Tl;dr:
It feels like kids from a particular neighborhood all wind up at different elementary schools (then probably different middle and HS). Does this hinder the ability for neighborhood buddies to form? I have a 4 yr old, so i'm not there yet, just speculating.
Long version:
Wake County, NC resident here - wake has an bazillion options of choice for a child's elementary school.
There are private schools - some religious, some just $, but some of the schools offer scholarships and financial aid.
Then Public schools come in three flavors - your local/base school based on your address, charters, and magnets. Oh, and some base schools are so busy that they're capped, meaning kids from the same street might wind up at two different schools. Some of each have a fantastic reputation, while some have poor reputations, so I don't blame parents for ditching their local/base school. Magnet Elementary then leads to those kids going to a bunch of different middle schools, so bye-bye middle school friends. Same with middle schoolers going to different high schools.
Among my friend groups, I know just a few that have stuck with their local/base school. And when their kids have play-dates it's a haul of a drive to get across town. And among my current neighbors with young pre-elementary kids, despite our base having a great rep they're all still head-scratching what Johnny & Jane might like more as a magnet focus, or that they're really attracted by XYZ charter which has a fantastic rep.
It feels to me like the days of kids (elementary thru HS) all being from the same neighborhood and all having friends from down the street and around the corner, all riding the same busses, are gone. Am I wrong? If so, to avoid this, do I need to move to a tiny town where there are fewer good options. Or a town in a state with nothing but fantastic option giving people no reason to ditch their local? Where is that?
And if i'm right, then is this part of the reason why it seems parents spend their lives shuttling their kids all over earth for "activities" - cuz they're actually replacements for social time?
It feels like kids from a particular neighborhood all wind up at different elementary schools (then probably different middle and HS). Does this hinder the ability for neighborhood buddies to form? I have a 4 yr old, so i'm not there yet, just speculating.
Long version:
Wake County, NC resident here - wake has an bazillion options of choice for a child's elementary school.
There are private schools - some religious, some just $, but some of the schools offer scholarships and financial aid.
Then Public schools come in three flavors - your local/base school based on your address, charters, and magnets. Oh, and some base schools are so busy that they're capped, meaning kids from the same street might wind up at two different schools. Some of each have a fantastic reputation, while some have poor reputations, so I don't blame parents for ditching their local/base school. Magnet Elementary then leads to those kids going to a bunch of different middle schools, so bye-bye middle school friends. Same with middle schoolers going to different high schools.
Among my friend groups, I know just a few that have stuck with their local/base school. And when their kids have play-dates it's a haul of a drive to get across town. And among my current neighbors with young pre-elementary kids, despite our base having a great rep they're all still head-scratching what Johnny & Jane might like more as a magnet focus, or that they're really attracted by XYZ charter which has a fantastic rep.
It feels to me like the days of kids (elementary thru HS) all being from the same neighborhood and all having friends from down the street and around the corner, all riding the same busses, are gone. Am I wrong? If so, to avoid this, do I need to move to a tiny town where there are fewer good options. Or a town in a state with nothing but fantastic option giving people no reason to ditch their local? Where is that?
And if i'm right, then is this part of the reason why it seems parents spend their lives shuttling their kids all over earth for "activities" - cuz they're actually replacements for social time?