My children got reassigned from our beloved elementary school, now what?
This is me in 1989 wearing my Kingswood Year-Round Elementary School T-shirt. I was a third-grader and back then no one, except for the families who were now attending my new school, knew what year-round school was. My parents took a chance on a new concept for public school in North Carolina when Kingswood started year-round schools for our state in Cary. They thought the summer breaks were too long for me and they liked the idea of taking shorter breaks through the school year. So, from 3rd-8th grades my family enjoyed the year-round schedule, taking vacations in spring and fall.
Fast forward to adulthood and my life as a parent of a rising kindergartner in 2016. It was very important to me to have a year-round schedule for my kids, as it was very beneficial for my learning in my elementary and middle school years. The Wake County Public School System had grown and changed a lot since I left, graduating high school in 1999. So, I researched current year-round elementary schools and quickly found Sycamore Creek Elementary.
Tucked in our corner of northwest Raleigh, and feeding into Leesville High School, is where “Our Crocs Rock.” When my oldest child was in preschool, parents clamored to get into the magnet, charter, or calendar option school of their choice, questioning their base schools. I did not. I felt incredibly lucky to have found a house with Sycamore Creek as our base assignment. Our kids would go from Sycamore Creek Elementary (year-round) to the nearby Pine Hollow Middle (year-round) to Leesville High School (traditional). Most WCPSS high schools operate on a traditional calendar because of athletics and summer employment for high school students. I was confident we were all set for all three of our kids for years. I’m sure you can sense what’s coming.
Before that though, I have to say, SCES has met and exceeded our expectations for nearly six years. Currently, my daughter is a social fifth-grader conquering fractions and my middle son is a happy second-grader, making the best of a school career that COVID has been messing with since he was in kindergarten. The administration, faculty and families at Sycamore Creek have shaped a fantastic school community for my children. It’s a special place.
In 2018, I was pregnant with our third when WCPSS broke ground on what would become Barton Pond Elementary. I rubbed my swollen belly and wondered if this baby would end up being a Croc with his sister and brother.
Reassignment
After two years of housing Stough and York Elementaries as they were remodeled, this October, we learned that our base elementary school would now be Barton Pond, opening in August for the 2022-2023 school year.
Deep breath. Change of plans. Okay.
We knew it was a possibility since SCES has capped enrollment and has been full for a few years. Still, the news rocked our neighborhood and surrounding subdivisions after the school board released the first draft of the proposed reassignment plan. Parents of students staying put, just across the road, breathed a sigh of relief. Facebook groups popped up with parents asking questions and trying to make sense of the changes for our families. We weren’t alone in the county. Parents in Holly Springs are reeling as new schools open down there too. I double-checked our address in the reassignment lookup. It was happening. Our new assignment would be Barton Pond Elementary (traditional), Pine Hollow Middle (year-round) to Leesville High School (traditional).
Yep, you read that right, traditional to year-round to traditional. Okay, we expected different calendars when we had a child old enough to go to high school, but now? If you’ll recall, I said my oldest is a fifth-grader, so she will start middle school in the next school year at the year-round Pine Hollow. That would put my kids on different schedules. That’s not ideal for any family.
The Discussions
We explained to our kids what was going on. The change affects our middle son the most, as it means he’ll change elementary schools for 3rd-5th grades. Our daughter, happy to be finishing out her elementary school career with her SCES friends, was shocked for her brother. “What?! Mom! He won’t be at Sycamore anymore?!”
To her, it sounded like the end of the world, much like when my parents told me I was going to a new school starting in 3rd grade. The unknown is hard. Change is weird.
We texted and called friends who have also been reassigned, trying to decide what was best for our families. One friend, who’s children are being reassigned to Barton Pond from Leesville Road Elementary said to me, “Well, we can make it really great! We get to start from scratch there.” It’s true. The new building and playgrounds are beautiful and the location really isn’t that much further away. I timed out the drives from our house. We know a lot of families going there and we could make a strong start for the PTA.
Maybe we could make another beloved elementary school community? The idea was intriguing.
Our Options
The next steps and options for next year can be overwhelming for parents, myself included.
As of the first draft of the proposal, we are not given a calendar option for Barton Pond Elementary. For your knowledge, a “calendar option” is Wake County-speak for a year-round option for families assigned to a traditional calendar school as their base assignment and vice versa. For example, my daughter is assigned to Pine Hollow Middle (year-round) but our calendar option is Leesville Road Middle (traditional). Currently, families assigned to Barton Pond are not given the option to apply to Sycamore Creek or any year-round elementary as our “calendar option.” We are assuming that is because WCPSS has to fill this new school. I get it, but it’s disappointing, nonetheless.
Here are some current and upcoming deadlines that helped me think through what we could do:
October 15, 2021- General registration for school; early college, magnet and year-round applications begin
October 28, 2021- Barton Pond families met virtually through WCPSS to ask questions. I could not attend, but neighbors have filled me in. The goal was to collect concerns and questions to take back to the board. No decisions were made.
December 13, 2021-January 2, 2022 - Stability Transfer requests. So those with rising fifth-graders who want to stay in their current school, to finish out elementary school, for example.
February 25, 2022-March 11, 2022 - Transfers back to your base school opened. General Transfer requests for different schools due to hardships, or other reasons.
If we are not given the option to request SCES as a calendar option under subsequent drafts of the reassignment proposal, it seems like General Transfer back to SCES is an option.
Parents have thrown around ideas from making the new school a modified year-round calendar to help families from both year-round and traditional schools reassigned to Barton Pond. Others want to petition to make Pine Hollow a traditional calendar. There are a lot of ideas and emotions swirling around our neighborhoods and on Facebook.
Leaving Year Round
Another option for my family is to go for my daughter’s calendar option of Leesville Road Middle School, putting all my children on traditional calendar. (My youngest son is in a small, private, half-day preschool that closely follows the WCPSS traditional calendar.) Some of my daughter’s friends will be going to LRMS, but most will attend PHMS. She is not sold on this idea, but we talked about touring both middle schools to get a sense of what’s best for her education for the next three years.
Thinking about this shifted my mindset for the first time in a very long time, bringing us back to the beginning of this story and my love for the year-round schedule. This brought me to a big question:
Has the pandemic ruined year-round schools for me?
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE starting school in August (we’re Track 4). It’s hot. Camp is over. We’re back from the beach. August drags. Go to school, we’ll be tracked out in October for a glorious fall break.
But this month I found myself looking at my kids thinking, “Why are you here? Go to school.” Maybe it’s because for the last 18 months they have been home a lot. Remote learning, track outs. Ugh! Go. To. School. I know I can’t be the only one who feels this way.
Maybe the reassignment is a sign that this change could be good for us? Changing school schedules for me in 1989 was fantastic. Regardless, we’re staying positive and feeling lucky to live near schools we think will be great for our kids. This is the start of our reassignment story. More to come.
Amy Davis is a monogramming mom of three and fitness instructor with FIT4MOM Midtown Raleigh and web contributor for the historic Village District. She is a regular Go Ask Mom contributor.
