2007-08 Adopted Plan - Wake County Public School System

Trends/Events/InitiativesTrends/Events/InitiativesWake County is consistently rated as one of the best places tolive, work, and raise a family in America as indicated in variouspublications and polls. Expansion Management ranked WakeCounty as having a 5-Star Quality of Life in the May/June 2006edition and the 2nd Best Public School Education System in theApril 2005 edition. This area offers a combination of business andindustry, higher education, historic preservation, arts and culture, andrecreation and leisure services that provides a quality lifestyle for manyWake County residents, whether they prefer rural or urban settings.Wake County is the second most populous County in North Carolina.The County consists of 12 municipalities and includes Raleigh, thecounty seat and state capital. A unique mix of urban and rural townsdistinguishes Wake County from other counties and provides somethingfor every lifestyle.This continuous infl ux of newcomers into Wake County has resulted inthe county’s population growing from 517,000 residents in 1995 to aprojected number of 774,326 as of March, 2006. As the county’s populationcontinues to grow, so does the student population enrolled in the WakeCounty Public School System.Wake CountyPopulation Growth Projections1,200,0001,000,000800,000600,000400,000300,000250,000200,000150,000100,00050,0000WCPSSStudent Population Projections1985-861988-891991-921994-951997-982000-012003-042006-072009-102012-132015-162018-192021-222024-25This year, the school system experienced the largest growth inits history with the addition of 7,568 students, putting the studentpopulation at 128,072 students.A report by DeJONG, in collaboration with Wake County Government andWCPSS put student population at 210,941 students by the year 2016.With the student population expected to grow by more than 80,000 overthe next 10 years, Wake County will need approximately 90 new schools.Within the next two years, WCPSS’ enrollment will be roughly 20 timesthe number of students in an average United States school district.Wake County will soon have more than 150,000.The relocation of people from other parts of the country and the worldto Wake County brings new educational expectations and standardsfor district performance. Managing the demand for school facilities andservices created by growth, while meeting high educational expectations,continues to be both a challenge and an opportunity.200,00001980 1990 2000 2010 2020For over ten years, the system has compared its performance on selectedmeasures with other school systems as well as to state and nationalnorms. Charter, private, parochial/church schools, and an increasingnumber of families who choose to home school their children also serve7 FY 2007-08 Plan for Student Success