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I checked Hoggard High School's wiki page and it says that 90% take the SAT and about 96% either go to a 4 year school or two year school. Take Wiki info for what its worth. In 2014 Hoggard ranked 11th in NC for high schools.
So with Hoggard being 20 minutes from 2 beaches, Wilmington having a vibrant downtown/as does Mayfaire and plenty of safe neighborhoods to live in, with a price range of $425K...it seems the only issue would be the older home with character. I happen to know there are plenty of homes with character in Hoggard's district...how old would be a question?
To the OP, remember that this is the rural coastal south, which is different than the coastal north. The South is filled with all white private schools for those that can afford them. Many of the rural counties in NC and SC have low performing public schools. NC and SC are also known for their sprawl, so most suburbs aren't very walkable. You have to get into the larger cities to find viable downtowns. Wilmington and New Bern are good examples along the coast.
You may also consider Conway SC, although nearby Myrtle Beach is really touristy.
Thank you HP91 for constructive feedback. Do you know anything about Southport?
Southport is a great small town. Thing about Southport is it is more of a retirement small town than a family small town. It is just far enough from Wilmington to make the trip annoying.
You would have to check on South Brunswick's research...it serves that whole area. Same athletic conference as the Wilmington high school's, but just not up the standard of those academically.
What bothers me most about the Southport area is it is served by two lane roads. It just gives it an isolated feel. And then there is some weird political dynamic between Southport, Oak Island and St James (which is essentially a big gated neighborhood). The whole thing is kind of odd, feels unplanned and there seems to be no one really in charge. Southport is one of those good day trips to me.
Southport is lovely, and it has historic homes and reminds me of New England. However, I did not recommend it because the school ratings are average or only slightly above.
I think that HP91 gave you an excellent recommendation if you place top priority on schools.
The Hoggard school district is a very suburban area of Wilmington. Not a lot of "character" homes, imo. YMMV
One issue with living in Wilmington and visiting the beaches in the summer is that parking is a huge issue. Unless you go very early in the morning, you will spend a lot of time cruising around, looking for a place to park.
Goldenage is on target with Southport...a beautiful and charming small town, but with only slightly above average schools.
Thank you HP91 for constructive feedback. Do you know anything about Southport?
Used to live there and taught at the middle school. I loved visiting the Southport area, but it was not so cool, to me, to live there. Kids without cars don't have a lot of productive stuff to do.
Therefore....
Of course a lot has changed and maybe things are better.
You can do the research, but I don't think South or West Brunswick Highs are going to have anywhere near the college rate you are looking for, but, the best and the brightest get into the colleges they wany.
If education is important to you, and you are able to transfer this importance to your children, it will matter not where they attend.
Hi NewEnglandMaker you sound like I did a year ago when we decided we had had enough of Northern California and wanted our children to experience something a little more close to reality. We gave up the start ups, the big homes, the high stress and inpacted traffic without looking back in Dec 2015.
We have jobs that allow us to work from home and we had the kids do the research on the high schools, they were attending Rocklin HS in Rocklin CA, one of CAs distinguished schools, and have them tell us where, near the coast, they found comparable schools they wanted to attend. They each delivered their powerpoints, one for Topsail, the other for Hoggard and we, as a family, decided on Topsail. We are a six min drive to the beach, we go at lunch time almost daily.
The earlier poster is correct, you won't find what you currently have in New England here on the coast, nor did I, but we weighed out the pros and cons and education is not the only decision point in quality of life.
My kids are at Topsail HS and transferred in w/ higher than 4.0 gpas. What the school did is help us find classes to challenge the kids and the availability of the virtual classes offered is great. Also, what we did not have in CA was the opportunity for Jrs. and Srs in HS to take college entry level classes for double credit, thus getting a lot of freshman year basics out of the way FOR FREE!! This also gives the kids a leg up when transferring into any plethora of outstanding colleges and universities here in NC, they do not come in as new freshmen and get early class choices. My kids say they are far less stressed and have made many friends easily.
For the cost of living, quality of life, it is a MUCH slower pace, post HS education opps and fulfilling a dream of a coastal life, we love it here. Our house payment is $1K less a month for 1,000 more sqft, the people are wonderful and so very friendly. Where can you go to a DMV w/o an appt, get 2 dirvers licenses and be out in 20 min?? It's awesome.
In reality, your kids are not going to work in the bubble you create for them, so the more diversity you can create and expose them to, the more successful they will be in the long run.
I work in talent development for a huge corporation and these kids who have grown up in a mommy and daddy guarded life are struggling big time in the real world because it is not what they have always known and there is no safety net. They have never been around any ethnicities other than Asian or Caucasian descent and have no cultural coping or social skills at all.
If you are someone who enjoys shopping, getting your nails done on a bi weekly basis, being in a high end salon every six weeks, you will have some challenges there. The coast does not offer that in a 5 minute drive and that is why we live here. Your hair will cost you almost 50% again what you are paying if you get it done, that is one thing that is not cheaper. We shop a lot on line, and go into Wilmington about 2x a month but really don't need more. Jacksonville, where the military base is, is also the same distance north, shopping is available there too, both are about 40 min drives.
There is so much to do and see here in NC we are booked every weekend.
Now, if you want to be close to the beach and all that you are looking for, including private education, you will need about a $500-600K starting price for your home. We looked at both possibilities and decided savings were more important than show and shopping, you see, the folks here don't care, they like you for who you are, not what your zip code or address is.
It is really a breath of fresh air. I should add I did not move here blindly. We spent a year researching and visiting. The Wilmington airport is lovely. I have an aunt and uncle in Wilmington, my sister is in Mt. Airy, I was born in Durham while my dad was at Duke Law and vacationed most of my childhood in Lexington NC where my grandparents lived. I knew I was coming "home" there was no question.
I guess my concern for schooling is... With the friends I have had move to Charlotte, Raleigh, Wake Forest & some other areas, they had expressed that it is entirely different than what the Boston area/New England area has to offer. My children are exposed to a very diverse group of peers & starting in kindergarten, they all get ipads & computers in the classrooms. 2nd languages, etc. My husband & I both went to private universities in Boston, but by no means feel that our children need to take this path - especially since we are self-employed with a family business that is based in manufacturing. They certainly learn many things that they will never learn in high school/college, from us. However, better schools do in fact attract better teachers & often get better funding... Whether it's public, private or charter.
These are all things we are considering. I don't expect to find New England in the south, nor do I want to. We could stay here & buy a vacation home. But we are looking for a lifestyle change. Would like to be closer to our family who have all relocated and just weighing out the pros/cons of different states...which one will suit our needs best for the next 15yrs or so...
Just gathering all the info I can from a variety of sources & walks of life to make an informed decision.
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