New High school at polenta and indian camp??

Heard a rumor that the land at indian camp/polenta had been sold and that a new high school was going to be built there. Did I just miss the boat on that news? Has anyone heard anything?

 

The only thing I read (months ago in the newspaper) was that there was definitely going to be another hs in the Cleveland area. That would probably make sense for it to go around Polenta.

 

I heard a different site but who knows?

I heard it would be on Monroe rd. between Cleveland Rd & Polenta Rd.
If you are on Cleveland Rd going east towards Smithfield, after you pass Barber Mill Rd, Monroe Rd. is a dirt road on the right.

 

It is at Polenta & Indian Camp & it is called Cleveland High slated to open 2010

 

There was a blurb in the paper some weeks back that the school board approved purchase of approx. 99 acres @ $24K and acre for a site on Polenta (but did not say exactly where except that is it 4.5 miles from West). The article said the school will be a smaller "community school" serving only 1200 students ... smaller than WJHS.

 

If they put the school out there, It would be nice if they would put a road through it to attach Indian Camp to Barber Mill

 

It would be nice if they continued McLemore Road all the way straight to the 42! I hate always having to either go down to Cornwallis or to Barber Mill just to get to the 42!

 

Although I have ZERO proof, I'm betting the school will be on Monroe Road with the "drive through" via Polenta or 1010/Cleveland Road.

That curve on Polenta near Indian Camp is deadly.

I do not see Indian Camp ever connecting to Barber Mill.

Side Note: Monroe & Indian Camp were both family roads, read: dirt paths to black owned family farms - back in the day.

I do not understand the theory to make it a SMALLER high school? Why not make it as large as WJHS? Does the JoCo School Board think we are going to have LESS students? All HS's needs ballfields and larger parking lots - but we have discussed all this before.

 

I heard that they are going to cut that curve out of polenta road if the school does go there.

 

So I'll have all three of mine at West by the time they get the new school done (12th, 10th and 9th grades, at that point...) Will they get to stay (be 'grandfathered' in) or will they move one or more of them? They won't pull a 'Wake County' and split the family between schools, will they?

 

I know for a fact the high school is going in the fields between Polenta and Barber Mill at Indian Camp, and NOT at Monroe Rd. I have spoken to the previous owner of this land and this was the land sold for the school, nothing near Monroe Rd. I imagine the curve will be cut out, as that has been one of the most dangerous spots in Johnston County for a long time.

I imagine this will not be the first we see of a return to the "Community" high schools. If the board has thrown out that term, then they see this is a long-term movement towards more, but smaller schools. Not sure if more profit is to be made in this model(as in smaller schools will not get as much funding as larger ones) or if schools are easier to handle this way, but it seems this is the way Johnston County schools desires to move in dealing with the increased high school population.

And it is set to open in 2010, as one poster has already stated. As for grandfathering in? Who knows. Knowing Johnston County I'm pretty positive they haven't even thought of that potential problem yet.

 

Why so close to WJHS?...don't we need it a little closer to Wilson's Mills and Smithfield???...I mean ...it's right in West's 'backyard'. Or perhaps over off of Barber Mill Rd. between there and 70 Hwy. that's where Most of the subdividing is happening?

 

I read in the Herald that construction will begin next summer for a new high school in the Corinth-Holder area.

 

There is a train of thought, and call it old fashioned but in these days and times it makes sense again. Ill try and splain.

Why are we building mega 4A super structure high schools in this area? One answer is because we have so many kids and we need a place to put them. Granted. However, does this really do the students or the community any real good?

Work with me for a minute.

Imagine a school building and or buildings spaced out in the county. Each building could be, for sake of argument, half the size of West. I do not know the exact construction cost of West but again, for sake of argument, lets say $100 million. I do know a few years back i heard that the JC School System can build an elementary for $20 million because they use the same blueprints for each school. Ever wonder why Polenta, McGees and Westview look alike? They save a lot of money this way while Wake County spends $50 to $60 million per elementary school. Granted alot of that is land cost but they get each new school customized by an architect. Thats not cheap. Anyway...back to my point....

