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jayron32

There's a good bottle shop downstairs.


cryptoquant112

Which is moving


not_what_it_seems

State of beer’s moving where?


chickenmcdiddle

By the OG trophy pizza


Graeme-From-5-To-7

Source?


chickenmcdiddle

[https://www.reddit.com/r/trianglencbeer/comments/19dn4r7/state\_of\_beer\_raleigh\_to\_relocate\_to\_morgan\_st/](https://www.reddit.com/r/trianglencbeer/comments/19dn4r7/state_of_beer_raleigh_to_relocate_to_morgan_st/)


Graeme-From-5-To-7

Dang! Thank you


mhuxtable1

Why would you apply to go to a school if you don’t know anything about it?


Material_Middle_1568

We applied to every option within driving distance because waitlists are 100-400 students long and it’s a crazy long shot to get in to any decent charter schools in Raleigh. If we would have had to go to our base school, we would have made it work, but our base school had/has many problems and we can’t afford private school. I know people have strong opinions about abolishing charter schools and I respect that but disagree. We won the lottery for Exploris when my son was in kindergarten and we knew very little about it. The chances are so slim that you will get into a charter school, it’s not a very good time investment to thoroughly vet every one if you’re just trying to see if you have an option.


BC122177

We just went through this with my daughter’s kindergarten selection. It’s ridiculous. Our base school was like an 1 drive away. But we got into the magnet program so it’s about a 15min drive now. I had no idea how ridiculously over complicated the “selection” crap had become. It’s pretty much insane. Apparently, the following schools later will still be in the same program unless we move. So, that’s good I guess. To be sort of on topic. I went to East millbrook back in the 90s and I thought it was a great school. Now the traitors are actual buildings being the only difference. lol. But I liked the school. So your 2nd isn’t a bad school at least.


Puzzleheaded-Ruin302

We finally got into the magnet program after years. We didn't want to go to the base middle or high school. We applied to multiple charters we only knew a bit about. I feel you. We do what we need to do give our kids the best we can.


moldylocks

Magnet options are a thing, too. You were not without other public school options.


Material_Middle_1568

We certainly were. Magnets were included in me saying every option. We weren’t offered a seat at magnets either. My option would have been to put my kids into a terribly troubled school and been very involved and sought to be great community members and hoped our kids weren’t too scarred. We opted for the easier option. You’re welcome to judge us for it, but it’s rather universal for people to try to make decisions that are best for them and their communities. The public school systems need a complete overhaul. More money doesn’t fix everything. Charters are also public schools but they don’t get as much funding as traditional schools. And yet they were the better option for our family. It’s high arrogance to think you can read a post of one parent answering a question for another parent and think you have enough information to make informed judgments.


Material_Middle_1568

TLDR: We are very pleased. My son got into Exploris Elementary in Kindergarten and this is our first year at the middle school. We have been very pleased overall. You can read there core values on their website and they don’t do anything without emphasizing them. They are being taught how to take personal responsibility for both their academics and the role they play and will play in the world. They engage with real world problems. They are hugely diverse and kind and inclusive. The space issue is real, but we think it’s the coolest thing that they get to use the whole city as a classroom. We call Fridays “Friday Fun Day”. They have service learning projects and explorations. Right now, my son is running a dungeons and dragons campaign for his exploration. They have done rock climbing, swim lessons, volunteering at animal shelters, visiting shut ins, cirque de vol, ultimate frisbee, coding, knitting, pottery, the list goes on and on. They have sister school in Japan and Germany that they visit every year (the students apply, I think they take 10 students.) My son loves video games, soccer, dungeons and dragons, all that to say, academics are not his passion, but he also loves learning and his teachers. They don’t focus on EOGs and testing but he still gets 4s and 5s on EOGs so I think he’s learning what he’s supposed to. He has no homework. He has an 11th grade reading level, writes essays, and is strong in math and science. Feel free to dm with any questions.


cupcakestr

I went to the middle school (many many years ago) but I'm glad to hear that the experience is still the same. It's cool that they added a German sister school! My daughter has been enrolled in kindergarten for next year. Anything you would add for a mom who is nervous about sending a first child to school? Lol


Material_Middle_1568

Is she enrolled in Exploris for kindergarten or just kindergarten in general? Just to say that Ms. Jen (at Exploris) is one of the most phenomenal people you’ll ever want to meet. Neither of my kids got to have her, but she has a child in each of my kids’ grade levels so we rub shoulders. She will be in such great hands if that’s the case. If you mean in general, I tried to be at the school volunteering as much as they would let me. I was grateful to be able to just work part time and was there about twice a week when they were in lower elementary. I would use the spring and summer to work on general life skills vs academics. A lot of parents tend to feel pressure to make sure their kids can read and do basic math before kindergarten, but what they need to know is how to sit down and open their lunch and finish it in 20 minutes, get their clothes undone and done up to use the bathroom, wash their hands, tie their shoes, communicate their feelings, be respectful of other children, follow instructions, etc. You don’t need to stress out or stress them out, but it would be great to practice some of these things.


