I ask that you please consider re-zoning Norwood Place Court for Baileywick ES (or Sycamore Creek) and Pinehollow MS - we are a new neighborhood of only 6 houses with only a handful of school aged kids so this will not throw off the numbers anywhere by more than a couple of kids.

When will a principal and administration be announced for Barton's Pond as well as what the curriculum looks like? My child has learned to read through letterland, while I understand that other students being placed there have learned to read an entirely different way. How will this be addressed and what will enrichment programing look like at Barton's Pond?

My child attends his base school (Jeffreys Grove) however he is part of the Spanish Immersion magnet program. How do the stability rules apply for that scenario? Will he be able to remain in Jeffreys Grove as a magnet student? Also, will his younger sibling be prioritized for the magnet school, who is planned to start Kindergarten in 2022?

If we are able to remain in the school as a magnet student, when we will find out if busing will be included for the magnet school?

Seeing the slides from the working meeting I noticed that there are some capacity utilization numbers associated with this proposal. For Jeffreys Grove, do the capacity utilization percentages account for the base students that are in the magnet program? My understanding is that half of the magnet program is filled with base students.

My child is currently zoned for Apex Friendship but this proposal would have him going to Middle Creek? I don't see this outlined anywhere in the proposal. Middle Creek is farther away from either Apex Friendship or Apex HS. Plus all the elementary and middle school is zoned for Apex ES and MS, so my kids will transfer to a school farther away with no classmates?

We bought our house five years ago knowing it was in the Sycamore Creek school district. My son started kindergarten this year but now we are being zoned for Barton Pond. We will literally have to drive past Sycamore Creek to get to the Barton Pond school. That makes absolutely no sense and I’m not happy about this change. Explain to me how this is even possible? I live off Laurdane Road.

I ask that you please reconsider this for the Lake Lynn side of Stonehenge. It is incredibly difficult and dangerous to turn left onto Ray Rd. to get to Barton Pond. There are very few children in this neighborhood who attend York, and not many who will be of school age in the next few years. I watched the presentation and saw that even without Barton Pond, York is at 84% (77% with the reassignment). Why then are these children being moved? There is clearly room for them. They have been moved around enough. You are asking these children (especially Ks and 1st grade) to attend the Barton Pond location for 4 months, and then to York for 6, and then back to Barton Pond where they know NO ONE? After they’ve only been able to meet a very few kids to keep them safe from COVID? This is too much, and it’s cruel. Also to echo the Jeffreys Grove parent above, York is a STEM school. Is Barton Pond a STEM school?

We are impacted by the re-assignment and I️ am very concerned that Bartons Pond is a traditional calendar with NO YEAR AROUND OPTION! We are current zoned for Sycamore Creek (YR) and my child has been attending that school for two years, then he will be re-zoned to a traditional calendar, and then when he attends middle school at Pine Hallow, he will go back to year-around? That makes NO sense. A neighborhood nearby (less than a mile away) is zoned for Bartons Pond Elementary and then a traditional calendar middle school. Either change Pine Hallow Middle to Traditional (heard they had to drop a track because of enrollment anyway) or keep us zoned for Sycamore Creek so our kids have a consistent schedule. For my son, he will be going from two years of year-around, to four years of traditional (to finish elementary), three years of year around (middle school), and four years of traditional (high school). That can seriously impact a child's learning. Why would someone do this? We are located off Sunnystone Way in Bartons Creek Bluffs.

PS. Our neighborhood was impacted by the prior re-zoning 6 or 7 years ago, why should our neighborhood get kicked around to different schools when changes are made while other neighboring neighborhoods have never had to deal with being re-zoned.

YR schools should never be utilized to populate a new Traditional calendar school. Especially when the reasoning is to “populate the new school”. If there weren’t enough kids to populate a new school, why did the county build the new school?

Can someone on the Board explain how one street that is in our neighborhood is still zoned for Sycamore Creek and not impacted by the zoning at all? Martin Farm Rd, which is part of Bartons Creek Bluffs was kept with zoning for Sycamore Creek but is in the same neighborhood we are?I️ thought neighborhoods should be kept together?

My children currently attend Sycamore Creek and have been thriving with the year round schedule. With this new plan, they would be rezoned as 5th and 3rd graders to Lynn Elementary, and then stay with our currently zoned school for middle school. This means that next year my kids would be reverted back to traditional, which was not effective for them, and we have no application school for a year round option. The year after that, my older child would enter a year round middle school while my younger would still be traditional. This is not a feasible option for our family.

