Moving to Raleigh

[havaneselover]

Our son graduated from Wakefield High in N. Raleigh (between Raleigh & Wake Forest). It was an excellent school and the feeder schools to it (middle/elementary) were very good also. Would be very leery of some of the schools in S. Raleigh area, also not the best neighborhoods to live in either.

Friends of ours in Clayton (Johnston Co.) have a horrible commute with lots of traffic, but seem to like the schools ok.

Don't actually agree with a PP that says a lot of the nicer neighborhoods have horrible schools. We haven't found this to be true.

My DD's bff just moved to North Raleigh into a neighborhood with very expensive homes. The elementary school is rated a 5 (out of 10) by Great Schools. So the parents are spending almost $40,000 sending 2 kids to private elementary school. A lot of the public schools in North Raleigh are unimpressive despite being surrounded by high end neighborhoods.

 

[livsmom04]

I suggest the Clayton area in Johnston County. It would be about a 15 minute commute to the Farmer's Market. Wake County Schools (Raleigh) is a nightmare when it comes to school assignment. Many schools reassign year after year and are on year-round trackout schedules. In fact, the nightmare has been on national news for years!

The Riverwood schools and Cleveland schools in Johnston County are very good. There are really nice subdivisions in a variety of price ranges.

I agree! I used to live in Nash County which was about 45 minutes from Raleigh depending on traffic on Highway 64. But now live in the Fayetteville area. My old boss lives in Wake Forest and while he loves it there he hates the whole Wake County Reassignment nightmare going on right now. Clayton is a good choice.

 

[mom2alix]

Hi I am her friend this info is very helpful. I did call some schools and they were explaining your base school is now figured out by your address. Everyone seems so nice I can not wait to get to Raleigh on the18th for my husbands interview.

Do you all find it a great place for families?

Hey Julie! You figured out how to post! Now you can ask your own questions. I told you the DisBoard was the place to find info on moving just about anywhere. Disney people are friendly people.

 

[North of Mouse]

My DD's bff just moved to North Raleigh into a neighborhood with very expensive homes. The elementary school is rated a 5 (out of 10) by Great Schools. So the parents are spending almost $40,000 sending 2 kids to private elementary school. A lot of the public schools in North Raleigh are unimpressive despite being surrounded by high end neighborhoods.

Well, don't know where your dau.'s bff lives, and I'm sure there are some schools that are closer in to the beltline that would not be our choice, but you would be hard pressed to find very many complaints with most of the schools in the far N. Raleigh area no matter what the *Great Schools* site says.

 

[SAT887]

Wow this is a great thread!! We want to move to NC in the next year. We need to sell our house and DH will need a transfer. However navigating the schools through various websites has been interesting to say the least... Now I know why! It kind of makes the idea of renting for a period time make sense to see where we want to end up (we currently live in NH and it will be quite a move!)

 

[mom2carly]

You may want to call the schools directly also the base school finder for wake county is helpful too

 

[North of Mouse]

Wow this is a great thread!! We want to move to NC in the next year. We need to sell our house and DH will need a transfer. However navigating the schools through various websites has been interesting to say the least... Now I know why! It kind of makes the idea of renting for a period time make sense to see where we want to end up (we currently live in NH and it will be quite a move!)

Renting is probably a very good idea, unless you know a lot of people here personally that have children in schools. We were transferred here 19 yrs. ago, but knew several people with children, so were comfortable with the schools in the N. Raleigh/Wake Co. area. We have been completely satisfied.

One big thing also is traffic - also sou. Raleigh area/Cary- have a very bad traffic congestion. They just finished a large portion of the outer loop (540) and turned it into a toll road in that section. We have the same road up here, but it was built several years ago, and is *not* toll. The traffic is not that bad up here either (one reason being a watershed area for Falls Lake). It's restricted on subdivision lot sizes, also no (or limited grandfathered in) commercial development.

 

[mom2carly]

Hi, we are going to be in raleigh on Friday is there any advise on what I should check out while my hubby is in interviews? I am not sure where to start and a bit overwhelmed because we are just there for the weekend.

 

[SAT887]

Renting is probably a very good idea, unless you know a lot of people here personally that have children in schools. We were transferred here 19 yrs. ago, but knew several people with children, so were comfortable with the schools in the N. Raleigh/Wake Co. area. We have been completely satisfied.

