Base Public School

Enrollment Process

1) These are the Elementary, Middle and High schools that are assigned to your address with a guarenteed seat.  To find the schools for your address click here.

 

2) To register your child click here.

 

3) Start school!

 

Yep, its that easy!

 

Fun fact: 75% of the student population in Wake County attends the Wake County Public School System!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Programing
Most traditional public schools in Wake County offer the same programming, curricula, electives and athletics. The school websites will show you all of the course offerings and are a great place to start exploring. Here is a list of what you will typically see!
 
Elementary Schools 
-Every child recieves a chromebook
-Smart TVs in every room
-Gymnasium
-Library
-Cafeteria
-Auditorium
-Playgrounds
-Music Room
-Art Room
-STEM lab
-Gifted
-Special needs
-and more
 
Middle Schools have all this and even more! 
 
High Schools add on hundreds of electives, clubs, AP/college courses and more to choose from!
 
Sports 
Every middle and high school has numerous sports teams ie. football, basketball, baseball, softball, swimming, diving, wrestling, lacrosse and so many more!
 
WCPSS sports teams play division 4A which is made up of the largest schools in the state.  Your athletes will be competing against the top schools in the state and possibly the nation.

Resources

Accomodations

-AIG (Academically or Intellectually Gifted)

-IEP

-504

and more

 

Free and Reduced meals are always given to students based on income level.

 

Transportation
You will always be provided busing from a walkable bus stop to all of your base schools, unless you live in a super close "walk zone" to the school where it would take longer to walk to a stop than it would to walk right to school.
 
School bus stop locations can be found here

Organization & Funding
 
Wake County Public Schools are operated/managed by Wake County Public School System (WCPSS).  
 
They fall under the governance of a locally residing and locally elected school board.
 
WCPSS is divided up into districts and board members are publicly elected by residents of the districts to represent them.
 
The schools must adhere to the NC State Board of Education policies.
 
The schools receive funding from the state and Wake County tax revenue and are funded based on a per-pupil allotment.
 
*If the school has 35% or greater of economically disadvantaged students, it becomes eligible for “Title 1 funding,” which provides them with extra funding for resources to help the students become successful (additional ESL teachers, literacy coaches, etc…)

Magnet Public School

Very similar to (and often times are) your base school.  Differences are in blue.

Enrollment Process

1) Enter your address here To find the magent school options for your address.

 

2) You must still register your child at their base school. Click here to start that process.

 

3) Unless your base school is the magnet you want to apply for you need apply to the magnet school here. The application for Magnet and Year-Round schools will be open from approximatly mid October through end of January. 

 

 

"The purpose of magnet schools is to reduce high concentrations of poverty in schools; promote school integration; maximize the use of school facilities and provide innovative educational opportunities. Therefore, we consider two key factors in the selection process for magnet applications:

 

1) Projected overall socioeconomic status of the school to which that student is assigned for next year. 

2) Socioeconomic status of the area where the applying student resides.

To find your level of priority, click here
Programing
Magent schools provide similar programming, curricula, electives and athletics as traditional base schools with additional innovative and/or expanded educational opportunities in a specific theme. Click here for a list of themes.
 
Here is a list of what you will typically see!
 
Elementary Schools 
-Every child recieves a chromebook
-Smart TVs in every room
-Gymnasium
-Library
-Cafeteria
-Auditorium
-Playgrounds
-Music Room
-Art Room
-STEM lab
-Gifted
-Special needs
-and more
 
Middle Schools have all this and even more! 
 
High Schools add on hundreds of electives, clubs, AP/college courses and more to choose from!
 
Sports 
Every middle and high school has numerous sports teams ie. football, basketball, baseball, softball, swimming, diving, wrestling, lacrosse and so many more!
 
WCPSS sports teams play division 4A which is made up of the largest schools in the state.  Your athletes will be competing against the top schools in the state and possibly the nation.

Resources

Accomodations

-AIG (Academically or Intellectually Gifted)

-IEP

-504

and more

 

Free and Reduced meals are always given to students based on income level.

 

Transportation
Busing is provided from express stops (unless the magnet school is your base school).  You will need to drive your studen to the express stop and the school bus will take them from there.

