Davis Drive Elementary

2151 Davis Drive

School District

Wake County
Grade

K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:12
Type

public

School Map for Wake County School District

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on November 25, 2024

WORST for students with Autism. if your child has a disability , stay away from this school. Special education staff is not capable of teaching autistic students. Be careful if your child has difficulty communicating as most teachers and admin lack integrity and falsify information.In our last year in school we noticed our child's data sheets had data for the days when our child was absent. They are not qualified to use AAC device so they don't use it in the school. When we raised concern they started changing setting of the device on everyday basis to keep the screen ON always. Admin does not let students from ECS classroom to participate in any fun event.They dont care about parent's concerns in IEP and force their decisions on parents.We experienced retaliation when raised such concerns so they are also extremely unprofessional. Data falsification was the breaking point when we decided to move to get rid of this school. Unfortunately due to this kind of schools WCPSS is getting notorious when it comes to autism.
Submitted by parent on November 19, 2023

A child's success in education heavily relies on several factors. Feeling safe, being heard and understood, being encouraged, keeping them engaged and challenged are all essential for them to thrive. I feel that these ideals are embraced at Davis Drive. Part of a child's success depends on the communication between the school and home. Davis Drive goes above and beyond when communicating with families to support their kids. They provide extensive information to families to keep them in the know and are always available to answer questions. Learning and growth of an individual child in a social setting, like school, is different than at home/after-school. The teachers at Davis Drive work with my kids' specific academic and social needs to elevate their growth as individuals.
Submitted by parent on August 14, 2023

Stay far away from this school if your child needs any support. The administration and special education staff are awful. They do not care to support autistic and other neurodiverse children. They will offer you little support and blame your child for failing. They believe that when an autistic child has a sensory meltdown that it’s a choice the child is making rather than a function of their disability. They restrain autistic children frequently for their autistic behaviors, don’t report the restraints, and don’t care about the trauma they inflict on these children and how their actions make the child feel unsafe at school. They are ignorant of neurodiversity and unwilling to learn and do better. They habitually deny children with IEPs a free appropriate public education. They will call you to pick up your child rather than suspend them so they can avoid the 10-day suspension trigger for manifestation determination. They will present it to you like a favor. At an IEP meeting, the principal took away an accommodation my child was receiving with her reason being they didn’t have the budget to continue it. At field day, I saw a teacher tell a child who didn’t want to be on the same team as my child, “It’s only for a short time and then you don’t have to be around him anymore” rather than instructing the other child on being inclusive, which gives you insight into how this school’s educators view autistic children. The only accommodations he received were modifying some assignments and a visual schedule, yet according to them they tried everything to support him. They habitually denied my request to create a quiet, calm-down space that he could use when overstimulated, an incredibly basic accommodation for autistic children that I told them had greatly helped my child in the past. This school had no interest in understanding and supporting him, only labeling him as “bad” and treating him as such, even writing in his IEP that he had few strengths. He was a scared, anxious child who needed understanding and support to thrive, and he has a history of doing well in environments that give him proper support and where he feels safe. Davis Drive is not willing to properly support neurodiverse children so they feel safe and regulated. This is a horrible school, and my son is still healing from the trauma of having gone here. It’s been a struggle to get him back to viewing himself positively. The only thing this school was effective at was crushing his self-esteem.
Submitted by parent on June 20, 2023

I have had a very positive experience with the school. The teachers in this school are excellent! They support and encourage and care about the students. They make learning fun. They encourage the children to be curious to ask questions. The parents in this school are very involved. All in all a great school for the children.
Submitted by parent on August 05, 2021

Amazing teachers. My son has attended this school for three years. He loves everything about it. We are so blessed.
Submitted by parent on October 04, 2017

Resource teachers for LD and special needs are amazing as are the very talented, dedicated teachers.
Submitted by parent on September 05, 2017

Amazing - the teachers are talented and the leadership is amazing! No wonder they won National Blue Ribbon for 2016
Submitted by parent on September 01, 2017

Davis Drive Elementary is an amazing school. I have two children in the building and have nothing but good things to say about the teachers, administration and staff at this school. It is a big school, and many times classes are large, but teachers work hard and really care about their students. Parents are welcomed participants and there are plenty of volunteer opportunities. Very active PTA! Wonderful communication from the school. Administration is willing to listen and work with parents on any concerns they may have. We love Davis Drive Elementary!
Submitted by parent on June 04, 2017

Had two years of experience in this school. Teachers of music, art, PE, STEM and ESL are great. Classroom teachers - it depends. School is very overcrowded - some classes kearn at outside mobile homes that look like barns: no windows, no a/c and very small. Carpool procedure is very ineffective.
Submitted by parent on May 24, 2017

Excellent, our daughter has learned a tremendous amount this year. We could not be more pleased
Submitted by parent on March 18, 2017

This is our first year at Davis Drive Elementary. My daughter is in fifth grade and we could not be happier with the school. We moved to Cary at the beginning of last year and she spent one semester at Weatherstone Elementary. Coming from challenging gifted class in New York City with great program I was mortified by low standards at Weatherstone. After transferring to Davis Drive Elementary both my daughter and I were very excited to find school with standards comparable to New York school we loved. Kids are smart and eager to learn and teachers do a great job teaching and challenging students.
Submitted by other on October 19, 2016