cupcakestr

We are going into exploris for kindergarten! I wasn't stressed about my daughter learning to read, but she wanted to and now she's reading. Lol! Getting her to eat within 20 minutes will be tricky 😂 she's my rule follower so I'm not worried about the rest. Mostly just me. Lol


Material_Middle_1568

You are in for an amazing experience! Tons of support and patience and fun. If you can make your schedule work out at all to volunteer on Fridays, they need a lot of volunteers for all the activities and it’s a great way to get to know the staff and other parents and students. And welcome! We will be at our final year at the elementary next year with my daughter in 5th grade. They will send out a family directory at the beginning of the year to connect with other parents and there is a parent Facebook page.


shitsalesman

I have no problem with the school, but I live right by it and whenever I’m walking downtown during the day I always see them playing in vacant lots, public grass areas, or the park at Nash square. Often right around homeless folks or… people who appear to not be in their right mind lol. Nothing against them using their surroundings, just kind of feel bad for the kids not having a dedicated space. Though I guess the exposure to the real world will probably pay off when they’re older, hopefully. Edit: agree with the comment about the bottle shop!


Endolithic

I am friends with a teacher there. You're right that they don't have a dedicated space but generally the kids love getting out into the city a bit. No incidents with any unhoused folks as far as I'm aware.


shitsalesman

That’s great to hear! Also want to clarify I was by no means trying to throw shade at them or, especially, the unhoused lol I also don’t have a kid so I’m just going off observations. That said, I think it’s hilarious that drop off/pick up happens in the Ugly Monkey lmao


Itkov

I went there years ago when it was still at Moore Square. Back then we used to have our gym and recess times in the park with a lot of the same kinds of people around. Assuming they've kept the same diligence the teachers are always supervising and step in before anything happens. Not to mention that even though there's a lot of folks living rough hardly any of them would think about approaching or bothering middle schoolers. I never thought it was odd or anything and was just happy to have time outside the school building but who knows how that's changed in the fifteen or so years since then.


DefinitionPopular357

Stay away. Corrupt leadership. Middle School Principal is out for self. She’ll throw any child under the table to protect herself even though she is wrong.  When they make a mistake, instead of simply owning it and moving on, they dig a hole so deep. It’s such a shame, the school is smoke and mirrors and there is zero oversight. 


cupcakestr

Oh man, who was the principal at the time?


donotknow9

Absolutely. The Elementary is the same awful ‘leadership’ if you could call it that. The main HR person has No experience in running a school and it shows. They Do Not follow the ‘Core Values’ and the students and parents suffer.


pugletgirl

My son went to Exploris and then to Raleigh Charter. Great experiences at both. Exploris taught him how to study and process information vs just teaching to a test. Parents were very involved and the school did a lot of cool field trips around downtown.


[deleted]

All I’ll say is it was the worst experience of my kid’s life and it took years of therapy. I’ll never send any child to another charter bc of our experience.


DefinitionPopular357

I can agree with all of this


Master-Jellyfish-943

Look into (or ask) about the plans for when they need to move from that location on Hillsborough; it either ends this school year (or next ) so your child might be in flux, especially if this isn't finalized. It's taken approx 10 years for them to figure out a permanent home. Obviously wanting to be in the heart of downtown in a rapidly growing "hot" city in a red hot commercial real estate market is a hard thing to pull off. If East Millbrook is a magnet for you (and you might want a magnet in high school) I would go with that, as it is hard-->impossible to get into magnet high school without being on that track. (Former elementary family; the uncertainty about the space was a main reason in leaving)


cassodragon

They’ve been “about to move into a new space” for many years. The last one fell through spectacularly. Not sure about their current options. My kids graduated several years ago.


Nug_times98

I don’t know anything personally but the moms in the Raleigh moms fb group go feral over that school whenever it’s brought up. (In a good way)


cupcakestr

This is a little late, but I went to Exploris Middle School, granted it was a long time ago (back when it was in the building next to Marbles kids museum where they now hold the birthday parties), but the thoughts behind the school are the same. My 7th grade teacher (one of my favorite teachers ever) just retired last year or the year before. I feel like I was never actually learning anything because the structure of the classes was kind of mixed together so english, history were mixed together in projects and that made it really interesting for me. Math and science were on their own. It was a really great experience for me. I'm neurodivergent and have always had a hard time with school because classes can be really long, and this was really the perfect fit for me. I just enrolled my daughter in the elementary school for next year. I think really the only downside for me is that both of the schools are in temporary buildings.


donotknow9

Not a good school, anymore. We attended from the beginning year of the Elementary to 10yrs later when we saw the damage it caused our oldest child academically ( not at All prepared for HS ) to our younger children missing out on many opportunities and academics. Exploris could not provide a well rounded school environment because of gross mismanagement by the Board of Directors to the two principals and the main resource ‘manager’. (with No experience in schools.) The favoritism of certain groups of parents and students is damaging when obvious misconduct is reported. This isn’t a charter school vs public problem. The parents who think it is so great are falling for the same hype and not seeing what is lacking. This is a charter school that is past its effective operation time and needs to close.


felizpelotonne

Charter schools rob $ from public. If you can, do private or public. Anything but charters.