We are currently at SCES because we wanted a year round calendar for our children. Based on the new reassignment we are now being switched to a traditional calendar school. Will we still have a year round option? When will it be posted? Will we even have a chance to apply? If we apply is there even a chance that we will get our year round option?

I’m disappointed to see that Barton’s Pond is going to be traditional calendar. I was also surprised to hear that the reason we wouldn’t be given a year-round option is because you need enough students to fill the new school. Why don’t you make BPES year-round, even if it only ends up having enough students for 1 or 2 tracks? It would make the school much more appealing and therefore draw more people to the school (similar to magnets). If BPES stays traditional, Pine Hollow MS may see a significant drop in enrollment since it is year-round. It’s hard on families to have different calendars.

I am frustrated to see that those being districted to BPES will not be given a Year Round option, especially considering that a decent number of us are being pulled out of a YR school. I understand the need to fill a new school, but it seems unfair to our kids to be forced to pull them out of a YR school and switch them to a Trad school, and then further they will switch back to YR for middle school then back to Trad for high school. Nearly every elementary student in the entire county has an option on which calendar they prefer, except now for those of us districted to this school. We should have a Year Round option, too!

We also moved to Barton's Creek Bluffs to stay in Sycamore Creek. We also have a middle schooler who just started 6th grade at Pine Hollow which is year round so we're supposed to have one child year round and two others traditional... this can't be right.

We have a child in 6th grade at year-round Pine Hollow Middle and a child in 3rd grade at year-round Sycamore Creek Elementary. Our current base school is Lead Mine Elementary. Our proposed base school is Barton Pond Elementary.

1) How does the base school change affect our elementary school student since she is not currently at our base elementary school? Will she be automatically reassigned to Barton Pond?

2) The stability rules do not address having siblings in different calendar schools. Does having a student at a year-round middle school impact our ability to request that a sibling remain at a year-round elementary school?

Hi we are currently enrolled at lead mine elementary. Next year my girls will be rising 2nd and 4th graders. I would love to know more information about having them grandfathered into lead mine. We have been there for years and I am active in the pta and participate any way I can with the school and we want to stay. I’ve read that if we had been transferred to another existing school we could stay and not have any issues as long as I provide transportation but since it’s a new school this is only an option for rising 5th graders and even if that was granted my youngest would have to move after the oldest graduated. Is this true? Do they make any exceptions? My kids are devastated and they have thrived at lead mine.

It would be wonderful if Barton Pond was slated to be on a year round calendar instead of a traditional calendar! There are very few year round options in North Raleigh.

I think keeping Barton Pond as a traditional calendar (as a base school) is good. I would assume that with future drafts coming out there will be year round options which may alleviate a lot of these comments about YR vs Trad. My assumption again (may be wrong) would be that this would reduce the amount of students slated to go to SCES for instance and allow a larger amount of those students (or parents) wishing to apply for YR at SCES possible.

How will a child with an IEP (autism, difficulties with transitions and change) with relationships already built with the support staff at their current school be viewed? Is this a situation that the stability request could be granted?

Thank you for giving us the option to review the proposal and comment. We live in Wood Valley and think the proposal generally makes sense for us but would ask that it be amended to include a year round elementary option. We understand that Bartons Pond is intended to alleviate some of the crowding at SCES, but we would ask you consider a more gradual transition by changing the base of neighborhoods but leaving in place an elementary year round option to ease the transition for families. Under the current proposal, our family will have a child at a year round middle school (she'll be in her last year) and another at a traditional elementary. We would really appreciate a stability plan that would give us a year or two to allow us to transition to a traditional school year schedule and enable our family to be on the same schedule.

Barton Pond should be a year round achool as many parents here prefer that option, or at the very least a bus option should be available for either Pleasant Union or Sycamore Creek, as has always been the case. Also, when will we have more information about Barton Pond? Will it have a chorus, art, any other special programs? We need these answers, but most importantly we need a bus option YEAR ROUND school. This is unacceptable as many of us purchased homes so we had a year round option close by.

