I have 3 months before we move to the triangle!

[sweetpeasmama]

I am both thrilled and terrified. I just found out today that we are officially moving the first week of January. Which I know seems far away- but when looking at my calendar, it gets me a litttle anxious.

I have so many questions and thoughts, I didn't know where to start. So I came here.

We have just started homeschooling in NYC and I am loving it. I would definitely like to continue in NC, but am clueless as to who to contact regarding the rules of homeschooling in NC and which groups would be good for us to join. We would like to live in Carrboro or Chapel Hill and I know there are homeschooling groups there- just not sure what the word is.

DH is very supportive of homeschooling, but would like to move somewhere that is zoned for a great public school, "just in case". I don't know what that case may ever be, but I think he just wants to be prepared for when our DS is suddenly very sick of me. (Never!) We fell in love with Carrboro and I heard that the Carrboro elementary school is great. Has anyone else heard otherwise or can agree with how great it is? Are there any other schools in the CH/Carrboro area that are worthy enough to plan our move to their zone?

Alright, I guess I'll start there. I have been lurking and asking questions for almost two years now about the triangle area. It is so hard to believe that we are actually doing it!!! I may be really annoying over the next few months, but it's really because I haven't made this big of a move since I left for college. So please bear with me...

TIA for any info!!!

[lizabird]

Sort of a quick reply since my 2 boys are sitting here waiting for me to be done on the computer...

We live in Chapel hill and love it. We homeschool. You don't have to do anything "official" with the state until your child is 7 yrs old and then you register as a homeschool. There are several great homeschool groups in the area. Big secular group is called "Chapel Hill HOmeschoolers" and there are other smaller groups as well, also religious groups if that's your thing.
Also check out the CHDAP yahoo group (Chapel Hill DUrham Alternative Parenting, which is the group that includes a whole bunch of MDC mamas).

Welcome to the area! Keep us posted when you arrive and I'm sure you'll be able to meet up with other AP homeschooling families.

[beanma]

By many estimates Chapel Hill/Carrboro is the best public school system in the state. I know several kids (and their parents) who go to Carrboro Elementary and are happy there. It is not actually one of the higher performing elementary schools in the district, but they have a large Hispanic population, some of whom probably have difficulty with English. They do have a dual language (Spanish/English) program for any student (not just ESL students) and that has been very popular with a lot of folks. Here's an article about the NCLB scores http://www.chapelhillnews.com/commun...ory/15831.html . Overall Chapel Hill/Carrboro schools have an excellent reputation. It's not at all unusual for kids in the high schools to have perfect SAT scores. The SAT scores in the high schools are consistently the highest in the state (http://www.newsobserver.com/978/story/1200007.html) . The general population in CH/C is highly educated (university and high tech jobs) and the high schools are actually pretty academically competitive from what I hear. I've heard of average students, however, sort of falling through the cracks because there are so many very smart, high achieving kids. I think that special needs kids are served fairly well (although someone with more experience in that could speak better to that), but occasionally the average student is not as well served as either end of the curve.

CH/C is a great area for schools/education, though, not just public. There are some great private schools (Waldorf, Friends, etc) and there is a huge and vibrant homeschooling community with lots of organized activities and classes and plenty of playdates.

My kids are in a private schools. My younger daughter is in preschool and my older daughter is in a kinda loose hippiesh private school mainly because we didn't think she could fit her square peg self into public school at this point, maybe in the future, though. We strongly considered homeschooling, though, and I was involved in some activites with my younger daughter, but the private school has worked out really well for us. In fact one of dd1's teachers is a homeschooling dad!

hth

ETA: Woods Charter in North Chatham (near Chapel Hill/Carrboro) also is well loved by lots of folks. And the NC School of Science and Math (boarding high school) is nearby in Durham.

[sweetpeasmama]

I knew I came to the right place!

I tried to join the CHDAP yahoo board a few months back and I wasn't approved or it just went unapproved, I think because I don't live there. Any tips on getting on there? You can PM me if you don't want to advertise it...

Out of curiosity- Are there any neighborhoods to avoid in CH or Carrboro?