CARY questions (houses, job market, neighborhood)

[chewgumm]

I may be making a move from NV to Cary and have some questions.

1) Year around school - How does this work? I have kids, and for us now, Summer is a big thing...vacations, time off, etc... How does the year around school work? Sounds like it would be a grind for the kids, but I am not sure.

2) I have a potential job opportunity. I would go from making abount $85 to about $105k. Given that wife is stay at home, this is my only income. How would that bewith the cost of lving in Cary?

3) Homw prices...probably more what I'm asking re: question # 2.
What is the average home price in Cary? Nive neighborhood, 3 br, 2 ba, 2000 sq ft?

Thanks,

[NCgirl]

1) Year around school - How does this work? I have kids, and for us now, Summer is a big thing...vacations, time off, etc... How does the year around school work? Sounds like it would be a grind for the kids, but I am not sure.

I'll try to help.

Many kids and families love the year round schedule. Students are in school the same amount of days as a traditional calendar. School is in session for 9 weeks then off for 3 weeks (tracked out). The drawback is if you have kids on different tracks. IIRC all high schools are on a traditional calendar.

Year-Round Fact Sheet: Multi-track, year-round

Students attend 180 days on each track
Students stay with the same teacher the entire school year
The year is divided into four quarters with 45 days of instruction followed by 15-day breaks
Students and their teachers attend one of four tracks, each with its own 45/15 calendar
At any given time, three tracks of students and their teachers are in school and one track is on vacation
Each time students and their teachers return from a break, they move to another classroom
Teachers have the same number of planning days on year-round as traditional calendar
Students and teachers have the same holidays on year-round as traditional calendar

Here is the 2010 -2011 Calendar. The white blocks are when students are tracked out (no school). The orange blocks are student holidays (no school).


Year-Round Schools Resource Center

[Ellen Pitts]

As for income, my husband makes about 50k and I am a SAHM with four children. It's extremely tight, but we do get by and are able to put some money into savings. Houses start around $200k around here depending on what you want. You can find a decent house in the low 200's, but the majority of housing around here is much more expensive.

[chewgumm]

Thank you both, very helpful.

[Rhaven]

While YR is not something that works for every family, I will say that having tried it my oldest son actually really enjoys YR. 9 weeks of school you know you're getting 3 weeks off. By the time 9 weeks has hit he is ready for a vacation. By the time his 3 weeks of vacation is up he's antsy to get back to school. There's no 9 weeks of summer vacation, true, but at least for our family, it works out well as he isnt bored after 3 weeks of vacation and waiting for school to start again.

I know it sounds awkward when you're not used to it, but I will say that we are very happily pleased. Also note, YR is not something your children have to do either. There is traditional calendar schools available too.

HTH!

[westcoastbabe]

Just curious.....I know Nevada was hit "HARD" by housing crisis....How is the job market faring out there...

[chewgumm]

westcoastbabe -

Just curious.....I know Nevada was hit "HARD" by housing crisis....How is the job market faring out there...

-----

Not so hot. My job is based on East Coast, so not really affected by that, but Nevada's economy has been really hammered.