As a parent of a Sycamore Creek student and a Pine Hollow student and a resident of Barton's Creek Bluffs, I would like to offer a few concerns regarding the new proposal: 1) The traditional calendar elementary school of Barton's Pond does not align with the base middle school of Pine Hollow. Not sure why anyone would want to switch to year round just for 6th - 8th grades. 2) The subdivisions of Barton's Creek Bluffs and Harrington Grove across the street are closely intertwined as a community should be with fellow Sycamore Creek students attending church, soccer, dance and other activities together. Several of my children's closest friends are within walking distance to Harrington Grove, and we enjoy the continuity of having a small community feel within this larger school district. 3) Many of the parents in the Barton's Creek Bluffs subdivision chose this area due to the year round education offered at Sycamore Creek Elementary. The year round calendar is beneficial to families with both parents working out of the home to allow spacing of the breaks to maximize vacation time with family and spread out the expense of track out/summer camps. I understand the need to fill in Barton's Pond Elementary with students but ask that you consider the impact on families in our community, particularly with the calendar change from year round to traditional for elementary school. Thank you for your time and consideration.

What changes in the enrollment proposal are considered changeable for the final draft? Is it only getting specific streets or neighborhoods changed open for consideration, or would the school calendar be open for discussion as well? If the majority of the families in the districted area wanted it changed? Or is the calendar for the new school set in stone?

Being in Barton’s Creek neighborhood and having a kindergarten next year we were excited that we were funneled into Sycamore Creek for the year round option. It works better for our family with working parents and breaking up childcare during trackouts instead of months at a time. We also have another child that it 2 years younger so having a child in traditional elementary and then a child in year round middle is not feasible for us and would make for lots of headaches with different schedules. I also would like to know what is still changeable for the final draft?

I would also prefer Barton Pond to be a Year round school. We Love having a year round schedule and the kids having breaks throughout the year instead of just one long break for summer. If it won’t be, I will have one child in 4th grade on a Traditional calendar (Barton Pond) and another child in 6th grade on a Year Round calendar (Pine Hollow Middle). We can not do that, I need both children on the same schedule. Will I be able to keep my younger child in Sycamore for his last 2 years to keep both kids in year round?

I realize that the school board needs a starting point for assignments to the new Barton Pond Elementary School. I however disagree with staff recommendation for removing Barton’s Creek Bluff and associated neighborhoods from the Sycamore Creek Elementary School.

The most glaring issue is taking year around students to a traditional school that are then assigned a base year around middle school. I am sure the school board enjoys vacations as do our families. Depending on your track and number of children, the overlap between traditional and year around are limited even over the summer. Since, Pine Hollow is not even close to capacity made obvious by eliminating Track 2. This seems to be where Barton’s Creek Bluff students would continue to be assigned. Track 4 at Sycamore Creek Elementary School can’t accommodate all the families with multiple children to address this issue.

Another key issue that staff neglected was the contributions made by current and previous students and their parents to Barton’s Creek Bluff. The Croc Mile, School Fair, PTA Contributions and Turf Fund enjoyed thousands of dollars in support from the community. The turf fund has been on going for years. The wall tiles made with student’s self-image installed through the years. I am sure the staff proposal does not include compensating current families effected by the new assignment.

In understanding that Sycamore Creek Elementary School is overcrowded, I recommend the staff and school board consider switching new neighborhoods off of Leesville Road to Barton Pond Elementary School and Leesville Middle School. These new neighborhoods were last to be assigned to Sycamore Creek Elementary School creating the current overcrowding. This seems to be a fair and economical way to approach new assignments. The economical advantage is that these neighborhoods are much smaller, with limited number of required bus stops and would require less buses compared the Barton’s Creek Bluff Neighborhood. Another item is that not all streets in Barton’s Creek Bluff’s neighborhood are being reassigned to Barton Pond Elementary School dividing a neighborhood into different schools and different school calendars.

My family is being reassigned from York, which has a whole set of issues/concerns, none of which include the calendar option. We would actually prefer to stay on traditional calendar, however, the traditional/ year-round calendar discussion brings up some interesting thoughts that could possibly be better for those of us from other schools that don’t want to be reassigned. Has anyone looked at the metrics to see if Barton’s Pond can be a year-round school that absorbs half of Sycamore Creek, essentially split Sycamore Creek into two schools (year-round) with less tracks? That would (1) alleviate the overcrowding at Sycamore Creek and let people stay on a year- round track, (2) Allow a lot of us at other schools to remain at our schools and not be reassigned, (3) not create all these scheduling challenges that are going to happen with families split on different calendars, (4) track both schools to Pine Hollow, which doesn’t seem to be full, and (5) allow space for people who want to apply to a year-round school actually get in. I also want to point out that with the proposed draft, the kids going to Barton’s Pond are assigned to (4) different Middle Schools: Pine Hollow, Leesville, Millbrook, and Carroll. It doesn’t seem like any other schools in the area split so many ways when they get to middle school.

