I was excited to learn that the Wake County, NC, school board unanimously decided February 6th to lift enrollment caps at three elementary schools in the popular areas of West Cary and Apex. The schools affected are Apex Elementary, Highcroft Elementary, and Mills Park Elementary. Removing these caps is great news, especially since the enrollment limitations at many elementary schools have been challenging for my clients moving to the area from different parts of the country.

Additionally, there have been changes to the designated overflow schools for two other schools. The overflow school for Parkside Elementary has been switched from Adams Elementary to Carpenter Elementary. Similarly, the overflow for Panther Creek High has been changed from Green Level High to Green Hope High.

• Capped Elementary Schools: Abbotts Creek, Alston Ridge, Beaverdam, Cedar Fork, Holly Grove, Holly Ridge,  Hortons Creek, Northwoods, Oakview, Olive Chapel, Parkside, River Bend, Rogers Lane, Scotts Ridge, Sycamore Creek, White Oak, Weatherstone
• Capped Middle Schools: Apex Friendship, Mills Park
• Capped High Schools: Apex Friendship, Heritage, Panther Creek

Knowing your base school isn’t enough in Raleigh, Cary and Wake County

by Marianne Howell Wright

Don’t buy a house in Wake County, NC for a school you like based on any information you get anywhere. Always check with the assigned base school and be prepared for changes. The good news is the schools are generally good and located close together. Use this info to help understand capping and redistricting knowing the school attendance areas can change.

When a base school is at or over enrollment capacity the school is capped. New people moving into the district are sent to an overflow school. Sometimes a capped school may have some openings so you don’t know for sure until you go to register at your base school.  The overflow school may not even be the same calendar option (year around or traditional) as the base school. The capping situation just keeps getting worse.  The State legislature reduced the number of students  in k-3 from 21 to 17. There isn’t room at many schools for the extra classes so many elementary schools are capped

Capped Schools 

Elementary Capped Schools

• Holly Grove (overflow Holly Springs) -3.5 miles
• Olive Chapel (overflow Salem)-4.5 miles
• Hortons Creek (Alston Ridge) -1.6 miles
• Scotts Ridge (Baucom and another TBD)-3 miles
• Weatherstone (Reedy Creek)-3.7 miles
• Fuquay-Varina (Buckhorn Creek) -6.6 miles
• Sycamore Creek (Pleasant Grove)-7.8 miles
• Oakview (Buckhorn Creek)-4.5 miles
• Vance (Rand Road)-3.6 miles
• Willow Springs (Rand Road)-11 miles
• Rogers Lane (Knightdale)-6.3 miles
• Yates Mill (Swift Creek)-1.4 miles
• Harris Creek (River Bend)-4.2 miles
• Baileywick (Lead Mine)-2 miles
• Combs (Swift Creek)-3.9 miles
• Cedar Fork (Reedy Creek)-6.8 miles
• Northwoods (Cary Elementary) -1.4 miles

Middle Capped Schools

• Apex Friendship (Apex Middle- 5 miles)
• Mills Park (Alston Ridge)

High Schools Capped

• Apex Friendship (Apex High-6 miles)
•  Heritage
• Panther Creek (Green Hope)

Reassignment: A Separate Process

There is a difference between capping and reassignment. While capping addresses immediate enrollment overflows by directing new students to less crowded schools, reassignment occurs when new schools are built, and attendance areas are redrawn. This will affect reassignment in 2025 with Felton Grove High School, Pleasant Plains Elementary and Baucum Elementary opening in Apex. Because the schools are part of Wake County schools Apex openings can affect areas of Cary and Holly Springs.

If you look at the construction schedule of schools opening you can see that there will be lots of changes coming as the new schools open.

Every year, as long as I have lived in the Triangle (a VERY long time),  the news is full of stories of parents protesting the latest assignment plan. Some neighborhoods have been reassigned to 10 different schools over the years. The thing to remember is that the schools in the Cary, Apex and Holly Springs areas are all good.

Wake County bases the reassignment plans on four factors, all weighted the same (they say).

1. Student achievement.  Income and test score diversity included.
2. Stability. Keeping as many kids in their same school.
3. Operational efficiency. Overcrowded schools vs under enrolled schools.
4. Proximity. This is hard when schools are just a few miles apart. If you look at the attendance maps(here is the attendance map) you can see  that you can be across the street from a school and be assigned elsewhere.You can look up the assigned school by address here.

• Overflow schools can change so check with the school before you buy a house. No guarantees with Wake schools.