<p>Another plug for San Dieguito schools in San Diego. While Torrey Pines in probably the most competitive of all the schools in the district, La Costa Canyon and San Dieguito Academy are good but less competitive and housing may be more affordable. Keep in mind that admission to SD Academy and Canyon Crest Academy are by lottery. There used to be intra district transfers but I’m not sure if they still allow it. Go to the district/school websites to get a feel for the schools. They all send kids to the most competitive colleges and UCs.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the distribution of California schools seems to be bi-modal–either really good /very competitive (in expensive housing areas where you’re expected to make large donations to the local school foundation) or really bad (almost everywhere else). There don’t seem to be many schools in the middle, at least in the areas specified. We’re in the Acalanes school district just north of San Ramon, which has excellent ratings but the housing is quite expensive. Our schools are competitive, but not quite to the Fremont extreme (and they don’t have class ranking, except for the ELC calculation (top 12.5%)). Given that her son is coming from a private school, I would think that the school would need to be one with a fairly extensive AP courseload. I think the OP will need to look at the school ratings but will also need to address some of the questions noted above, such as where her husband will be able to get a job.
to add: I don’t know much about the Marin County schools because there seem to be a lot of people there who go to privates. It may be worth checking out, however.
And, check how much money the Parent Clubs/Educational Foundations give each year, as well as how much the parcel taxes/special bonds are. Given the state budget, these funds seem to be the only way good-to-excellent school districts are staying afloat.</p>
<p>Redroses: My kids attend(ed) the CA public high school where I teach alongside some of the best teachers you can find. Just because the media likes to hype the problems of some school districts and the state legislature can’t figure out how to make and adhere to a budget that includes spending a reasonable amount per pupil doesn’t mean that there aren’t plenty of dedicated teachers who do a dynamite job of instructing CA public school students. </p>
<p>My district is small ( around 450 high school students 9-12) rural and title 1 yet over the years our teachers have been among the top AP scoring schools in the nation and our kids are accepted to and thrive @ top schools. </p>
<p>Yes CA is problematic and until we can pass a redistricting measure we are likely to remain that way. Add to that the fact that we have more students speaking home languages other than English than anywhere else and some of us have a student population that is incredibly migrant. </p>
<p>As teachers in CA we are investing our own money in school supplies and taking on more and more of the issues that used to fall under “parenting” rather than educating but many of us are doing a really good job at it.</p>
<p>Historymom, I absolutely salute your efforts and those of the many dedicated teacher in CA. Our journey has taken us to the E. Coast, MW and now to CA. We are horrified at what teachers and students must make due with here compared to the rest of the country. Especially given the price of housing and cost of living. Just telling it as I see it.</p>
<p>hmmm… i’m noticing that the folks being so quick to welcome this person to california are all suggesting to him or her the priciest neighborhoods in the state. so yeah, welcome to california so long as u live in rpv, la jolla, del mar, encinitas, et cetera. </p>
<p>u people are living in a fantasy bubble.</p>
<p>^^ The OP already stated she’s interested in coming to California - not Iowa, Idaho, etc. I think she’s capable of figuring out the cost of housing and whether or not she can afford it - it’s easy enough to do on realtor.com. Why are you so down on her coming to California if she wants?</p>
<p>There are decent public high schools in areas besides some of the top areas you indicated - I mentioned a few of them and even outside of the ones I mentioned one can still find reasonable high schools that offers the AP courses and environment that can afford the student opportunities for gaining admission to top schools if that’s what they choose to do.</p>
<p>Yes, housing in California is more expensive in general than some other parts of the country but people can decide for themselves their own priority in housing/living costs. I’d rather live in a house here that’s double the cost of the equivalent house in Phoenix or Wichita any day (no offense implied to those there).</p>
<p>btw - Encinitas is not in the same league cost-wise as La Jolla, Del Mar, and some of the other areas mentioned.</p>
<p>First of all, thanks to all the wonderful replies, I love to see the bad with the good, I know we do not live in a perfect world!!</p>
<p>Second, I am coming in with loads of cash (just kidding) so I am not going to be a burden on the tax payers!! During the past 30 years, we have paid enough federal taxes and aided the economy not to worry.</p>
<p>Plus the fact that I may go into social work and help out in the school as I do here…so now I hope I have convinced a few of you that its ok for me to move to CA (callimom and redroses?). Older son is going full pay to USC.</p>
<p>Nothing is set yet, my goal in posting the thread here was to get some feedback so I can start researching the schools and contemplate if its worth moving or just moving to a smaller place here itself. H will not move to CA, he will continue with his job search locally in Asia and may have to move within the region as the economy is not too bad. If nothing works he will start his own business.</p>
<p>Meanwhile I have to think of the younger son as he will ready for college in 2 years.</p>
<p>Oh and BTW, when we went to visit Gtech in the spring I went to my friends house who lives in Atlanta and saw her house which was in the 800k to a million dollar range and I would say that I would never have thought that Atlanta would be so expensive!! Plus her house got broken into twice last year.</p>
<p>I felt that my daughter has received a fine education at her public high school in CA. She was fortunate to be in an accelerated humanities academy, as well as taking the traditional honors and AP classes. Then there were the extra-curriculars and service clubs, etc. My husband has taught at this same school for over 30 years. We were also happy with her elementary and middle schools. </p>
<p>**Redroses had written:</p>
<p>CA has some of the worst public schools in the US. If your student is used to a private internationaal school, this will indeed be a difficult adjustment as a junior. The better schools, including the ones mentioned above in the Fremont district, are highly competitive and being top 10% will be tough for the student you describe.</p>
<p>Personally, I’d move anywhere BUT California given your goals. **</p>
<p>@Pixeljig-- My family has lived in California since the 1840s, before it was a state. I’d like to welcome you to California. 