York is our base but we really wanted a non-traditional calendar and have been frustrated that we do not have a viable YR or Mod option near York. This part of Wake County has an abundance of Traditional calendar schools but very limited YR with high demand for those seats. Why isn't Barton Pond being opened as a YR school given that there is a high desire for additional YR seats in this part of the county?

Our child is currently a student at Sycamore Creek. I ask that you strongly reconsider moving him and his fellow neighbors from Bartons Enclave. This neighborhood is so incredibly close to Sycamore Creek Elementary. Our family, along with many others in this neighborhood, have contributed countless hours or volunteer work and fundraising. Our neighborhood and families have formed a community around this school and it would be devastating to watch that be torn apart. It doesn’t seem to make sense to target my child and our neighborhood given our proximity to Sycamore Creek and everything that we have put into that school. We also have an older sibling in a year round calendar. The undue burden this redistricting will create is maddening. Again, please reconsider moving our son and our neighborhood from Sycamore Creek to Bartons Pond.

I currently have a student at Sycamore Creek. While I am not thrilled about the Barton Pond reassignment, I would be very receptive if Barton Pond was a YR school. For my family, the main concern is a reassignment from a YR to Traditional (with no YR option).

@Mellinda Sanes, @Corallie Tornow Where/who can I inquire about requesting Barton Pond to be changed to a YR school? Based on several posts on this forum, many families would prefer this.

I appreciate the incredible amount of effort it takes to balance a school district as large as Wake County. No plan will ever be perfect but perhaps made better with tweaks based on the feedback in this forum.

Our son is at SCES currently as a 3rd grader while his sister is at PHMS. Selfishly moving my son to Barton Pond will force my kids into different schedules making for a logistical nightmare. My ask is to keep a year round option for those being reassigned to Barton Pond for even one year to allow families time to sort out how it impacts them and what their next steps should be.

Thank you!

Please reconsider the redistricting of Bartons Enclave Lane in the Bartons Creek Bluffs areas. First, on a personal note, my child has attended Sycamore Creek since last year. We live on Bartons Enclave Lane and bought a home in this area for the schools. After a great deal of uncertainty while being on the waiting list, and fighting to not have my child switch school even more times, we received the opportunity to join the Sycamore Creek community, where my son has been thriving! After finally getting settled in our community (home and school), to pull him from his current school environment (when he has only two more years to go) would truly create a educational disruption/negative impact on his education. On another important note, Pine Hollow Middle school (attended by my daughter) is Year Round. The redistricting in this area creates an incredibly stressful schedule for parents with children that are not at an age to be completely independent. I realize later on, in high school, students are on traditional calendars. Please realize that at an older age, children are more independent. With the current draft, you are making it EXTREMELY stressful on families who have young children in both elementary and middle schools, in this area. To have young children on two totally different school calendars without any other options, is absurd!

I would like to echo what many have already said, and while I appreciate that a new school must be filled and that there will be unhappy families no matter what is decided, it feels like some of the decisions are being made to that end, without regards to what makes sense for the families and students involved.

To this point, families of the Barton's Creek Bluffs neighborhood are being asked to switch current Sycamore Creek (SCES) students from YR to traditional for a few years, then back to YR for middle, then back to traditional. Additionally, many of families these often with older kids already in YR middle school at Pine Hollow (PHMS). There is no YR option being offered, which is due the need to "fill the new school". As others have pointed out, this neighborhood has close ties with the Harrington Grove area, many residents were recently reassigned to SCES in 2015, and have had children attend SCES for many years while investing much time, money, and energy into projects their kids won't be around to enjoy. While many in the Barton's Creek Bluffs subdivision chose this area due to the year round education offered at SCES, I understand that Wake county is growing and this was never a guarantee. However, year round calendar is beneficial to families with both parents working to space out the burden/cost of out of school childcare. Additionally, the YR calendar has a positive impact on learning for many students, but I can't imagine that asking students to switch between calendars every 3 years (such as would be the case for a 3rd grader moving from SCES to BPES on the new assignment) would not hurt this child's learning pattern.

