Public High Schools in CA - LA/SF/SD

Parents Forum
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<p>And I didn’t give her one. Nor do I recall anyone appointing you the arbiter of who can and cannot post information in addition to mere good wishes.</p>

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<p>And several of us told her that there were.</p>

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<p>And I and several other posters offered her anecdotal evidence as part of the extremely large and extremely diversified picture which is the state of CA.</p>

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<p>And I encouraged that and more research in a couple of posts.</p>

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<p>Nor was there anything in my input that suggested such a thing. However, the one commodity that trumps time is cash. Only the OP knows how much time she has, or wants. My message, for those who chose to read it, was this: In a State with as volatile a state and local budgets as CA, more research is needed. Yesterday’s/last year’s/or 3 years ago experience, rumor, or even test scores does not tell the whole picture for what is current today; you would be amazed at how rapidly many previously stable schools or districts have changed. The OP is free to throw caution to the wind, as some posters have suggested, and just come with positive assumptions, but that would a risky move, i.m.o. I very much agree, then, with this comment by mamita:</p>

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<p>A footnote: I was not even vaguely thinking about college admissions when I made my comments. I don’t recall the OP even mentioning that at the beginning. (Did she?) I was speaking strictly to the quality of the school experience in and of itself. My comments about the GC’s with wrong informaiton about UC, etc., was offered as an indicator of the chaos many mid-level, “decent” schools are in right now.</p>

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<p>Magnet and charter schools can be wonderful, but they’re probably not a good option for the OP since students usually apply the previous winter or spring.</p>

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First, where does it say in my post that this statement refers to you? My comment was based on several of the posts here.</p>

<p>Yes, the anecdotal part referred to your comment. I got the impression you were dismissing anecdotal evidence. In my opinion that may be one of the better ways to judge something like a school. Of course, assuming you trust the person offering the evidence. If that was not your intent, I apologize.</p>

<p>Second, where in my post do I say anybody should not be allowed to post anything? What I am doing is called posting my own opinions. When I post them, I expect that sometimes people will disagree with them. </p>

<p>There are several people (not you) on here who appear to be saying (in some cases rather nastily) to the OP, “Stay out.” That is obvious - I don’t think I need to point out the posts.
The entire country is in an economic downturn, not only California. The OP likely has her reasons for wanting to move here. She can find a decent school and I do not believe it will take more than a couple months of research. Is there a possibility that school might later suffer some reversals? Life is full of risks.</p>

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<p>Move to Cali of course- your son is at USC and your other son is only 2 years away from CSU or UC, if not going private. Very good chance your boys will be California lifer’s, so you might as well start rebuilding here. </p>

<p>As for the Very Good Public High Schools, be aware the dirty little secret is parents pay huge amounts every year for tutoring- so that also reflects in the API scores. I have always called it public assisted home schooling even in the top suburban schools. </p>

<p>If your son loves USC he is a goner- cali girls and the Trojan network right? :)</p>

<p>It is tough times everywhere.</p>

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<p>Bovertine, I apologize for apparently mischaracterizing your earlier post. I jumped to those conclusions because of the proximity of yours with mine.</p>

<p>I’m sorry if I gave the impression that anecdotal evidence is not valuable; indeed it is (or I wouldn’t have posted mine) ;). In fact, I think any similar OP/inquirer would be looking for anecdotal evidence. My point is merely that the anecdotes are rapidly in flux right now; that’s all: So “trust, but verify.” (from a not-fave President.)</p>

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<p>^^^
Okay, I certainly can’t disagree with that.</p>

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<p>I just wanted to put in a “second” for the areas in the West San Fernando/Conejo valleys-Oak Park, Calabasas High etc. in the LA area. Not as good as the best private schools, but they do a reasonably good job and kids have done pretty well with college admissions. The budget crises is hurting the schools, but active parent groups help contribute money. I don’t know how your USC son would feel with you moving to the LA area though…(my kids might run screaming)</p>

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<p>Also, keep in mind, grading at international schools can be warm and fuzzy. 10% for class participation etc. There is room for getting a few extra points here and there. Grading at the public schools is very black and white because there are just too many students for teachers to really remember everyone. Homework, quiz and test grades are computerized and the grade that comes out of the computer is more or less the grade you get. So a B at international school will not necessarily be a B in public school, especially at the high achieving schools like Gunn, Lynbrook, Monta Vista. EVERYTHING gets a grade so you can’t afford to be sloppy with homework, etc. Also each teacher is different; the cutoff for an A- is 88 for math, but 90 for us history.</p>

