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I perhaps put too much emphasis on the dialog around the high ratings, when my curiosity is more around the quite low ratings outside of primarily Mooresville. What I am wondering is if the low scores are truly an accurate representation of the schools. For example, China Grove, Statesville, Mount Ulla. Is there anything in particular in those 'outer areas' that contribute to that? Less funding? Curriculum? Other issues with the schools?
I'm not saying my kids have to go to an A+ school, but I also don't want their current progress to get derailed because of legitimately poor teaching. If the scores are lower because the teachers are legit teaching in a way that kids can apply the knowledge in real life instead of just teaching them to take a test then I'm all for it. However, if it's because the school systems in these areas are just bad, then that's a different story. I'm open to any area where the quality of teaching is good. I grew up in a very small town. I don't need a bunch of amenities, I'd just like to be within a half hour's commute to Mooresville.
Just looking for some perspective from those with personal knowledge of some of the schools in the areas just outside of Mooresville.
I'm overgeneralizing, but in a lot of cases as you get "too far" out from Charlotte, it's more rural and household income tends to be lower which a lot of times (but not always) results in "lower rated" schools (as in my opinion, school “ratings” tend to be moreso a result of parental income/involvement than teacher ability). But essentially, Mooresville is pretty much the "outer limit" of where there's still a fair amount of people commuting to Charlotte, so further out than that it gets pretty rural pretty quickly.
There are a lot of highly rated schools in northern Mecklenburg (Davidson, Cornelius, some of Huntersville) and western Concord, but getting "a bit of space" again depending on what that means, may be tougher. For example the River Run neighborhood in Davidson could be worth looking into (I think a lot of those are about 1/2 acre lots).
I'm overgeneralizing, but in a lot of cases as you get "too far" out from Charlotte, it's more rural and household income tends to be lower which a lot of times (but not always) results in "lower rated" schools (as in my opinion, school “ratings” tend to be moreso a result of parental income/involvement than teacher ability). But essentially, Mooresville is pretty much the "outer limit" of where there's still a fair amount of people commuting to Charlotte, so further out than that it gets pretty rural pretty quickly.
There are a lot of highly rated schools in northern Mecklenburg (Davidson, Cornelius, some of Huntersville) and western Concord, but getting "a bit of space" again depending on what that means, may be tougher. For example the River Run neighborhood in Davidson could be worth looking into (I think a lot of those are about 1/2 acre lots).
Western Concord is closed until further notice. Thanks.
I'm overgeneralizing, but in a lot of cases as you get "too far" out from Charlotte, it's more rural and household income tends to be lower which a lot of times (but not always) results in "lower rated" schools (as in my opinion, school “ratings” tend to be moreso a result of parental income/involvement than teacher ability). But essentially, Mooresville is pretty much the "outer limit" of where there's still a fair amount of people commuting to Charlotte, so further out than that it gets pretty rural pretty quickly.
There are a lot of highly rated schools in northern Mecklenburg (Davidson, Cornelius, some of Huntersville) and western Concord, but getting "a bit of space" again depending on what that means, may be tougher. For example the River Run neighborhood in Davidson could be worth looking into (I think a lot of those are about 1/2 acre lots).
Thank you. My preference would be to be in an area that's more rural so that we could have a few acres (and no HOA!). Therefore, the interest in these smaller areas that happen to have lower-rated schools. Was just curious why those ratings were so low in some of the areas. Makes sense that it would be socio-economic factors. I grew up and went to a school where most of us were pretty poor and the school ratings were on the low side, but for those who applied themselves the quality of education was still good. Our teachers were phenomenal. If it's just that, I'm good with it. If there was someone out there with more personal experience with those schools, I am curious to hear from someone with first-hand experience. Thanks
Thank you. My preference would be to be in an area that's more rural so that we could have a few acres (and no HOA!). Therefore, the interest in these smaller areas that happen to have lower-rated schools. Was just curious why those ratings were so low in some of the areas. Makes sense that it would be socio-economic factors. I grew up and went to a school where most of us were pretty poor and the school ratings were on the low side, but for those who applied themselves the quality of education was still good. Our teachers were phenomenal. If it's just that, I'm good with it. If there was someone out there with more personal experience with those schools, I am curious to hear from someone with first-hand experience. Thanks
No specific experience here, although that did make me think of this thread from quite a few years back.
Hopewell HS in Huntersville, although not a very "highly rated" school based on overall test scores, was once rated the #1 HS in the state of NC by US News - https://www.city-data.com/forum/char...best-high.html
I think their methodology has since changed, but as one of the posters in that thread stated, I think it was based on disadvantaged students performing better than expected.
No specific experience here, although that did make me think of this thread from quite a few years back.
Hopewell HS in Huntersville, although not a very "highly rated" school based on overall test scores, was once rated the #1 HS in the state of NC by US News - https://www.city-data.com/forum/char...best-high.html
I think their methodology has since changed, but as one of the posters in that thread stated, I think it was based on disadvantaged students performing better than expected.
Thank you! Interesting, and also points out some of the ways data can be skewed to get to a result. Which is why it's so darn hard to pick a location based on school ratings without knowing the "true" barometer that's used to determine a "quality education". We're planning to get down there in a few weeks and I think we'll arrange some tours and get some first hand input. In the meantime, I've had a good time researching message boards and other online platforms to get together a list of questions to drill down on some more.
I would look at Lake Norman Charter in Huntersville K-12, Pine Lake Prepratory in Mooresville K-12, and Community School of Davidson K-12. All are public schools and ranked very high in the Charlotte area. Good luck
Southern Iredell has some good schools, actually some of the best in the state at the middle school level. However, Troutman and Statesville get a bit more rural to some degree and you've got socioeconomic factors there as well.
Personally, I ONLY stay in Mooresville because of the schools. When my son is done with middle and high school I'm selling and moving somewhere else. Statesville is fine if you want land and don't care about schools. As a parent and someone who's lived in this area my entire 42 years I vetoed Statesville very quickly for several reasons with schools being at the top of that list.
I would look at Lake Norman Charter in Huntersville K-12, Pine Lake Prepratory in Mooresville K-12, and Community School of Davidson K-12. All are public schools and ranked very high in the Charlotte area. Good luck
I would look at Lake Norman Charter in Huntersville K-12, Pine Lake Prepratory in Mooresville K-12, and Community School of Davidson K-12. All are public schools and ranked very high in the Charlotte area. Good luck
The lotteries are closed for the 2020/2021 school year They'd have to wait until November for the 2021/2022 school year.
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