I believe that this proposed assignment will hurt PHMS enrollment, as most families with kids moving to BPES will choose to switch to traditional to align calendars (including our family). There is already decreasing enrollment at PHMS.

I ask that you consider 1. keeping Barton's Creek Bluffs at SCES, or 2. consider a more gradual transition or "stability" plan which specifically allows students, regardless of grade level", to remain at their current school if being reassigned to a different calendar 3. a YR option as well as a traditional option for all address 4. Or, I ask that you consider making Barton Pond a single track YR school as there are very limited YR options for families

I see a lot of suggestions from the PR person above to apply for hardship transfers. Just so everyone's expectations are set correctly, the Board very rarely, if ever, approves hardship transfers. Our neighborhood was told by the board to submit for hardship transfers after our neighborhood was wrongly reassigned a couple years ago, and every single one was denied. It's not a simple process either, so it was a real waste of valuable time for all families. Since then we've had families with very legitimate hardships apply, and all have continued to be denied.

Just want to make sure sure people don't get their hopes up. If you care to read about what our particular neighborhood went through, you can do so at: www.wakereassignment.com

Our son currently attends Leesville Elementary and is in the third grade and our daughter attends Leesville Middle and is in the sixth grade. I highly suggest some sort of rule that grandfathers in kids who do not wish to change schools for their fourth and fifth grade years, especially those who have siblings attending Leesville Middle. We moved here a year ago, and our son is thriving in his current environment and having to change schools will disrupt his academic and social growth. This will also create a huge issue for us regarding transportation to and from school. Currently we are able to drive both children to and from school, which is our preferred method. Having our son change schools will most likely force us into having to put one of our children on the bus, which we would like to avoid. Has there been any consideration into what I am suggesting? Thanks.

We are part of Sanctuary Park, which is attached to the cluster of Breeland, Sanctuary/Sanctuary Park, Bridgewater, and the new Homestead at Leesville Reserve neighborhoods. I’ll call it “Breeland+”. We are all assigned to Barton Pond in Draft 1. Being that my youngest child will be able to stay at Leesville next year for 5th grade, I don’t have much to say on the elementary reassignment other than Leesville Elementary is awesome, and I am sure Barton’s Pond will be also. I haven’t seen any comments from our neighborhoods—maybe because the reassignment was somewhat expected, potentially unavoidable, and not necessarily negative. I feel for those who will experience changes that they are unhappy with.

A switch from a traditional calendar for Barton Pond to year round seems unlikely, but since there is a lot of chatter around this topic, it’s important to speak up on all aspects lest we get thrown a curve ball in Draft 2. I’ll give my vote of affirmation for keeping the current and proposed Breeland+ neighborhoods’ base assignments of Leesville Middle School and Leesville High School after Barton Pond, even if the Barton Pond calendar were to change. Those of us with middle school age and older children generally have little desire to start year round calendars at this point. Our neighborhood kids are already entrenched in the Leesville life, and it makes sense stability-wise to keep it that way. And the optimized bus routes, which traditionally pick up both the Breeland+ and Springdale neighborhoods, indicate that we should match Springdale’s middle and high school assignments for operational efficiency.

So thumbs up from me on Draft 1, for us.

I have the same concern expressed by many other parents regarding the change from a year round to traditional calendar schedule for elementary school while also being assigned to a year round middle school (Pine Hollow). The change in schedule will not be feasible when one child is in middle school and another in elementary school with different schedules. In addition, our current school, Sycamore Creek, is closer to our home. I understand there may be an option to apply for a transfer to a year round school but that is not a guarantee and transportation is not included. This is a major limitation for our family as we rely on bus transportation. Families transferring from Sycamore Creek need a year round option.

Is it possible to survey the families affected by the reassignment plan to see if there is opportunity to grandfather more than rising 5th, and make that vote binding? Like, what if only a handful of students want to remain at York? What if every family from SC would be thrilled with BP IF it was YR? It seems like it would be better to have a school populated by families happy to be there.

I live on Dunbarton Way in the Hawthorne neighborhood. Sycamore Creek is about 2 miles from my house. That's not our elementary school. The new Bartons Pond is also about two miles from our house. That is also not our elementary school. The school that is maybe six miles from our house, and the third closest elementary school is ours, Baileywick. How does that make sense? This doesn't even address how our high school is also moving much further away. Secondly, how has our neighborhood been split down the middle so half go to Bartons Pond and the other half to Baileywick?