GarnerPerson

Amen


Master-Jellyfish-943

Not looking for a big debate, however the other side of this is families at charters are paying taxes to their county school system (either directly or baked into their rent) and not using those resources.


GarnerPerson

Charters are discriminatory to children with special needs.


aloeveralover65

Does put you in a good position for a lucrative lawsuit though.


GarnerPerson

I’m gonna half laugh AT you. Only bc I am an attorney and I also have special needs kids. I assume I don’t need to connect the dots about how dumb your comment is.


PlatformConsistent45

The 2 families that I know who have kids that go there love it. Didn't they move from the location by the bottle shop?


GarnerPerson

Charters take money away from public schools and they aren’t required to comply with special needs. Charters are as good as they are until they are not good. Don’t support charters. Ever.


OvertonsWindow

That isn’t true - they have the same requirements for IEP kids as public schools.


Shaneallenp

East millbrook is a wonderful school with a strong magnet program. Exploris is very odd and atypical in a way that has me skeptical


The_Dan_Abides

My kid goes to the elementary and absolutely loves it. The middle school isn't in a great area, but they are working on trying to buy new land in downtown for a building to merge both the middle school and elementary school. These people shitting on charter schools across the board are ridiculous. Exploris is a title one school with tons of great qualities. The quality of education is fantastic and as a parent I feel connected with the teachers. My one complaint is that they have a lack of funding. There's no fancy playgrounds and they are very dependent on parent volunteers for most activities they plan. It's laughable to say a school like Exploris is a drain on public school money when comparing the facilities of Lacy/Stough and countless others. WTF are you talking about


moldylocks

It's a drain on public schools because it is essentially a private school that has plucked money from the WCPSS budget while not having to provide the same services mandatory at public schools.


The_Dan_Abides

But I pay into the tax system just like everyone else, right? Why is that a drain? Also, according to last year's WCPSS budget less than 2.5% ($52M) of their operating budget goes to charter schools. Meanwhile Title I (which Exploris is a title I school) brings in $32M from federal sources (not paid by taxpayers) which otherwise wouldn't be there. That's a net cost of <1%. https://www.wcpss.net/cms/lib/NC01911451/Centricity/Domain/98/2022-23%2520Adopted%2520Budget.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjj8dup1fSEAxX4ElkFHbhYC6kQFnoECBwQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0XTswON2IC2Ypol7ZWerOL I understand not all Charters are title 1, but to argue all Charters are the same cost on resources is flat out wrong.


donotknow9

Crunch your numbers all you want and prove your point about Charters as Title 1 , etc. The main issue is that Exploris is Not a good school environment like it was. It is using its old reputation to continue. And,….most elementary kids ‘Love’ their school as they don’t know any different & are not being pushed to do much yet.


Key-Climate2765

I recommend exploris to everyone. One of the best schools in the triangle. Montessori values, everyone is on a first name basis, mutual respect, emotional regulation skills, sooo many incredible teachers, and I personally love how much diversity there is. Very few…verrrry few charter/private schools have the diversity exploris has, both in teachers and students. They also do explore days I think like 2 times a semester or year where they all go out into downtown and walk to marbles or some other cool museum/attraction. I wish all the time that I got to go there.


donotknow9

That was Exploris 10yrs ago….


[deleted]

[удалено]


donotknow9

Good you find it accurate for you. Not for a lot of others who have left. Families who were loyal and teachers have all left. Why is that? We had 3 kids there 2014 until 2023 and Exploris administration did not follow the ‘core’ values they preach about to several of us who have left the school.


[deleted]

[удалено]


donotknow9

Well, your generalized reply about “life happens” is pretty defensive and dismissive especially when you don’t have facts so you collect in one decision of why others have left. This is regarding others livelihood & experiences not something flippant. So, given that your are a current parent, you should be aware of all the dissatisfaction among other parents and the results of the NC Teacher working Conditions survey about Exploris as well as the issues presented to the Board of Directors on 5/23.


[deleted]

Short answer: save yourself the trouble and don’t bother with the school.  My sibling is there now in the 8th grade and my family (included her) are relieved to be done with it. The admin is horrible and corrupt to be honest. Current principle is awful. My sibling and other minority students have been discriminated against by other students with no intervention from admin. Academics are mediocre at best. Admittedly they get to do cool things that regular middle schools don’t- but in the end, it’s not worth it. 


donotknow9

Yep


husbandbulges

I have no experience with Exploris personally but we did with the admin there. The principal was previously a teacher of my daughter’s at another local charter. She was wonderful - both my daughter and I really liked her. If I was looking at schools, that would be positive for them.