Organization & Funding
 
Wake County Public Schools are operated/managed by Wake County Public School System (WCPSS).  
 
They fall under the governance of a locally residing and locally elected school board.
 
WCPSS is divided up into districts and board members are publicly elected by residents of the districts to represent them.
 
The schools must adhere to the NC State Board of Education policies.
 
The schools receive funding from the state and Wake County tax revenue and are funded based on a per-pupil allotment. 
 
Magnet schools recieve additional funding to provide their focus theme.
 
*If the school has 35% or greater of economically disadvantaged students, it becomes eligible for “Title 1 funding,” which provides them with extra funding for resources to help the students become successful (additional ESL teachers, literacy coaches, etc…)

Charter Schools

Public Alternative School

Enrollment Process

1) Typically, but not always you are still asked to register at your base school.  This is so that Wake County knows where to send funding. 

 

2)You will need to enter each individual charter school lottery that you are intersted in attending.  You can enter the lottery to any charter school in any county.  It will still be free as Wake County has to send thier funding for your child no matter what county the charter school is in. Here is a list of all charter schools in NC.

 

3)If your child gets a spot in the lottery you will be giving up their spot at their base school.  Should you decide to return to the base school you would need to go through the enrollment process again. 

 

4) If your child does not get in, they are placed on a wait list (similar to being "capped" in the public schools) where students will get seats as other students back out and you will move up. If this is the case, you will still have your seat at your base school.

 

 

 
Programing
Because charter schools are each operated by different companies and have a different set of board of directors, they are all incredibly different. Please refer to their websites for specific programming/themes at each school to make sure it’s something you think would be a good fit for your student.
 

Resources

Please check with each school as what they offer can vary greatly

Organization & Funding
Charter schools are operated/managed by private companies based out of anywhere in the world and can be for-profit or non-profit. The actual school it's self has to be non-profit.
 
They fall under the governance of non publicaly elected board of directors.
 
Charter schools must adhere to the NC State Board of Education policies.
 
The schools receive funding from the state and Wake County tax revenue (if they recieve a Wake County student) but at a slightly less rate. Like the public schools they are funded based on a per-pupil allotment.

TERMS

"Capped"

Can be public, charter, or private schools that have certain grades capped/filled due to the fact that they have more students expected to be (based on the feeder schools numbers) or currently are in the grade than they have seats for.  Public schools use the term “capped,” while charter and private schools use the term “waitlist”. If you see the school you are assigned to, is capped/full, the first step don’t panic.  They are generally only capped for certain grades, so ALWAYS call the data manager at that school to find out those key details.  As long as your student is in the feeder school under it, you will have a seat in the capped school/grade.
 
If your grade is capped in your public school, they will give you a seat and transportation to an overflow school and that school will be listed in your base school look up.
 
Remember, every year students graduate out of capped schools.  They count on new kids filling it!  Also know that out of 198 schools, only about 25 are capped.
 
 
 
 

"Feeder" Schools

Are the schools that automatically feed into (fill) the schools above them.  Every middle school typically has a few elementary schools that automatically "feed" into it, and every high school generally has a few middle schools that "feed" into it.  Once you find your base school, you will see what schools your school feeds into.  Once you are at that base school, you have a seat and automatically will “feed’ in that pattern the rest of the way through 12th grade. 
"Year Round" Calendar
These schools operate on 3-4 “tracks,” so the school is never empty except on holidays. One track is always “tracked out” (off school), and when they return, they will fill the classroom of the next track that is tracking out. This method is used to prevent schools from having to cap because, obviously, the school can enroll many more students with this schedule. Some families like these breaks throughout the year instead of over the summer like traditional, but please note, most middle schools and all of the high schools operate on traditional schedules, so if you have multiple kids, you will eventually (and maybe many years, depending on how many kids and their span of ages) have children on different schedules.  Also, all school athletics and extra curriculars operate on traditional schedules, so if you have children participating in those things, your travel may be impacted, even when tracked out. 
 
"Modified Calendar" is typically one track but still operates somewhat year round.

REAL ESTATE QUESTIONS? SCHOOL QUESTIONS?

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Michelle Tomlinson
Email: michelle.tomlinson@lptrealty.com Tel: +1(919) 453-3501

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