Please consider rezoning the 20 houses on Dunbarton Way for Barton’s Pond. Currently, our street is zoned for Baileywick Elementary, however, the rest of the Hawthorne neighborhood is slated for Barton’s Pond. Our little section of Hawthorne is on the other side of Victory Church Road, which seems to be a line/border for zoning. We would like to be aligned with our neighborhood so our children can go to the same school as their neighbors/friends.

I would like to see a modification to the stability rules, especially for schools like Leesville that are not currently overcrowded but affected by this new assignment. Can rising 4th graders be considered in this plan? We live in Breeland Park and have been ALL IN for Leesville since Kindergarten. I know my daughter would like to continue to be with her class at Leesville the next 2 years. For her (and us), this is about community and stability. Given the challenges that our students have faced the last two years with the pandemic, I can’t see why forcing upper elementary students to another school, only to return to Leesville Middle is best for them. I am very pleased we are still zoned Leesville for middle/high but disappointed that we have to leave for her 4th/5th grade year under this current plan especially when Leesville has room. Thank you.

Please ensure that the Stillwater Landing subdivision (Celbridge Place) has neighborhood busing service to Barton Pond ES.

I know some schools in the district do not provide busing service to neighborhoods in close proximity due to being in a "walk zone"; however, walking to Barton Pond is not safe for children in our neighborhood due to the traffic on Baileywick Road and the lack of crosswalks and sidewalks. Thank you!

Corallie Tornow - Can you please clarify a comment made above. You said "the number of affected families from Sycamore Creek to Barton Pond is approximately 20%." Does that mean that 20% of SCES families are moving to BPES? Or that 20% of BPES families will be coming from SCES?

Just wanted to say we are excited about our draft assignment to Barton Pond as we live adjacently and are also in support of the traditional calendar format. Thank you WCPSS for all of the hard work you do in hearing everyone out and making tough decisions. Best regards.

Wake County Board, thank you for giving us the opportunity to provide feedback on the proposal of filling Barton's Pond Elementary. I ask you please read and listen below to the concerns I have as a parent with students in Barton's Creek Bluffs, who currently go to Sycamore Creek.

Sycamore Creek is a wonderful year round school that our son has thrived in. We love the year round option, there is proven data that kids retain more when they only have a 3 week break at a time. Year round schedules are also beneficial to families around vacation planning, planning for camps, etc. Our other son is scheduled to start Sycamore Creek soon and we excited to continue on the year round schedule.

Now with the proposed reassignment to Barton's Pond Elementary, a traditional calendar school, our family will have two students, one in elementary at Barton's Pond, and one at Pine Hollow Middle on a year round calendar. This will make it very difficult to coordinate getting too and from school, school actives, extracurricular actives, family vacations, and more! Like many families, we are asking to stay at Sycamore Creek, as it feeds into Pine Hollow Middle school and both schools are on a year round calendar.

Wake County is one of the largest school systems in NC, other counties look to you to make equitable decisions around the education of our children. Moving elementary aged children from a year round school to a traditional school, without even approving a year round alternative, is not equitable. Ripping children from a school system with teachers, staff and friends they love is not equitable. Changing young children from year round to traditional, again where the benefits of year round school have been proven, is not equitable.

Several questions come to mind with this proposal: 1) Will Barton's Pond offer a year round schedule? 2) Will Barton's Pond offer after school care thru Raleigh Parks and Rec, as Sycamore Creek does now? 3) What will the school hours be at Barton's Pond? Will they align with Pine Hollow Middle? 4) Sycamore Creek is not at capped capacity and we do not have trailers, as indicated by Wake County earlier...removing up to 20% of the students, which could be up to 200, will make Sycamore Creek way under capacity. Well they lose a year round track, will teachers lose jobs?

I ask you please reconsider and leave Barton's Creek Bluffs base school as Sycamore Creek Elementary. If is an amazing year round school that has supported and helped so many children in Barton's Creek Bluffs thrive and succeed.

I look forward to your answers and if you would like to assist my family with the day to day management of two calendar school schedules, I welcome it. It will not be easy, equitable or feasible in any way, shape or form.

Thank you for your time.

In my message I am giving a main concern, but also a POSSIBLE/PRACTICAL SOLUTION that involves using Brier Creek Elementary School. My father always said come to the table with a solution.