</p>
<p>I’m the one who recommended the Fremont Union High School District here in Silicon Valley. It does have some highly competitive top public high schools, but the district also includes some schools that are very good but not that competitive. Also, you could pick up a pretty lovely townhouse in Sunnyvale or Cupertino these days for around a half-million dollars, and you could get a small house in North San Jose, near powerhouse Lynbrook school, for about the same price. So it is possible to locate near some strong public schools.</p>
<p>If you have roots in Asia but still want your family and child to make friends across ethnic groups, you’ll find a pretty welcoming environment here. My family is caucasian, and I can attest to the fact that both of my kids made good, close personal friends with kids from a range of cultures. I’m now friends with the parents as my kids move away. I can only speak for my own community, but I do know friends in San Diego and San Francisco that could say the same thing about their neighborhoods (although I’m less certain about housing costs in those areas).</p>
<p>Thanks ^^, I am looking at the Freemont HS right now and it sure looks great. Someone else recommended Lynbrook but it may have a WL. </p>
<p>Perhaps I need to email the admin? Our schools here will close May 4th and it will get difficult to get documents out of them after that I suppose.</p>
<p>I really would not want to be hassled with a WL, just go with a decent enough school where there is place and take it from there. I may just rent an apartment for a year before buying even, so I can get a grip on things first.</p>
<p>San Diego looks promising too…</p>
<p>DS2 is taking Alg2/Trig now in 10th grade and will go for Pre-Calc/APUSH/AP Physics B next year. So he is pretty much on the ball but not over the top like some other kids in our school. He will probably take 4-5 AP’s over the four years. That much will be offered in most schools I believe.</p>
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<p>No. It will be offered in some publics and many privates. I’ve worked in CA education for many years, and I’ve had especially a chance to see it Up Close and Personal in the last 4. The public urban, and most suburban, districts are taking a bath right now, and historymom is very correct. It’s not that it’s completely hopeless, but I agree with the poster who described it as bi-modal. Yes, I’d come to CA for the education if I had so much cash that I could afford to live in an exclusive public district or have enough time to plan for admission to a very nice private. I agree that San Diego, Palos Verdes, some areas in Silicon Valley and the Peninsula, and some in Contra Costa County, offer a fine education. It’s just that not only does that require money, but the mid-level, less expensive options are more and more scarce. (Again, bi-modal.) Those of us who work with public school students in any capacity are largely disappointed with the scarcity and inaccuracy of guidance counseling, for example. (At several mid-level, middle-class suburban schools in one district, such as what the OP would call “decent,” this very academic year the GC’s were telling the students inaccurate info about admission to UC – I mean, basic stuff. I had to intervene in several cases, for the sake of the families, who were panicked.)</p>
<p>In this same district, a history teacher was allowed, due to demand, to teach an AP class for the first time. He had never taught an AP class before, and the students were lost, I mean …LOST. They just took their exam. I dread hearing the results this summer. So again, this is a mid-level school, not a “bad” school, but one I consider typical of schools which are not on either end of the spectrum. </p>
<p>This has nothing to do with being welcoming. I’m welcoming. I wish I could brag about CA’s education. I could when I got my first set of credentials, and I could as a student. That was not yesterday.</p>
<p>I would come with cash, and I would come with Plan B’s and Plan C’s, after having done quite a bit of research (direct questioning).</p>
<p>My kids go to Fullerton High School in North Orange County which offers AP and IB and fine arts, and is an average high school. However, also in Fullerton Union High school district (the district have 6) is Troy and Sunny Hills, both reknown high schools (Sunny Hills esp appeals to Koreans and Korean Americans, and Troy is nationally ranked).</p>
<p>In terms of high schools, it depends if you want to be a small fish in a big pond (highly ranked schools) or a bigger fish in a small pond (lesser known schools). Our family opted for the more average Fullerton High school as it offered the fine arts program since my kids did dance, choir and theatre. Because of all the AP and IB classes, though, we knew they would also get the higher academics.</p>
<p>For the OP, I’d suggest Calabasas, Oak Park, Agoura, Westlake, or Newbury Park high schools - all in the West San Fernando Valley/Conejo Valley area. Or Moorpark, Simi Valley or Royal High. These schools are decent but not ultra-competitive like some listed above, and housing is more reasonable.</p>
<p>Wow – you are definitely being given a boatload of false info from embittered parents. </p>
