Athens Drive High School-Raleigh (Cary, Wake Forest: home, top school, college)

[BadDogDude]

We are relocating to the area and need info on best high schools. Would like to know about Athens Drive High School in terms of quality, SAT scores and college placement.

[mommiewrites]

You can find score info on the WCPSS website. My little brother will be a senior there this coming school year and has done excellent in academics and sports! HE has really enjoyed going to school there.

[JQ Public]

As far as academics. Enloe High School has always been the top school in the area. Its a magnet school though so you don't have to have enloe as your home school to go there. It is very competitive to get into though.

[scout84]

I have a daughter who graduated last year from ADHS, and a son who is a junior. Other posters have pointed you to the WCPSS website where you can get the raw statistics for test scores.

As far as my experience with the school goes, it's very good. I'm very happy with my kids being there. There's good diversity, lots of honor students, a fair number of AP courses, and some very outstanding teachers. Latin, AP Psychology, Anatomy & Physiology, and Band have some of the most outstanding teachers who have really motivated my kids above and beyond what I'd expect from a teacher. There are some outstanding teachers in the core classes, too, but let's face it, the electives can be the more interesting classes that provide the spark to their day.

The principal is fair and is very willing to work with parents and teachers. I've never had to discuss negative issues with him, but I've had discussions with him on behalf of other extra-curricular activities. I like his outlook and his willingness to make ADHS a better place.

Sure, you'll hear about how great Cary High and Panther Creek are (and they're fine schools). I'm very happy that my kids are at ADHS, particularly from the diversity perspective (I feel strongly that all kids do best when they see a broad range of abilities, ethnicities, and economic situations).

Where do the ADHS students go to college? Of my children's friends, the most popular are NCSU, ECU, and UNC-W, as well as the many other schools in the UNC system. Every year, a number go to the more "elite" schools like UNC, Wake Forest, and Duke, too. Many more are accepted at these institutions, but opt to go to other schools due to scholarships and financial aid packages. My kids and I know students going to Colorado U, Univ. of South Carolina, Clemson, Ga Tech, Emory, Auburn, Elon and other out of state/private schools. Few are interested in the Ivies, citing they can do the majors they want in warmer climates. To be fair, I've talked mostly to the kids in the band, and they want to continue marching and studying music in college, and the Ivies don't have the marching programs they like. I've personally talked with these kids over the four years I've been with the band program, so I've got first-hand information from around 100 seniors over the last four years. Almost all wind up with their first choice of schools.

Sure, there are some less-than-stellar incidents that have occurred at ADHS, but my kids have always felt safe and secure, and have had some teachers that have truly inspire them. They participate in plenty of clubs and extra-curricular activities. Their friends are wonderful kids who tend to lean away from drugs and alcohol and have few driving issues (they ARE normal teenagers who DO have a few issues now and then, just not illegal or immoral!). There are plenty of teenagers at every Wake County school that don't fit that bill, but I can safely say that there are plenty of really nice kids at ADHS. It's been an excellent experience for us. Almost all the other ADHS parents I've talked to feel similarly.

[rumbubble]

We have moved from Europe and my elderson wouldjoin Athens drive high school,need some advice about about the school and enviroment , we would be living in Cary,