Choosing a home and choosing a school in Wake County, NC - Raleigh, Cary, Apex, Wake Forest

As a Realtor in Cary, NC I have found that most parents making a move want to ensure that their children will be attending the very best schools possible in their new town. The first step that parents generally take to determine acceptable schools is to research schools online. For families moving to NC, especially Raleigh, Cary, Apex, and other Wake County towns, there are several excellent websites to help parents find much needed information about local schools.

This is a link to the NC Report Cards for schools in Wake County. http://www.ncreportcards.org/src/search.jsp?pYear=2007-2008&pList=2&pListVal=Wake&GO2=GO

Other websites such as Great Schools.com gives more information than just test scores. http://www.ncreportcards.org/src/search.jsp?pYear=2007-2008&pList=2&pListVal=Wake&GO2=GO

Once parents have narrowed down their list of acceptable schools, the next step is to find homes that are in the acceptable schools district. Buyers / Parents need to be aware that in Wake County the school board does redistrict the students and neighborhoods. School assignment is broken down by nodes, not by neighborhoods. Each neighborhood could actually be assigned to a couple of different schools. Parents also need to be aware that Wake County has both Year Around Schools and Traditional Calendar Schools. The location of your home determines which school and type of calendar your child will attend. You may apply to either a year around calendar school or traditional calendar school, but there are no guarantees that your child will be able to attend a different school.

This link is to the Wake County Public School system website for student assignment:http://www.wcpss.net/growth-management/assignment.html

For families searching for homes in Wake County, it is important that you check the assignment website when you have found your dream home. You definitely want to be aware if your child's base school will be changing in the next few years. MLS sheets and real estate websites should have the correct school assignment, but keep in mind that this information does change.

If you are looking for a home in Wake County, do familirize yourself with the nuiances of the local school system and their redistricing plans. Ask your Realtor questions about the local school system. Research and be aware of the county schools systems future plans, so that their plans do not interfere with yours.