Imagine a school building, half the size of West. Now this school is known as a Community School. In this school, there are classes for grades K-12. Now dont freak yet ok? I know i know...your babies have no business in a building with thug-wannabee 12th graders. Your child starts at this Community School in Kindergarten and the school has a total of oh, 750 to 1000 students. Student goes through K and on to 1st grade, then 2nd grade and so on. At the end of a few years, pretty much every administrator and a good deal of teachers know your childs name, knows you as a parent and can pretty much recognize your voice when you call to complain about your child having to eat a cold lunch because you didnt give them enough lunch money. But i digress...

On through the middle school years and by now every admin and teacher in the school knows your child. You, as a parent also know from year to year who your childs teachers are going to be. (smaller school, smaller staff, smaller student numbers...closer knit community). The principal can greet every student at the door every morning by the students last name.

On through the high school years. Your student has 150-200 kids in his or her class. You create bonds for life since its a close knit school. Everyone knows everyone. In my opinion, when everyone knows everyone, everyone is less likely to get into trouble and cause problems. Where are you going to hide? Smaller class size also allows for more personal attention from the staff to the kids. What is the downside here? When i was in High School we got a homeroom teacher in the 10th grade and they stayed with us and moved up each year. Things were familiar. In a smaller school there is no wonder from year to year who you were going to have as a teacher, you knew what was expected from you and you did it.

Now you have graduated with the best education that JC Schools can provide (of course that is up for debate by many but...) and chances are you are better for it because there is little to no chance that any kid in a small school like this will ever be lost in the system.

But what about sports! My kid plays football!

He still can. He just wont play 4A, he will play 1A. You can not convince anyone that a 4A game is much more exciting than a 1A game. You can not convince anyone that kids from 1A schools do not get athletic scholarships or scholarships for any kind. If you are good at what you do, people find you. That is their job.

But my child is in the band! Ok, he will still be in the band. So he is not part of a 700 member band. He is part of a 50 member band. Does that take away from their musical learning any?

But my child is a special needs student and they need the services that a big school can provide! Bull crap. In a smaller school your child will get even more personal attention and as i said earlier, not get lost in the system as a few parents have posted on here that their child has gotten lost.

Just about every class taught at West, with the exception of maybe some of the electives, would be taught at the smaller school because they still have to abide by the JC curriculum and that wont change.

As a member of the PTA, is it easier to get things done from 3000 parents or 300?

So again...why do we need to build these mega schools?

 

Now THAT hadn't occurred to me. Good idea!

 

I did see them working on Monroe road a few weeks ago.

 

I agree Grinder, They're like "McSchools" nowadays.

And those are exactly the pros I thought of when I was checking out Princeton a while back. It's like free private school.

 

Speaking of Princeton....we had a girl working here who had her 2 sons in Elementary at the time. (names are changed to protect the guilty) but this is a typical conversation when she called the school...

"Miss Margrett, this is Mary. Can you please tell John and Jim that they need to ride the bus home today?"

Try that at West.

 

Grinder,

Thank you for a well thought out post. I attended "community" schools through out all my years. When I sub at WJHS, I find myself wondering if any students or things in general "fall through the cracks", so to speak. Although it seems to be paradoxical, I find that with fewer students, communication is improved.

I support community-oriented schools. I like the atmosphere at PES, as I'm sure that the other smaller elementary school parents can attest. Once a kid has found his or her peer group, I believe that the group can be supportive throughout formative years. I find that the kids that I see over the years are on track. I volunteer at PES. I enjoy being with the 5th graders, as I have gotten to know most of them over the years, either as students of teachers with whom I have worked, or in classes my DD has attended. For the most part, these kids are intact, and not for sale.

Were it possible for us to do so, even considering how much we love the Cleveland area, the schools, and friends here, we'd be a Princeton family in a heartbeat.

 

I'd love for there to be smaller schools! DS goes to Riverwood and there are over 700 kids in the elementary school! There were only about 40 kids in DH's graduating class back in Southwest VA, there were about 225 in mine. I can't imagine how many there will be at our son's. Graduation will take forever! Do they do it in shifts??