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Hi,
We are relocating from Seattle, WA to Cary in mid-August. We signed a lease on a rental zoned for Laurel Park elementary. This is a year round school. My oldest will only be in first grade so I'm open to trying it. My question is: which track will he get? All have started, with track 4 being the one that started closest to our move date. Will I have any choice at all in the matter or just assigned to the track that has space. A neighbor outside the rental house told our realtor we could register at Laurel Park, then request a traditional. But that traditional is Breckenridge? If I went traditional, I would want Davis Drive because that's what half the neighborhood has. It seems like that's a desirable school and probably full. Any suggestions on how to proceed? This individual stated I should then go to Breckenridge and request Davis Drive. Is this even a possibility? It seems like a lot of hoop jumping. I am open to trying something new but I hesitate going with the year round school when all the tracks have started but the traditional schools have not. I would like some input, please.
Welcome to Wake County! I definitely understand your concern about going year round if the tracks have started. I'll try to answer your questions as best I can.
I don't know how they work the tracks when you come after the school year has started. Hopefully somebody else will know.
First thing to do is go to this website Determine School by Student Address and plug in your address. That will tell you what your assigned school is and what your traditional option is. If it's not Davis Drive (I doubt it is), then you can apply for a transfer. I don't know if you can do that at a local school or if you have to do it at WCPSS headquarters. I wouldn't get my hopes up for getting a transfer to Davis Drive but it could happen. Might as well try since there's nothing to lose.
You can also apply for magnet schools but the application window has passed and I think it would be a transfer request. There are usually waiting lists to get into the magnets so I doubt it would be granted but again, you never know.
I recently moved here (June) so I can't give any absolutes, but I can tell you what we experienced.
My older daughter has autism and the autism classroom is track 4 only, so obviously we wanted our 1st grader on the same track. At the open house for the new year (or whatever they call it here ) we were told that 5 kids would be moved from track 4 to another track because there was not enough room. Siblings' track assignment within the school was given the highest priority, but they couldn't coordinate with middle school siblings. So from my perspective we had no choice in track, but that's because of special needs.
From the other parents I've spoken with, tracks 1 & 4 are the popular ones, but it all depends on that years enrollment (I really see the frustration, and we haven't even started school yet!) Starting in September track 1 looks the worst, but young children can catch up quick!
I hope it works out for you guys!!
Becca
You'll be placed on whatever track has the next available space........you just enter into the year-round rotation whenever you move here..........teachers quickly catch up those who come into Wake county during the year........it happens all the time and is just a way of life with year-round schools. And schools also have "double" tracks which open up more classes on a certain track...........but not every school has the same double track. I personally like year-round--best of luck in your decision!
I wouldn't let missing a few weeks deter you from trying year round school. My kids go to Laurel Park and we love it. You can request a track. But it is not guaranteed. I don't think you would have a problem getting into Track 4. I don't think it is full. But I don't know for sure. My kids are on Track 1.
When I moved here three years ago we rented in Morrisville. The base school was Morrisville Elementary. We moved here the first week of August. But my daughter was put into Track 1 because that was the only track that had space. She caught up quickly!
There is no school called Breckenridge. That is the name of a subdivision in Morrisville. You cannot request Davis Drive if that is not the traditional assignment for your node -- even if they other half of a large subdivision goes there.
I was going to say that it is probably Briarcliff. My neighborhood is Laurel Park and the traditional alt. is Briarcliff. My neighbors who had older kids that went through Davis hate Laurel Park but others I know who have their first going through Laurel Park love it. So I would keep an open mind about the school. Of course, easy coming from me as I send mine to private.
We started our kids in August at a YR school after school had started, too. We would've LOVED track 4 but were told, flat out, no way. We were told we had no vote in the matter but we could state a preference between 2 and 3. At that point they'd only missed 3 weeks from track 3 so that's what we stated a preference for, and we got it.
This year the principal "collapsed" track 3 for 4th and 5th grades and I have a 5th grader so we got moved with no warning or voice in the matter to track 1. Now, I prefer track 1 to track 3, but it has been an adjustment for my younger child--you see, if you change tracks your kids will not have any of their former friends in their class.
There's a lot to like about year round schools--you can take family vacations at off-peak times. Kids don't need so much re-teaching between grades after a long summer off. Dual income parents don't have to spend money on camps/daycare for 12 weeks in a row--it gets broken up over the year. I don't work at the moment so I really don't LOVE year round. But once I go back to work I am sure I will like it better.
My youngest graduated this year, so I no longer have a "dog in this fight", but we liked year round when they were in elementary and middle school. It was a bit difficult when the older ones were in high school (using traditional calendar) while the others were still in year round. We were on Track 3 which was fine for us. Disney World in April is much better than fighting the summer crowds.
Thanks, everybody! You are helping tremendously. We haven't received confirmation that the house is ours yet, apparently others were interested in it, too. But, no matter where we end up renting, we could still face this dilemma. I'm intrigued by year round school and this would be a perfect opportunity to try it. I didn't think there was a school called Breckenridge, thanks for clarifying.
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) we were told that 5 kids would be moved from track 4 to another track because there was not enough room. Siblings' track assignment within the school was given the highest priority, but they couldn't coordinate with middle school siblings. So from my perspective we had no choice in track, but that's because of special needs.