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<p>pixeljig, if you decide to move to the Silicon Valley area, I can give you my opinions about high schools here. I’d need to know more of what you are looking for–house price range, and how highly rated you want the high school to be. This is an expensive area but there are good schools here–some extremely highly rated, some considered “good” but not “the best”, and so on.</p>

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<p>The high schools in La Canada, South Pasadena, and La Crescenta certainly offer good AP/honors programs. Unfortunately, La Crescenta High has a druggie reputation these days :(.</p>

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<p>Thanks again for all the responses, son read this thread last night and went to bed saying ‘mom I don’t want to move’! Lol!!</p>

<p>I am glad that the posts between Bovertine and Ephiphany got cleared up…both of you had very logical things to say - I certainly did not sense any negative undercurrents in either of your posts.</p>

<p>I am looking at SF mainly because I do not want to be ‘very near’ to older son plus the fact that his heart lies in the silicon valley and he has clients there whom he does part time work for from home. They want him to work full time but no go from me. He is also and iPhone and now iPAd app developer. So I would see him over the summers for longer stretches if I lived in SF and he came to do internships there. Very likely.</p>

<p>Weather wise I think LA would win? But I do like SF -easier to navigate. Esp the local road all the way from the airport to sunnyvale/san jose. Plus the train to the city is easy.</p>

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<p>Geez. I never paid a dime for outside tutoring for my kids, and – though I would assume that some parents did seek out tutors as needed, in the cumulative 8 years that my kids attended separate public high schools, I never met any parent who mentioned hiring a tutor. So if it’s a “secret” then it is a very well kept one.</p>

<p>My son’s public high school let out early on Wednesdays in order to allow kids to participate in community service – and on those early dismissal days, they also held FREE tutoring sessions, at least for math. My son, who was very good in math, volunteered to tutor during those times. (He did not charge money for this, though he did receive credit for community service hours.)</p>

<p>After my son attended his public high school for a few years without being tutored, he took the PSAT and received the highest score in his school, which resulted in him being the only National Merit semifinalist in his class the following year. My untutored daughter did well enough in high school to be recognized as an AP Scholar with Distinction – so they must have taught her something in her classes.</p>

<p>I don’t know the genesis of this “dirty little secret” comment. My speculation is that many parents who opt for expensive private schools are looking for ways to their own decision. It’s easier for them to believe that the academics at public schools are uniformly poor and that parents of public school students need to pay for expensive outside tutoring, than to acknowledge that they may be paying upwards of $20K a year for something the kid down the block gets for free.</p>

<p>Most parents of kids in public school cannot afford to spend huge amounts of money on tutoring – the parents who did feel that the public school is not meeting their kid’s academic needs would also opt for private school if they had the means to do so. Of course some kids will need extra help – one difference between private and public schools is that private schools can ask the kids who are struggling to leave; public schools have to create IEPs and subsidize whatever services those kids need, if their struggles are serious enough to jeopardize their ability to keep up.</p>

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This is also an untrue generalization. And I am vlery, very sure that my kids’ high school students “remembered” them. </p>

<p>Also, class size in pubic schools can be variable. My daughter’s 9th grade English class had 10 students in it – she also worked one-on-one with a teacher to complete 11th grade English as an “independent study” student. (The latter was partly a solution to scheduling conflict and a class that was filled to capacity-- so yes the class was big, but that didn’t translate into being ignored). </p>

<p>I do think my kids’ experiences might have been colored by the fact that they were very capable students, so of course they ended up taking more honors and AP classes, and those classes in turn are filled with more capable students and usually are taught by very qualified and caring teachers. I know of kids who were slackers and cut school regularly – they did not do well of course – and I do think it would be hard for teachers to get to know kids who don’t ever bother to show up to class. I’d note that parents play an important role in making sure that doesn’t happen. I have faith that pixeljig will be holding up her end of things.</p>

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<p>Which I find pathetic. Any couple over the age of 30 who isn’t clearing $150k combined ($75k each-averaged) is getting ripped off. And for California, below $100k net=poverty level, for a family of four.</p>

<p>Anyway, bottom of the class will be bottom of the class no matter where they are (and will only marginally be helped by going to a better school), and top of the class will be top no matter where they are (and will not be helped by going to a better school). The middle will be helped A LOT by going to a top rated school where they spend $11k per pupil (which btw no school in CA does).</p>

