Charlotte Schools: Which One for Your Kid?

If you've got all the money in the world, then by all means consider one of Charlotte's magnificent private schools. There's a bevy of phenomenal places that you can send you child to, with tuition's to match. Charlotte Latin, Charlotte Country Day and others may be right up your alley.

For the rest of us mere mortals who are hoping to get our kids a sound public education without breaking the bank, there is hope. First thing to note is that Charlotte is a large city, and therefore has all the issues of a large school system. Thankfully, we are not as plagued as New York City or L.A., but there are natural issues to be concerned with.

I highly recommend reviewing www.greatschools.net, as a source for checking out schools. It's a good start, but you should not consider it your only source. You will find pockets of areas with better schools than others. For example, western Union County is noted for its solid schools. South Charlotte is also doing well. Of course, these schools are also crowded thanks to parents wanting to move into these areas, so don't be surprised to find temp buildings on the school grounds.

Its tough to find schools in Mecklenburg county outside of the wealthier areas (such as South Charlotte) that have zones of good schools. In Meck, its really a cherry-picking of small areas that have decent places to educate your kids. Myers Park is one particular area that also has decent schools, but is again wealthy. Outside of Meck, in more suburban areas, the pickings get a bit easier.

Here's a few ideas if you're house searching while keeping good schools in mind:
West Stanly County
Fort Mill, SC
most of Western Union County
Lake Norman
Clover, SC
Central Cabarrus
parts of Lincoln County

These are by no means the only pockets of good areas, but it's a start. You can research Meck County and these other areas on the net by visiting their sites directly. I've linked a few for you above already.

It is possible to get a solid public school education in Charlotte, or anywhere for that matter. I think folks need to take the info they see on the internet with a grain of salt, and I suggest you visit a school yourself instead of solely relying on test data.

There is in an annual article that Newsweek puts out: 100 Best High Schools in America, and there's quite a few Charlotte schools on the list which is impressive, but I'm leery. Some of the schools named are certainly not ones that I may not want to send my kid to. Some are no brainer good schools to appear on a list such as this, such as Providence High, Myers Park....but Butler? Check out Butler's ratings at www.GreatSchools.net and you'll see a pretty different picture. Or review the ABC scores, and again you'll see something that's not quite right.

What I'm trying to say, is that you should be careful of just using test scores to select a good school. 'Nuf said.