I am a working mother of 5 children ages 12yrs to 10 months that attend Pine Hollow and Sycamore Creek and live in Barton's Creek Bluffs.

CONCERN: Being that both Sycamore Creek and Pine Hollow are both year around it allows families to stay as a unit regarding work and school schedules, childcare, camps, etc. Changing to Barton's Pond that is traditional and still having Pine Hollow as the base middle school, which is year around, puts stress, both finically and emotionally, on families and even more on single parents when young children (those that cannot be left alone which would be elementary and middle school) are on different schedules. Parents may be forced to find a new job, quit their current postion due to juggling such schedules, as well pay more for camps or childcare, and even put in the position of leaving a child/ren at home without proper supervision, etc.
POSSIBLE & PRACTICAL SOLUTION: Can those being removed from Sycamore Creek have the option to go to Brier Creek and have bussing? From my experience with my own kids, Brier Creek is the "over flow" school when Sycamore Creek does not have space. My children were assigned to go there. This was fine with me since my middle school and elementary school were still on the same schedule and Brier Creek is not far from our neighborhood and thus parents can still be involved. We were moved to Sycamore Creek later, but for me that was a practical solution as being the over flow school. I would like to ask this to be an option (with bussing provided) to assist parents, especially single parents so their young children can remain on the same schedule for both elementary and middle school. Such ages cannot be home alone and thus removing children from Sycamore Creek to attend Barton's Pond would be a hardship that can be avoided if Brier Creek can be an option. God bless, Phyllis Gaukel

I am currently a parent of a 2nd grader and kindergartener at Sycamore Creek who thrive on a year round calendar. We currently live in Bartons Creek Bluffs like many of the others who are being asked to switch from a year round calendar school to a traditional calendar. We have consciously stayed in this school district to maintain that year round calendar option. My second grader has not had a "normal" school year since she started kindergarten. She was switched to virtual her kindergarten year due to the pandemic and started her first grade year virtually. As soon as she could be back in the classroom learning she thrived! This year they are living with mask rules, forced pods and the fear of constant quarantine. And now they are being redistricted - what is this doing to our children?

Would it ever be considered to grandfather currently enrolled students (no matter their grade) into their current school just to provide that stability?

Thank you for all of your considerations and changes to the proposed plan.

Can someone from Wake County explain why I'm being rezoned to a traditional school, Bartons Pond, without an option for a year-round when my two children are currently in year-round? So I'd have to move an elementary student back to traditional while I have a middle schooler in year-round. This is now the third time I've been rezoned in the 14 years I've lived here!

Of the elementary schools noted on the list as being impacted with the opening of Barton’s Pond, York has the lowest capacity and is about to open their new, larger building in December. In the pocket of students being reassigned along Ray Road it seems that they are being pulled from York based on proximity to be able to fill Barton’s Pond, but are not needed to leave York due to any capacity concerns. Since York is not at capacity or even near capacity could these assignments be looked at in a slightly different way that would minimize the area and number of students that are being reassigned? Could this York reassignment area be based off the existing boundaries of Ray Road. Everything on the west side of Ray Road could remain at York and everything on the east side of Ray Road could be assigned to Barton’s Pond? This could also provide a boundary for Middle School and High School assignments in the future.

If your kids are currently enrolled at Sycamore Creek and impacted by the Barton Pond reassignment, don't forget to provide feedback on the forum below as well:

https://wcpss.granicusideas.com/discussions/draft-1-2022-23-student-enrollment-proposal/topics/proposed-calendar-application-school-changes

I understand that a year round calendar was not chosen because there was not a NEED for the capacity that a year round calendar provides. However, I would like to see a single track year round calendar OR modified calendar considered. You are pulling families from year round and traditional schools for BPES, and then sending many back to year round for middle school. I would propose a single track YR or modified calendar would alleviate some of the calendar issues families will face, and ease the transition between calendars. Asking SCES families to change calendars 3 times during their time in wake county schools is unacceptable, and there are clearly financially feasible solutions that should be considered to benefit everyone. I see on the wcpss site that there are currently 10 elementary schools that operate on a YR track 4 only schedule, as well as 3 elementary schools operating on a modified calendar so there is precedent for this and would then be providing more calendar options for families in the area, which they clearly want. It would also only ask all families to change calendars 1 time either going into middle or high school, instead of asking some families to change calendars multiple times.

