If education lights the way to the future, then the path looks bright for Triangle students. Many schools here are among the best in the state, and every system shows solid results in the state's ABCs of Education program, designed to promote continuous improvement.
Highlights about each of the Triangle's public school systems follow. For more
information about the schools your children will attend, contact the school
system; we have listed phone numbers and Web addresses for you.
Wake County
The Wake County School System is the second largest in
North Carolina with more than 108,000 students in 129 schools and nearly
12,000 teachers and staff. The school system serves all of Wake County
including Raleigh, Cary, Apex, Wendell, Fuquay-Varina, Garner, Knightdale,
Rolesville, Wake Forest, Holly Springs, Morrisville and Zebulon. It is the
second largest employer in Wake County.
Wake County’s academic performance is among the best in the country. The ABCs Public Education Report for school year 2002-2003 reported that nearly 90 percent of all students scored at or above grade level. Wake County has 49 Schools of Excellence and 61 Schools of Distinction. This is 21 more than the 2001-2002 ABC results.
The county's average SAT score for 2002-2003 was 1067 – 66 points ahead of the state average and 41 points above the national average. In Wake County, 80 percent of eligible seniors took the SAT compared with 68 percent statewide and 48 percent nationally. The system’s "magnet" network has 13 year-round schools, eight International Baccalaureate schools, and a number of others with particular emphasis on areas such as creative arts, international or classical studies, and technology. To accommodate its growth, Wake County voters approved $500 million in school bonds in 2001, which has enabled the county to build additional schools and renovate existing ones.
Wake County also has publicly funded charter schools. For information about them, call (919) 807-3302.
Durham County
Durham County wants to see all of its 31,000 students achieve their highest
potential regardless of race, gender or socio-economic status and make
continuous progress to be at or above grade level.
In this supportive environment, Durham's students are rising to the challenge. The county has seen six years of continuous academic growth. The ABC results for 2002-2003 show that all schools in the system attained the highest scores since the ABCs were implemented in 1996. The average SAT score for the county is 999, up five points from the previous year.
Durham has projected that the school system will meet two major goals by the end of the 2006-07 school year: 1) at least 95 percent of all 3rd graders reading at or above grade level, and 2) eliminating the achievement gap. In 2001, 89 percent of 3rd graders were at or above grade level, up from below 70 percent four years ago. Already, it is evident that the achievement gap between black and white students has narrowed by a third since 1999.
Before the end of the decade, Durham schools will have invested nearly a half-billion dollars in the provision of high-quality learning environments over a 20-year period. The school system boasts some of the finest school facilities in the state as a result of a $200 million-plus capital improvement plan begun in 1987. A long-range facilities plan calls for another $200 million in renovations and expansions by 2007.
Durham schools – including 27 elementary schools, eight middle schools, two secondary schools (6-12) and five high schools – have the flexibility to use different strategies to devise themes, schedules and teacher collaboration to meet the educational needs of their students. Besides year-round schools and alternative programs, options include magnets with unique curricula; Centers of Specialization with specific fields of study; elementary lab schools with low student-teacher ratios; and an International Baccalaureate Diploma Program for select high school students.
In addition, IBM has implemented an electronic mentoring program within the Durham County Schools to give students insight into the working world through e-mail correspondence and to further bolster student performance.
For students confined to the hospital or the home, there is a mobile Hospital
School that enables students to keep up with studies during illness or injury.
Chapel Hill-Carrboro
The
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools system is one of two in Orange County. Student
performance is top-notch. The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School district is
ranked the top-performing district in the Southeast and one of the top 100 in
the United States. Newsweek Magazine ranked both high schools among the top 100
in the country with regard to student participation in advanced placement
coursework. Additionally, 56 percent of its teachers have master’s degrees.
The system has the highest SAT scores in North Carolina. In fact, the composite
SAT score for 2003 averaged 1,178 - 152 points higher than the national average.
Since 92 percent of high school seniors take the SAT, these scores are highly
significant.
More than 10,600 students are enrolled in the system's eight elementary, four middle and two high schools. In 2003, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools had the highest ranked schools in the ABC program.
With Chapel Hill and Carrboro growing so rapidly, officials plan to ensure the
system continues to provide students with the knowledge and skills they need.
Orange County
The Orange County School District serves 6,400 students at seven elementary
schools, two middle schools and two high schools. Of these, Hillsborough
Elementary gives K-5 students a chance to pursue their education year-round.
Families of sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders can also choose a year-round
program at A.L. Stanback Middle School. A new Academically Gifted Plan has
increased the number of students receiving differential instruction.
Comprehensive efforts to improve reading, writing and mathematics in all grades
are in place.
Recent achievement and performance scores document student successes. ABC results show that most students achieved 90 percent proficiency with many over 95 percent proficiency. Since 1998, Orange County third-graders have improved scores from 69 percent proficiency in math to 93 percent in 2003. Reading has also increased from 70 percent to 85 percent during the past five years. Cameron Park Elementary, in particular, has attained 100 percent proficiency in fifth-grade math.
Community involvement and cooperation are the cornerstones for continued
improvement in building this district's high-performing educational system.
School district officials are working to refine and put into effect a strategic
plan that incorporates both short- and long-term objectives.
Students have benefited from the opening of Pathway Elementary School. A second
high school, Cedar Ridge opened in August 2002.
Johnston County
Western
Johnston County is experiencing a population boom, thanks to the easy
accessibility of Research Triangle Park via I-40. This has translated into about
a 4 percent increase in county school enrollment during the past year.
Today, Johnston County's 33 schools and more than 3,000 staff members serve over 23,000 students in the cities of Clayton, Selma, Smithfield, Kenly and Bus. The system includes 16 elementary schools, nine middle schools, five high schools, two K-8 schools, one union (K-12) school and one alternative school. Every high school is accredited through the Secondary Committee of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
Reflecting Johnston County's mission to foster learning in a supportive environment that respects and challenges students, the system's initiatives include high-quality education, high achievement and meeting individual student needs for continuous improvement. Results from the 2003 ABCs program show that Johnston County schools are making progress. The average SAT score in Johnston County is 1015, 14 points higher than the state average.
|
2003 SAT Scores |
Verbal | Math | Total |
| Nation | 507 | 519 | 1026 |
| North Carolina | 495 | 506 | 1001 |
| Chapel Hill-Carrboro | 582 | 596 | 1178 |
| Durham County | 495 | 504 | 999 |
| Johnston County | 497 | 518 | 1015 |
| Orange County | 497 | 510 | 1007 |
| Wake County | 524 | 543 | 1067 |