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<p>Damn, futurenyustudent – are YOU in for a shock! Hope you aren’t planning on taking on huge private loans to fund that futurenyu education. </p>

<p>My daughter has an elite education, summa cum laude, pbk. Starting salary: $35K </p>

<p>My son graduated 2 years ago from a CSU, roughly 3.5 GPA – he was hired by his current employer about 2 weeks after graduation – he earns something above $40K. </p>

<p>And $100K for a family of 4 is not “poverty” level in any place. Median family income in San Francisco is slightly over $80K.</p>

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<p>pixel- clear you PM’s!! I tried to send you this message-</p>

<p>one thing you should be aware of- you may not be able to get a firm commitment of an actual opening for your S from any HS in the FUHSD until mid Aug. Some of those HS 's may be closed to new HS transfer students, because of the crush of families hoping to get their children into that district. A similar thing happened to PA HS’s schools about 10 years ago- HS students transferring into the PA district weren’t able to go to PA HS’s. So check carefully with the school districts about their enrollment levels/ openings for transferring students before making a move here.</p>

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<p>Piedmont? Estimated median house or condo value in 2008: $1,582,533
If you change your mind about CA (we did 26 years ago) you might take a look at Albuquerque. Good weather, diversity, and you can be in the best public school district for less than 1/2 the price. (Estimated median house/condo value in 2008: $440,234)</p>

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<p>^ Re: FUHSD in above post, see the district’s policy regarding enrollment of new students here [Fremont</a> Union High School District: New Students](<a href=“http://fuhsd.ca.schoolloop.com/cms/page_view?d=x&piid=&vpid=1220712396457]Fremont”>http://fuhsd.ca.schoolloop.com/cms/page_view?d=x&piid=&vpid=1220712396457).</p>

<p>As long as the family can document residency within district boundaries, the student will be welcome within the neighborhood school. One is only a “transfer student” when one is trying to attend a school outside of one’s designated neighborhood/territory.</p>

<p>My children attended Homestead High School and know friends in each of the other schools (from sports teams, science bowl, FBLA, and math competitions). I have a son who’s a senior now. Here are some interesting things about FUHSD:</p>

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<li><p>The voters recently (this past week!) overwhelmingly supported a bond measure that will restore needed funds to the schools, so although times are difficult, no teachers/programs will be cut in any of the schools, as far as I’m aware. There is info about this on the district’s website.</p></li>
<li><p>The district is committed to “open access” enrollment in honors and AP classes, so any student who wants an AP class has a shot, at each of the schools.</p></li>
<li><p>The teachers are generally excellent, and this includes the teaching staff at the “weakest” school (in terms of scores), Fremont High School.</p></li>
<li><p>Within the Homestead and Fremont High School territories live families earning less than $50,000 per year. The neighborhoods are very diverse in this area, and if a family wants to rent, they’ll find a pretty large price range (and quality range, also).</p></li>
<li><p>Although many of the wealthiest families will pay around $40,000 to send their kids to Harker Academy, nearby, I’m happy to say that from 2007 through 2009, the Homestead Science Bowl team defeated Harker at the competition at Stanford Linear Accelerator and made it to the national finals three years in a row. And by the way, Homestead’s FBLA team has been the top team in the state of California for twelve years in a row…great fun and amazing experiences for the students. Oh, and did I tell you the marching band will be in the NY Macy’s parade in a couple of years? That’s just the tip of the iceberg, and Homestead isn’t the highest ranked school in FUHSD.</p></li>
<li><p>Cupertino High School, also in the district, won national attention this year because the seniors won Dell’s “Best High-School Prom competition” worth $100,000. For two years, the school campaigned to donate their prom funds to a school in Africa. Other schools in the district supported Cupertino’s efforts, pulling out of the competition in the final leg and donating their votes to their sister school.</p></li>
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<p>I could go on and on. The upshot is this – I’ve never been convinced that any of the private schools in the Bay Area are better. These public schools are simply highly diverse, socio-economically and ethnically. But they’re great schools and deserve a look, imo.</p>

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<p>You may want to look at Mountain View High School, not a top 100 Business Week school, but a 10 API index school. It seems to be a well rounded school combining athletics and academics, without killing yourself, literally. Last year, there were three suicides at Gunn.</p>

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<p>Agree that MV High is another great choice; it seems to fit the parameters the OP is looking for. MVHS was one of the first public high schools in the SF Bay Area to implement “open access” to all honors and AP courses.</p>