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We are relocating to Raleigh, or could possibly live in Chapel Hill. What are the best public elementary and middle school districts in these areas? I think I read that some schools are full (Lacey in Raleigh) so if you move into the district you get bumped to another school? Is that correct? How hard is it to get into a magnet school in Wake County? TIA
Yes I am. I was not aware that they are considered "zones." Where I presently live they are called districts. Semantics aside, do you have any information on this topic?
Wake County has many very good schools. So does Chapel Hill / Carrboro. I'd hesitate to label one or a few as "the best" especially at that level. In Wake, I'd focus on northwest Raleigh or Cary. In Chapel Hill or Carrboro, any of them. Crowding and capping can be issues in Wake - so do pay attention to that for the area you zero in on.
You can go to Wake County Public School System and use the "student assignment" button to find out which schools are capped, and enter an address to find out which school an address is assigned to. Yes, that will be painstaking. But if you are focused on a general area you can get an idea.
Each school has a base zone as well, but I'm not sure where to get that mapping info, I'm sure someone will chime in with it.
Test scores are available, if that's how you judge a school. Otherwise, it depends on what you mean by "the best". I'm not sure where you are relocating from but some of these schools are incredibly competitive academically. Way more so than where we moved from (Long Island).
I'm not familiar with how school assignment works in Chapel Hill but I'm sure that district's website can give you any info you want.
When I say "best" it's really more subjective --not test scores, more based on your personal experiences. I have realized test scores are not the most important - to me, anyway. I would like to know which schools others consider " best" through their personal experience, be it caring teachers, great extracurriculurs like music, etc.
Well, that's really hard NCGirl because most people have experience with only one or two elementary & middle schools. My kids have been to one elementary school in CHCCS and we've been very satisfied. I'm sure the other ones are good, too, but we haven't been there so I can't give first hand info on that.
I would not move to Chapel Hill for the schools. It's a unique place and I'd only move here if you really fall in love with the town. If Raleigh or Cary is more your speed there are many good schools there, too.
What is the school you have experience with in CH and like? I'm not asking you to compare with others. Just some insight. I am very familiar with Chapel Hill- I've lived in the triangle area awhile back and visit several times a year, but know little about the schools- I lived there before I had children.
Last edited by NCGirl7; 09-28-2014 at 07:51 AM..
Reason: Correct spelling
We just relocated to Chapel Hill from Minnesota, about three weeks ago. We got here after schools had already been in session for two weeks, but the transition for us was relatively seamless.
We looked at Cary and Apex, as my husband works in Cary. After reading up on the schools, we decided that Chapel Hill was a better fit for us. Honestly, we just didn't want to deal with all the overcrowding, and the traffic in Wake County.
The registration process takes a few days, and so you will want to plan for that. In Chapel Hill, all school registration is handled through the Lincoln Center. And you need to go there in person. Once that's all completed, you get the school assignment based on where you live,a nd transportation an take a couple of extra days if your child/ren have to be added to a bus route.
Overall, it's been pretty easy for us.
My feedback about the Chapel Hill schools is VERY positive. My kids are in two different schools (Smith Middle School is capped, so the overflow for us is Phillips Middle), and my youngest goes to a great elementary school here as well. We are so pleased with our decision! My kids adapted quickly and my oldest has been bumped up in math twice now, so they have been flexible in matching academics for us.
I don't have extensive experience here, and no experience for Wake County, but based on what we have seen since we have been here, we made the right choice. As for Cary, it's a great city! We go there for dining sometimes, and also some shopping, etc. Durham is also wonderful - we have everything we need right here.
My kids have gone to Carrboro Elementary School. We like it, but y'know, we would probably like most schools. We're more glass half full types. I do think most other people like CES, too, but there is always someone out there who can complain about the best school. That's not us.
When they built the new elementary school, Northside, there were a bunch of people up in arms over the redistricting that necessitated. I thought we really might be redistricted because we're fairly close to Northside, and we were fine with that possibility and looked at it as exciting to have the potential to be in a brand new school. Other people were very upset at the prospect of moving away from the elementary school their kids had attended. It ended up that we stayed at CES and we were very happy with that, too. It's an older, dated school building, but has a great community feel, and a great playground, too. We've been happy with the administration and the teachers, too.
Really, it's all about your attitude and the best fit for your kid. My 5th grader could do pretty well at most schools. My 8th grader is at a charter school because she really needed a smaller school environment. Interestingly, a parent who works in CHCCS has a child in the charter, too, even though their child could go to any CHCCS school. This particular kid just needed a smaller environment, too. I know the parent thinks highly of CHCCS and had the kid in CHCCS for elementary school, but just thought when it was middle school time that there was a better fit out there.
So, again, my advice would be to move to the community that best suits your family and have a positive attitude about the schools. I have friends who love Durham schools, too.
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