D E PA R T M E N T S E D U C AT I O N
APEX HIGH SCHOOL. PHOTO COURTESY OF WCPSS.
HOW TO NAVIGATE SCHOOL CHOICE IN WAKE COUNTY
S
BY LIBBY TAYLOR chool choice in Wake County can
schools in our area, coupled with practical
families, rather than massive redistricting for
be daunting. If you’re like me, you
suggestions, will help you tackle your
families who are already living here. If you
grew up going to the school in your
family’s school search.
are new to the area and you purchase a home
neighborhood and there were no
magnet schools, year-round calendar options or charter schools. These days, the options are vast. In a lot of ways, this is a blessing for families who don’t find their base school to be a great fit; however, it can be time consuming and difficult to navigate all of the alternatives.
TRADITIONAL
WAKE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS Like most other districts, each address in Wake County has an assigned base school as part of the Wake County Public School System. Residents can attend their base school simply by registering at that school.
in a capped school zone, you will be provided transportation to an overflow school. You can call your student’s base school and find out this information ahead of time. All capped schools are listed at wcpss.net. A new cap on WCPSS class size for kindergarten through third grade that began
If you are a new family who has just moved
with the 2018–19 school year (with some
Taking into account all the area has to
into the area, you may have to contend with
deadline flexibility built in to phase in these
offer will help you make the right decision
enrollment caps. This is done to intentionally
new requirements), allows no more than 21
for your family. Taking a macro view of the
place the burden of overcrowding on new
students in each kindergarten class, no more
90 | midtownmag.com