I have 2 children at Davis Drive Elementary. One of my children is gifted with special needs. The principal, resource teacher, classroom teachers, and occupational therapist put together an excellent IEP to both challenge and assist my child. My other child has ADHD and again the school has a plan and meetings with the school counselor, when necessary, for my child to succeed both academically and socially. This school is great because of the leadership, teachers, parent volunteers and diversity.
Submitted by parent on February 16, 2016

Davis Drive Elementary is a great school. They have been a National Blue Ribbon School two times and are one of the highest performing elementary schools in Wake County. Yes, the teachers have high expectations, but DDE also offers academic intervention and tutoring to help students catch up if needed. The staff really cares about the students. There is a good balance of fun activities and academic challenges. The children that attend Davis Drive Elementary are well-behaved. Students at DDE are from many different countries, so it is almost like an international school in the middle of Cary, NC. My two sons both attended Davis Drive Elementary and it was a great experience!
Submitted by parent on February 26, 2015

I think this is an academically strong and focused school. But if you have a child with a learning challenge that somewhat hampers their achievement but is not enough to warrant special instruction, they will feel shut out and stupid in comparison to the other kids. I have a child who tests intellectually gifted, but also has a learning disability and she can not find her footing in this school. There is also a very elitist "air" among some of the parents as if to not have a child that is a consistent A/B student is some kind of a defect. If you aren't super successful academically, then there is no room on the train for you is the feeling we come away with.
Submitted by parent on September 05, 2014

Two weeks into school year and teachers are doing a good job but slow to respond (understandable)... Pick and and drop off is atrocious... In line for drop off 20min before the bell and so slow.... School stops the drop off and tells all kids left in the line to get a late pass... Unacceptable... Pick up is as bad... Each car have a 4 digit number that the kid must memorize, when the parent pull up, the number is read over a loud speaker (I could not understand the number with the windows down, neither could half the kids)... 4 kids at a time... When you have hundreds of kids being picked up and it takes over 3 minutes for 4 kids, you would understand my frustration at the complete lack of efficiency in this process. My advice to parents; if you can walk, do it... If you are not the first kid to get picked up or the last to get dropped of, take the bus... To davis drive elementary, wake up and take notice, looks at other schools around you; forget the number and get the kids name listed, use 5th graders to help in the car pool and use 8 to 10 pick up spots since you have the room...
Submitted by parent on May 25, 2014

I find this school to be a really good school. Like any school you have good teachers and you have bad teacher. My child was have issues with reading and worked with us. Now he is reading at above level and proves great motives for continue success. They expect parents to help their child academically. I have seen parents expect all their child s academic needs to be resolved during schools hours. There will be a rule awaking. The administration is every helpful to fine resources if you get a bad teacher. Our second year at the school we had a bad teacher and met with the principle to work on a plan to get what my child needed. You will not like this school if you are not an involved parent with your child education. They have parental expectations.
Submitted by parent on March 23, 2014

I have three children who attend DDE. We love the school. The teachers are nurturing, caring and keep children engaged. While I do agree that the school is academically demanding, we have seen that encourage out children to do their best. They have each excelled in different areas: math, athletics, and the arts. They have all been praised individually and allowed to grow in their strengths. We cannot say enough good things about the administration and their daily involvement in lessons and character building as well.
Submitted by parent on January 07, 2014

We moved to a specific house to be close to DDE. Don't love the house, but the school is worth it. The teachers and administration are involved and invested. I would't be there otherwise. In this day of mult choices for schools, I feel DDE is a gem. I'm lucky to be there. The teachers work really hard to engage the kids, which excites the kids about learning. I wish I had teachers like this when I went to school.
Submitted by parent on October 17, 2013

The "10" high rating on this school is deceiving. It is a very high pressure school, that is way, way over crowded. If you child is not perfectly behaved, and also advanced academically, then your child will eventually feel as if they are not as "normal" as the highest achievers. We spent 5 years in this school. We watched it get so over crowded, that eventually special groups had to get cut: 4th grade chorus and all of the jump rope teams. If you are lucky to get a great teacher, then that's good for you, but with 6 classes per grade level, you only have a 1 in 6, or a 2 in 6, shot at getting a good teacher, each year. Instead of spending hours doing homework, the kids should have been taught those topics during the school day, but how could they, if they spent most of their time waiting in line, walking, etc? During one of the years, I was having to re-teach all of the topics every week. Thank goodness my kids won't be going onto overcrowded DD Middle school, and onto "Green Dope" High school, where I hear the pressure gets even worse...and there are only 2 paths: either excel onto an Ivy League college, or end up on drugs due to the high pressure.
Submitted by parent on August 22, 2013

My kids went to this school for 2 years. If you have an average child or a special needs child, then this school is NOT for you. Too much focus is placed on high achievers and parents of average children are forced to seek tutoring. My son started at a 6 reading level, and ended at a 7, while the rest of the class finished at a 23. Too many issues between administration, teachers, and PTA. No unity.