<p>I reiterate – check the API of the schools. Before you move into a district, contact the district office to get an idea of the options available – some districts allow open enrollment to all schools rather than assigning based on geography, and some districts have a variety of magnet programs to choose from. I don’t like reading too much into numbers, but my experience has been that the API is roughly accurate. (I think my son’s high school had an API of 7 or 8, and my daughter’s high school probably was an API of 9 – and I felt that to be a fair assessment of each). </p>
<p>You do NOT have to live in a rich community to find good schools, though rents and home prices are higher in general than other parts of the country. I don’t think you would find great schools in an impoverished community, but I live in a working class community and my son was very happy with his high school, which was in walking distance from our house. I think he got a good education there. He did NOT get the sort of rat-race, highly competitive, dozen or more AP focused education that seems to be the norm at CC – he probably had 4 or 5 AP courses, he had strong relationships with many of his teachers, he learned a lot, all was not perfect, and part of the learning experience was also the ability to fend for himself from time to time and occasionally deal with a little bureaucratic red tape or having to wait in line to get something. I mean --yes his high school g.c. had a caseload of 700+ students, but she knew his name and he never had difficulty getting to see her when he needed something. The whole college application process went smoothly enough.</p>
<p>I know all sorts of middle class people who live in California and live in middle class communities and send their kids to local high schools where they do just fine. Some have a tougher time, but it really depends more on the kid. </p>
<p>Are the schools short of money? Yes, many are – but money doesn’t tell the whole story. </p>
<p>You really can get very good specific information from various school district web sites. Look for a document called a SARC for each school --it is full of very specific information describing the programs, demographics, and test scores for that school.</p>
<p>Also, as an individual who is considering social work and would like to volunteer in your kid’s school … I personally think you would be happy and find an excellent fit at many California public high schools.</p>
<p>
hmmm
I have no idea what the OPs financial situation is. I mentioned PV because that is where I live and I generally try to talk about things I know about.</p>
<p>Which I suggest you do as well. As I mentioned, if you are willing to rent for a few years, you do not have to be uber-rich to live in PV. Additionally, since RPV recently annexed a portion of San Pedro (a less expensive area formerly in the LAUSD) it is also possible to find places to purchase within the district at a more reasonable price. And if you look, there are plenty of less expensive places to live with fine schools. Since I am not personally acquainted with those places I didn’t mention them.</p>
<p>Calif public high schools are a mixed bag.</p>
<p>If your child is in the honors/AP track, then he has a good chance at a fine education - surrounded by kids who are academically-minded and teachers who are thrilled to be teaching these particular kids.</p>
<p>However, it’s a more risky situation for those kids who aren’t in the honors/AP track. They’re often frustrated because their classes include kids that don’t care and are taught by teachers who are just trying to do a decent job with the group that they have. </p>
<p>If you want your child to be in the top 10%, then you have to carefully pick your high school. Schools that are heavily Asian will only have kids with super high GPAs in the top 10%. My nieces - who are Asian - do not go to a high school with a high Asian population because their parents wanted to make sure that they would be in the top 10% at their school. They’re bright girls, but not 4.75 GPA quality. Their GPAs are more in the 4.4 range.</p>
<p>I would be careful with public schools in California. The preferred strategy is to take honors and AP classes. My son graduated from one of the stronger public high schools in Socal and I would describe it as “unremarkable.” The bulk of the resources are devoted to mediocrity and sports. The top kids get decent teachers but the classes are quite large. More important are the comments from my DS who will be a 3rd year at a top school. He thinks the school was not focused enough on education and spent too much on sports. He sometimes makes flip comments about the school being overrated. My 2nd son is a junior and is doing really well but is not pushed IMHO. My conclusion would be that it is a mixed environment and really about proper parenting and keeping a close watch on your student.</p>
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<p>+1</p>
<p>That and maybe Newport Beach. Or skip California altogether and just go to NY. Scarsdale High School (zip 10583) beats even most private schools and believe it or not, it’s actually cheaper to live in than Marin or Newport Beach.</p>
<p>And unlike in California, compensation is actually commensurate with the cost of living on the east coast.</p>