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We rented our house in Marin County, CA (my husband is on medical leave and we are tired of the high cost of living) and are considering moving to either Daniel Island, SC or Wilmington, NC. We have never been to Wilmington, but I've heard that the schools are better in NC (in general) and we have four middle school aged children.
We have spent a lot of time checking out Daniel Island over the last few years and are heading to Wilmington on Saturday to nose around.
Any advice on which of the two locations will suit us best??
We all love the beach (it will be nice to actually be able to swim in the ocean!), golf, and will likely want to live in a golf course community (e.g. Daniel Island or Landfall).
As I said, we have four middle school aged children - so school quality is an important consideration.
I have never been to Daniel Island, but noticed a strange type of school. Their "elementary school" was a called PK-8 in schooldigger.com . Were you satisfied with the school? Would you be happy with the high school your children would go to?
The main concern in Wilmington would be the high school for the Landfall area. There is one highly-rated HS, Isaac Bear, and the others in Wilmington are middling. I don't understand the schools enough to know whether the middle school for Landfall would feed into Isaac Bear. The middle school is MCS Noble, and it gets decent ratings.
An alternative to look at is the Hampstead area, which is in the Pender County School district rather than New Hanover. The Topsail middle and high schools are well rated. Overall, Hampstead does not have the extremely affluent communities like Landfall, but there are nice golf-oriented areas.
The other thing I would ask myself, is how many children live in Landfall? Would your children have a social life among their peers? Landfall has a such a reputation as a retirement area, I wonder if any children live there. You might read some comments here, especially the ones about strict HOA rules, and residents sending kids to private school: https://www.city-data.com/forum/coast...residents.html With the discussion of private schools, how would you feel if your children attended a public school for high school, and all their peers were in private school? I can't answer whether Landfall is right for you, but it would not be right for me, or my kids (if I had them that age). The exclusivity and strict rules would bother me too much. I would also prefer my kids to grow up a more egalitarian, diverse environment, rather than a gated community.
Last edited by goldenage1; 08-27-2012 at 06:48 AM..
As I said, we have four middle school aged children - so school quality is an important consideration.
I am sure you will check this out for yourself. I looked in Realtor at a few 5 bedroom homes in Landfall. The listing says they are assigned to Noble Middle School, but Laney High School. While Isaac Bear HS is closer, the address is assigned to Laney HS. Laney HS rates only a 5 of 10 while Bear is a 10 of 10, so I can understand why some parents are sending their kids to Cape Fear Academy for high school. Of course, you would know better whether your kids would thrive in a higher pressure "prep school" environment like Cape Fear.
If you look at Hampstead, there are also 5 bedroom homes, near a golf course, but not in a gated community. The assigned Topsail Middle School rates an 9 of 10, and the Topsail High School rates an 8 of 10.
An additional consideration is that some of the homes in Landfall are selling for less than the owners paid in 2007, so it's a buyers' market in the high end homes.
Last edited by goldenage1; 08-27-2012 at 11:07 AM..
The listing says they are assigned to Noble Middle School, but Laney High School. While Isaac Bear HS is closer, the address is assigned to Laney HS.
I hate to monopolize this discussion, however, I found out more about Isaac Bear High School. It is an Early College School, not a regular high school. That means it has only honors programs, and has no art, music or sports programs. Admission is selective, and the student cannot return to his assign school for sports or art & music programs. I'd call it a serious geek school, not one I would necessarily want for my kids.
So, the real alternatives for the Landfall school zone are Laney High School which has mediocre achievement scores, or a private school. With 4 kids, the OP may need to consider the budget for private schools.
Thanks so much for pointing out the obvious - I need to also look at the High School (I've been so focused on the middle school - and I've heard/read good things about Noble). Duh! Our oldest is only a year away from high school (she is so upset with us right now - her life will end if she moves from CA....(any advice on that front?).
Thanks all for the wonderful advice. I've never been to Wilmington so I'm looking forward to our visit on Saturday.
We are in Kiawah Island right now - what a lovely place!
Our oldest is only a year away from high school (she is so upset with us right now - her life will end if she moves from CA....(any advice on that front?).
I won't try to advise, as only you can evaluate whether the move is worth-while. But I would try to look for advantages to the teens to be moving to the east coast. There are many young people who would love to spend their summers at Carolina Beach.
both are great places honestly,,,,I think Wilmington may have a tad more going for it but honestly I could live in either place. Downtown Charleston is great, but cannot comment on schools although in general NC schools rate a bit higher but does vary in locals. I have some friends who lived down towards Myrtle BEach and moved up into NC because of schools.
