kids from Cary High, but the majority of people I've come across from Cary High are druggies or dress ghetto or provocatively, etc. It's my experience that kids at Cary High can skip class a lot without repercussions and generally do not do very well academically. O course, there are exceptions but i thought you might like to hear a student's opinion on the matter.

To be honest, I would steer far from Cary High. If you want the new schools with the better technology and better facilities, a calmer crowd, and a nicer area surrounding it...Definitely you're gonna want to look for Green hope or Panther creek areas. You will probably end up at panther creek because of districting they are trying to establish it as a new school, and i think that would be fine.


Now, to be biased....Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh is the best school. I went there, so I obviously favor it. It's a private catholic school and does cost money so that might steer you away but i had the best time there ever. Great teachers, down to earth faculty....AWESOME athletics. 8 state championships last year alone. Check it out.

[Cary Area Student]

As a cary area student with many friends from each school, and yet no personal preference as I went to catholic school, i may be able to help you.

Green Hope high school is a very very good school as far as public schools go. It is very new with a great facility and athletic oppotunities for students. The average student is very well off, pulling from areas like Preston. The teenage opinion of Green Hope is "rich kids with nice cars." But it is a very good school and a very large school, so there is definitely diversity present, not just one sided.

Panther Creek, to be honest it is BRAND BRAND new. Not much can be said yet but as far as I have experienced it will be just like Green Hope, very good solid education and a good crosssection of kids. It was built because of Green Hopes overcrowding, and areas surrounding it, so the kids from both schools will live in the same neighborhoods and be very similar. Big rivalry between the two will probably arise because lots of kids from green hope were transferred there due to redistricting.


Cary High - unfortunately i have not had good experiences with cary high. any part that you would call the "rough area" (which is really not all that rough, just not as wealthy as the Green Hope/Panther Creek area) would be districted to Cary High. The building is very very old and ugly. Now I do know several run of the mill, preppy white kids from Cary High, but the majority of people I've come across from Cary High are druggies or dress ghetto or provocatively, etc. It's my experience that kids at Cary High can skip class a lot without repercussions and generally do not do very well academically. O course, there are exceptions but i thought you might like to hear a student's opinion on the matter.

To be honest, I would steer away from Cary High. If you want the new schools with the better technology and better facilities, a calmer crowd, and a nicer area surrounding it...Definitely you're gonna want to look for Green hope or Panther creek areas. You will probably end up at panther creek because of districting they are trying to establish it as a new school, and i think that would be fine.


Now, to be biased....Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh is the best school. I went there, so I obviously favor it. It's a private catholic school and does cost money so that might steer you away but i had the best time there ever. Great teachers, down to earth faculty....AWESOME athletics. 8 state championships last year alone. Check it out.

[VickiR]

Cary schools are all part of WAke County Public School System, as are all schools in Wake County, whether your address is Cary, Raleigh, Holly Springs, Apex, Wake Forest, etc., etc.

You must take the address of the house you live in to find which high school you go to.

Do not assume that since you were told that its HS #1 that your kids will go there. Check it out yourself.

Do not assume that since the kids in the neighborhood go to HS #1 this year that they will go there next year.

Make sure when you meet with your Realtor that you explain schools are very important so they can educate you to how WCPSS operates. That way, no surprises!

Speaking as a mom with 4 kids...3 graduated and my "baby" in HS now...as long as your kids are in Honors Classes...the kids in class with them will motivate them to work hard because they are as smart as your kids and they move through their books very quickly. More so than the "average" student.

Vicki

[RDSLOTS]

As a former HS English teacher, ditto to the Honors level classes, or to any of the college-prep or AP courses, as well. Coming from Charlotte, you are probably already familiar with such classes -- better prepares kids for college, anyway.

I have done some substitute-teaching in both Green Hope HS and Panther Creek. Both are beautiful facilities, and I was impressed with what I saw, and surmised was the 'attitudes' of the students and faculty. Panther Creek will eventually 'come into its own.' It should be graduating its first class next year? (But, I could be a year off.) I think right now, the school houses freshmen, sophomores, and juniors.

There are plenty of neighborhoods around here that feed into both schools, but like Vicki suggested, I would check with a realtor when you are looking at homes. Renting a house for a year might not be a bad idea.

[lamishra]

Cary High is where we are slated to go and we've very happy with it. We have several neighbors who go there and they love it. It used to have not such a great reputation (amongst Cary schools not the county as a whole), but from what I've heard, they put in a new principal several years ago who is supposedly FABULOUS and really changed the atmosphere at the school, which in turn changed the academic performance. Their test scores look pretty good and they have AP classes.

Also, Cary just had a complete rennovation and additions added to the school.

I don't know anything about Panther Creek though!

[coltank]

Originally Posted by urbywan

There is really no difference. Kids from different parts of cary. Nuff said. there are no bad areas in Cary.

I would agree that there is no real difference in the schools, but I would disagree that there are no bad areas in Cary.