When we are talking about proximity, can we consider the neighborhoods that will abut the new BP lines? For instance, it seems that Sycamore Creek families who would want a traditional option would prefer going to BP than Pleasant Grove, which I believe is their current choice. Allowing those students to move eastward may help alleviate the crowding in the western part of the county. It really doesn’t make a lot of sense to me to move these few students from York when it is clear there is no room for residential growth, which would lead to further underenrollment in a brand new school which has a substantial financial investment. There is potential for residential growth north of Strickland Rd and outside 540, and there aren’t as many schools there.

I would also like to propose that schools with lower enrollment such as York and Baileywick be granted expanded stability rules for all grades rather than just rising 5th. Based on the proposed new assignments (and including the lack of support for such on this panel and in other parent groups) it seems that not many would choose to stay at their current schools which would not create a capacity issue.

For everyone in tonight's virtual info session asking for the transfer data. Here it is

After attending the virtual info session last night, it is clear Barton Pond cannot be opened on a modified schedule (not allowed per regulation) and is not likely to be opened as a single track year round school (80% of currently assigned students are coming from traditional calendar schools). This presents a significant challenge for those of us assigned to Barton Pond from Sycamore Creek as we have no feasible year round elementary option (transfer requests are rarely approved [only 6 approved last year] and even if approved provide no bus transportation) despite also being assigned to a year round middle school. Is there another option to increase enrollment from Sycamore Creek on a voluntary basis? Can Barton Pond be considered the traditional calendar choice option for this school? Can the new neighborhoods currently under construction be reassigned from Sycamore Creek to Barton Pond to minimize the disruption for existing students? These neighborhoods are at a closer proximity to Barton Pond than my neighborhood (Chestnut Oaks) which is one of the furthest locations assigned to the new school. It doesn't seem like we have a reasonable chance for a year round option for elementary school given this new assignment which going to be a logistical nightmare for parents and administrators trying to balance the traditional / year round schedules for siblings across elementary and middle schools.

Hello, I attended last night's proposal meeting. I understand the need to populate Barton's Grove. I would propose: Since you have already identified the first 80% to fill the school -- for anyone that is currently at Sycamore Creek - because you have NOT given an alternative to our current Year-round calendar -- you make the transfer OPTIONAL. Let existing students currently enrolled at Sycamore Creek continue to attend for any grade (without a transportation program) if the families ask to. New students can begin with Barton Pond. It may not solve your capacity problem on day 1 but will allow those who moved here JUST FOR Sycamore Creek and its year-round calendar -- to NOT experience a dramatic and unnecessary shift. Not everyone (of your expected 20%) will apply. You can't just remove the year-end calendar option with no alternatives - it is a terrible experience that we voters will remember in voting season.

Is there a precedent in Wake County where traditional calendar elementary students are assigned to a year round middle school with no option for a year round elementary? I would be interested in seeing some metrics on how Wake County has managed this challenge in student schedules from an administrative perspective. How flexible are track assignments in the year round middle school and are families with children in both elementary and middle school given priority for the tracks closest to over lap? What other steps are taken to minimize the impact to families across calendars? The benefits for a year round calendar are most applicable for elementary aged students as this allows a better schedule for spacing childcare / breaks for working parents. I cannot find a precedent where this has been successfully done before in Wake County and suspect that is due to the significant challenge this poses to both families and administrators. I ask the board reconsider the mandatory rezoning of Sycamore Creek students to Barton Pond without an alternative year round option.

Can I please get some clarification on the enrollment number for York Elementary, as of right now it says enrollment is student capacity is 508 for 2021/2022 school year. We are currently waiting for our new building to be finished, at that point we will be moving into a bigger building with more space and more classrooms. The student capacity still says 508 for 2022/2023 and 2024/2025 school year. How is that possible if moving to a larger building? Also the architect, who built York, is saying that the building was built for 636 students, and can go up to 700 in common core areas (if trailers are ever needed). With the student capacity being 636 instead of 508 that drastically takes down the usage percent to below 70% for next year and the 2024/2025 school year.

Thanks Corallie. I have also tried reaching out to Calvin Hooker and Glenn Carrozza from Student Assignments more than once over the last few weeks and have not been able to get any response. Your help is much appreciated.

Thanks Corallie. I appreciate and understand this information. However, it still doesn't make sense of the numbers for York. It will be great to see those specifics.