Calling al NC'ers.......

[nyyankees5]

Here's my story..... Born and raised a New Yorker (Staten Island) and relocated to Arizona 10 months with my family (DH, DS(6), DD(4), DS(20 months). NY getting to expensive, crowed. Plus we were becoming the minority, noone speaks english anymore. Don't get me wrong I am not prejudice, but I feel that if you come to this country, you should at least try to speak the language. Arizona s***s. No diversity. Other than the weather and that we can swim all year round, I HATE IT. In NY my son was in a private catholic school, out here you have to drive miles to find a catholic church yet alone a school. The publice school he is in got a EXCELLENT Rating 2 years in a row, but the teachers and princepal seem clueless. My husband works for American Express in there call center and can transfer after a year. The two other call centers are in Greensboro, NC or Plantation, Fl. He can also tranfer out of his department anywhere in the USA but would like to stay in same depart.

So is anyone can tell me alittle about NC it would be greatly apreciated. We would be looking in and around Greensboro. DH does'nt want to drive to far from where he works. Any school districts to avoid, good ones. Catholic/private schools. Housing/ Apartment Rental info.

Thank you again

I can be reach here on the DiS or you can email at nyyankees5@cox.net

Erin

 

[chell]

Sorry but I don't know a whole lot about the Greensboro area. But I can tell you that I've lived in Western NC my entire life and I LOVE it. There is a lot to do in that area, but of course nothing like what you are used to. There are Catholic churches here. And some of the schools are wonderful as well.

There are some DISers here who can give you the info you need.

 

[teacherforhi]

You can go to http://www.ncschoolreportcard.org/src/ to find the report card for schools in Guilford County. I live about 45 minutes south of Greensboro and can vouch for the shopping malls and the conference facilities, but that's about it.

 

[wanna-b-Tink]

Like chell, I live in the Foothills - about 1.5 hours from Greensboro. I'm a Virginian by birth, moving here after going to college in Hickory. Greensboro is nice. You're close to the mountains if you want to ski, and close to the ocean if you want to, well, go to the ocean. I agree with checking the school report website. I think people are surprised to find that NC has such a great public school system. Additionally, I can guarantee you that you can find many religious private schools. We are smack in the middle of the Bible belt here.

 

[NCRedding]

Greensboro has some nice areas. I live about 20 miles south, and know someone who works for AmEx in greensboro, but lives in my town. G-boro feels like a big town, not a small city. They have been affected by the influx of immigrants, so there is some different language.

There are some excellent schools in the Guilford Co. system, and some not so good ones. Grimsley and Page (two high schools in Gboro) have been ranked by newsweek as among the top 100 public high schools in the nation. By the same token, two other high schools are being threatened by a judge with closure because of low-performance (Smith and Dudley). There is an excellent private school--Greensboro Day which is well-thought of. As far as catholic schools: There is a school in Kernersville, which is near the AmEx side of town, Bishop McGuiness (bmhs.us) I can't remember the name of the catholic school in Greensboro; there is also one in Burlington, which isn't too far from Gboro, for the lower grades, but I can't remember that name.

Climate is great here: We have some winter, but not too cold. We usually have about 10 inches totat of snow, and sometimes have nasty ice storms. Spring and fall are gorgeous--today reached 80 degrees with a beautiful blue sky. Summer can be humid and hot, but not as hot a AZ. Greensboro is located mid-way in NC, so it is about 2-3 hours to the mountains, 3-4 to the beach. We do get some concerts, and some broadway touring plays. There is a minor league baseball team that is very well supported, and fun to go to the games. Every few years, like this year, we host a portion of the NCAA COllege basketball games for the tournament. Lots of people in Gboro also support the carolina panthers in Charlotte.

Housing: check out news-record.com (local paper) on the left hand side of the home page you'll find a link to apartment rentals, and also to home sales (triad homes).
HTH; let me know if you have any specific questions.

 

[bcvgal]

There's Immaculate Heart of Mary in High Point too.

 

[DVCLiz]

The Catholic schools in Greensboro are St. Pius and Our Lady of Grace. I think they both end at eighth grade, but as someone above (not heavenly, just above this post!) mentioned, Bishop McGuiness is a Catholic high school in Kernersville, I think. I think there's a bus that takes kids over to Bishop - it leaves from the St. Pius parking lot.

Greensboro Day and Canterbury School are the two best private schools. GDS is K-12, Canterbury K-8. The public schools are uneven - you can get some excellent teachers or some not-so-great ones. You'd definitely want to check out the public schools before you made an offer on a house.

 

[HeatherinNC]

Well,I live in the Foothills too! Wilkes County, to be exact

I think NC has a lot to offer. Like other posters have pointed out, you have gorgeous mountains or beautiful beaches within a days drive. Not only good public schools, but a wonderful university system. We have pro football, basketball and hockey. Very mild winters, low cost of living. You mentioned the whole Hispanic issue..I think I remember reading that NC is third in the US for Hispanic population growth in the last 10 or 15 years. And having lived in this area for about 20 years, I can believe it. But I'm guessing that most states have had a rise in this population over the past few years.

 

[nyyankees5]

thank you to all have posted, it helps alot. I was not talking about the hispanic populations, I was refering to the other immirgrants who came to new york. I live in Arizona now and the area I live in there are white and hispanic. When I lived in Staten Island, NY growing up we had white, african american, hispanic. Then all of a sudden it seems that we were the minority. Noone tried to speak the language. Children in public schools suffer because these children do speak english so the ones who do have to sit back and wait for the rest of the class to catch up. I have friends who are teachers in both public and private schools in NY and the get frustrate because of this. Parent teacher conferences they need translaters

Thanks again to all who have posted already.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

I live about 15 minutes south of Greensboro. I haven't been here too long, but have been in NC my whole life.

Schools: As NCRedding indicated, there are some red flags with the Guilford county (Greensboro) schools right now. They are in the midst of a re-districting that is getting ugly. Also, there are a couple of severely under-performing high schools. To top it all off, there is a growing number of people who are dissatisfied with the superintendent. I live in another county. The schools here are pretty good. The elementary schools and high school in my corner of the county are all consistently excellent on things like test scores. My kids really like their elementarys school.

Culture: Greensboro is a bit of a disappointment when compared to Charlotte or Raleigh, but those places are only an hour's drive from greater Greensboro. Still, you can choose from a dozen movie theaters in Greensboro, can eat at either O'Charley's or Applebee's, and shop at your choice of big box centers.

Weather: Shhhhh... it's our secret that we have the most spectacular spring time days (like today, for example). Perfect blue skies... the whole works. Winter will be very tolerable for anyone used to northern winters. We haven't had much snow to speak of the last couple of years.

Come on down to teh Greensboro area. It's a great place to be! I would look at places like Randolp or Davidson county. It may be more difficult to get close to a Catholic church in these more rural counties, but the quality of life is just wonderful.