Both Interstate access, I think Wilmington airport is a tad busier but Charelston used to and may still have a cruise ship port. Plenty to do in both,,,Charleston has more of an old south type city and Wilmington more of a tourist/ beach destination city. Both have pretty good universities, College of Charelston and UNC Wilmington, so really visit decied based on work, housing ect,,,both are ok places
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
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Originally Posted by goldenage1
I won't try to advise, as only you can evaluate whether the move is worth-while. But I would try to look for advantages to the teens to be moving to the east coast. There are many young people who would love to spend their summers at Carolina Beach.
This old geezer loves spending all year at Carolina Beach
Great little town, nice beaches, easy access to shopping and downtown Wilmington, Myrtle Beach if that's your thing, works for me
regarding schools: I'm biased toward Hoggard High School, since I graduated from there. Here's a post I made to a person asking about schools in the area. I know you have a heavy lean towards laney/landfall area though, so read my post with that in mind.
Quote:
I only went to middle school and High school in new hanover county, but if you're planning to stay in the county until your kids graduate high school....
I think Myrtle Grove, Roland Grise, and Murray are all fine(these are all middle schools), as they both either go to Hoggard High School or Ashley High School. My peer/friends group went to those schools, and the best of us are going to MIT/Yale/Harvard/Georgia Tech. Granted that's the best of the best - Most will go to NC State or Chapel Hill.(At least, by being in these schools, Most people will be going to a 4 year uni, and almost everyone will be doing some sort of college[whether it's just 2 years of community college or 2 community college + 2 uni or 4 uni]).
So this means that even at middle school, they already have tracks for kids who want to at least go to a 4 year university - those are the tracks you want your kid in. I know that specifically for math, you can take up to geometry in middle school, which then enables you to take the more advanced maths in high school, which in turn exposes your kid longer to the group of kids that wants/need to learn (whether because they are just that smart, they are pushing themselves, or their parents want them to be there,(like mine XD))
For English, just be sure to get your kid into whatever "Honors" thing they have, and that will at least eliminate what you fear of the "catering to the lowest common demoniator" classes.
I don't know if your kid is into band at all, but if she is, go to Myrtle Grove. Roland Grise's teacher is frankly, horrible. They come into high school not knowing how to follow the conductor, or reading sheet music. (I think the reverse is true for orchestra, as the Myrtle Grove teacher is too nice.)
If you really care about math and science, get your kid into science olympiad. A lot of the people I know that are in that group have an easier time with science things in general, solely because they're exposed to it more.
If you want stability or ease of pick up/drop off, then you may want to go the anderson elementary school/murray middle school/ashley high school route. Why? They're all in one spot. It's a complex that has the middle and high school conjoined at the center by the Minnie Evans Arts Center. (A big auditorium) with the elementary school to the side. It's also a big sports complex with a lot of baseball fields, soccer fields, a track, a few tennis courts, and the football stadium. Everything would be easier for you if they were all in one spot.
Granted, this is all incredibly biased to my experiences, and my peer group. If you have any more questions feel free to ask, I'll answer to the best of my abilities.
We moved from Boston to Wilmington last summer and ended up moving from Wilmington to Daniel Island this past June. No one in my family was happy with Wilmington. We chose private schools in Wilmington based on visits, interviews, school records, etc. The Daniel Island School goes from K-8 and is a wonderful school. All my kids LOVE it. It is our intention to have them attend Bishop England from 9-12 (also on the island). Wilmington has some very beautiful beaches..but beaches aren't so bad around here either (Isle of Palms, Sullivan's Island, Edisto, etc). We love Daniel Island for probably the same reasons you have found it so wonderful. It is truly the place your kids will head out on their bikes and say "see ya at dinner." they ride everywhere (friends, school, subway, pools, etc). The island is all about the kids. Families heading out to dinner in their golf carts or Friday night concerts at the park.
Landfall is a beautiful community in Wilmington. But heed the advice from above...you may not want to live their with kids. I had friends who lived their and felt the restrictions were too much and not child friendly. You would have to join the club to use the pool where if you buy a home on Daniel Island, the beautiful pools are for residents. We looked into buying a home
in Landfall (ended up living in Porters Neck and joining that club) and was surprised by the 2 tiered monthly and annual fees in Landfall. They really added up!
You will know what's right for you and your family after your visit to Wilmington. Best of luck on your decision. If you have
any questions about either location, feel free to PM me.
PS..my husband travels ALOT..although both airports are easy in/out, he is much happier with the flight options at Charleston. He can fly to Chicago, Miami and some other major locations that were not offered as direct flights from Wilmington.
Last edited by klysik; 09-04-2012 at 08:50 PM..
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