One big thing also is traffic - also sou. Raleigh area/Cary- have a very bad traffic congestion. They just finished a large portion of the outer loop (540) and turned it into a toll road in that section. We have the same road up here, but it was built several years ago, and is *not* toll. The traffic is not that bad up here either (one reason being a watershed area for Falls Lake). It's restricted on subdivision lot sizes, also no (or limited grandfathered in) commercial development.

We have family in the military who own outside of the base, but too far away for real judgements. We just need out of where we are- its just not a good area for us. Cold, terrible schools and too remote.

We figured on traffic based on Raleigh's size, both DH and I are originally from NJ, and can deal with traffic my last commute in NJ was 7 miles and it took 45 min on a good day

 

[Madison'smommy]

We have family in the military who own outside of the base, but too far away for real judgements. We just need out of where we are- its just not a good area for us. Cold, terrible schools and too remote.

We figured on traffic based on Raleigh's size, both DH and I are originally from NJ, and can deal with traffic my last commute in NJ was 7 miles and it took 45 min on a good day

Yeah, to me... after moving here from the DC area..... living in Maryland and driving into DC every day.... traffic here is not so bad.... nothing that would keep me from moving where I "want" to.

 

[North of Mouse]

Yeah, to me... after moving here from the DC area..... living in Maryland and driving into DC every day.... traffic here is not so bad.... nothing that would keep me from moving where I "want" to.

We were transferred here from MD. (Gaithersburg) and we absolutely hated the traffic there. Raleigh is nothing in comparison, except I 40 during rush hours!!

 

[yankebabie]

We are also moving to nc soon. Just put our house in ny on market. We will be moving to the knightdale/ wake forest area. I will be seeking a job with the state. Is it a long commute to state office buildings from knight dale? Also any info you can share about this area would be welcome

 

[winjos]

We moved from Southern California to Cary in 2005 and we've never looked back.

We live on the boarder of Cary/Apex and our kids go to Apex schools. They are thriving there and we are very happy with the teachers, the activities, and the school programs.

I worked 1 year in a HS in Durham and now at a magnet MS in Wake County and there is a BIG difference between where I work and the schools my kids attend.

I pass the exit for the Farmer's Market every day. I'd say it is about 15 minutes from my house with very little traffic. It's going the other direction.

Cary is very family oriented. So are the surrounding towns. You can't go wrong with Southern Wake. There are a number of very nice affordable subdivisions with lots of kids.

Best of luck!

 

[North of Mouse]

We are also moving to nc soon. Just put our house in ny on market. We will be moving to the knightdale/ wake forest area. I will be seeking a job with the state. Is it a long commute to state office buildings from knight dale? Also any info you can share about this area would be welcome

Wake Forest is NE of Raleigh, Knightdale is E. of Raleigh. Are you talking about the state buildings in downtown Raleigh? It would be about equal in commuting time/traffic, but Knightdale might be a little bit closer.

 

[yankebabie]

I just assumed all the state office buildings were downtown, maybe not. How long is the average commute with traffic during rush hr? Are their state offices that are outside of downtown and closer to knight dale I should look for? Thanks for all your help

 

[havaneselover]

Well, don't know where your dau.'s bff lives, and I'm sure there are some schools that are closer in to the beltline that would not be our choice, but you would be hard pressed to find very many complaints with most of the schools in the far N. Raleigh area no matter what the *Great Schools* site says.

We'll have to agree to disagree. I lived in Cary and am very familiar with WCPSS. West Cary/Apex would be the only place I would live in Wake County if I needed to use WCPSS.

 

[yankebabie]

I hear a lot of not so good things about wake county schools regarding re-assignments and buses. Are all the surrounding counties like that too? Is it not like ny where u go to the school in your neighborhood k-12?

 

[havaneselover]

No. I grew up in ct and was appalled by the busing/reassignments in wake county. If you are walkable you tend to be safe. Otherwise you are not. The western part of the county has uniformly excellent schools because of the demographics. But even then you have year round vs. Traditional with no year round high schools. And some year round tracks are pretty undesirable. It is a major mess IMO.

 

[tar heel]

Wake County has had some school issues, but there are two really important reasons that every child doesn't go to his/her neighborhood school: explosive population growth and a long-time commitment to integration.

OP - I'm assuming you are arriving in North Carolina with a good financial cushion and don't have to have that state job immediately. We've had cutbacks in state jobs (and there may be more) and our unemployment remains high. There's no guarantee you will get a job with the state.

 

[SAT887]

How exactly is the school system set up? I currently live in a rural area so for the most part the schools are all town based. Also, growing up in NJ by the time I hit 5th grade the entire town was going to the same school. I'm somewhat confused by the reassigning that has been talked about here.