Private Schools (San Francisco, Anaheim, Oceanside: low crime, chapel, neighborhood)

[Lanie32]

Does anybody know of any top notch Private High Schools in Orange County that are in or near a neighborhood where people are more down to earth and not snobby or materialistic?

[bhcompy]

Mater Dei is in a neighborhood that is not snobby or materialistic, just pretty old. Mostly you're looking at 40-50 year homeowners or younger hispanic families. People commute from all over the area to go there though, so it doesn't particularly matter where you live.

Servite(boys)/Rosary(girls) will be less snobby overall than most of the OC private schools, just by nature of the location and the people who attend. Good academics, good sports programs, good schools.

[cobmw]

Aside from religious schools (the two mentioned are Catholic I believe) there are very few. Oakridge School in Orange would be worth a close look (let me know with a PM what you think). They go thru the 8th grade. Emmerson/Eldorado in Orange is a good school, but the location may scare you away. They go through the 12th grade. They are also very small. Fairmont in Anaheim Hills is good. I think they go through 8th grade. They also have a high school in Anaheim, but it is extremely demanding - some of the smartest, hardest working Asian kids in OC go there. If your kid is a real scholar and does not mind being in a white minority it's worth a close look.

There are probably other good private secular schools at the elementary level that I missed. But at the high school level you are stuck.

[cobmw]

Lanie32

Let us know what you find.

[GirlsRUs]

Do you prefer any particular religion?

St. Mary's and All Angels in Aliso Viejo is good, if you like Catholic.

[Lanie32]

Sorry been offline for a few days. I will check out the 3 schools that Cobmw mentioned to see what I find. I am Protestant but I'm not really picky about what whether or not the school is Catholic or Protestant, just so it is "Christian". They all have similar values. Actually, Catholic schools are usually quite good academically and some of them are bigger in size because of their churches faithfulness to supporting Private Education. I prefer the Mission Viejo, Lake Forest, RanchoSanta Margarita-- I haven't been to Ventura county, but my husband has and says it's quite nice as well. There is a private school in Camarillo (Camarillo Christian School). We have a DVD of their city and it sounds quite nice. It's a bedroom community with low crime. My husband says Thousand Oaks is nice as well, but might be just a little too expensive for us but he wasn't sure. We are coming to Oceanside this summer to stay in a resort there, and are going to take a look around that area, as we haven't really done that yet. I actually love Northern California and stayed in Sonoma last Spring. I love the vineyards and just the beautiful scenery all around that area. But it is 10 hours from his family. Also, we can't be too close to San Francisco because cloudy days affect my mood so we have to watch for that. Thanks to all of you for being so helpful!

[missionhome]

In the Mission Viejo area there is Saint Margret's Episcopal School which has a high school. There is also Santa Margarita Catholic High School which is pretty big in Rancho Santa Margarita. JSerra Catholic High School is in San Juan Capistrano and Capistrano Valley Christian School is in San Juan also. Santa Margarita is the best academically and is very good, but it is the most elitist of the bunch. Saint Margret's is not very strong academically and small at the high school level. Most parents send there students here just because everyone has a BMW and makes a lot of money. JSerra is a nice school that is not snobby at all, but is new and I don't know much about its academic reputation. The sport facility is incredible though, I mean they could hold the Olympics there. Capo Christian is a good conservative Christian school where religion is going to be very central to the education, even more so than the other three. People do not send there kids here for prestige, but rather a good Christian education. Academics are so so, but the school is well known in the area. It is one of the better Christian, nondenominational schools.

[Coldjensens]

Eldorado in Orange is awesome, but very small. Pricey too. It is a secular school though. The location is neither nice, nor horrible. We had no problems with our kids going there, but I would not want to live right in the immediate area. Loads of nice non-snobby paces nearby in other parts of Orange though.

[cobmw]

If you decide to look more at Ventura County there is a large, new Christian school called Oaks Christian is Westlake Village (grades 6-12). It's not far from Thousand Oaks, but Westlake is nice too. It's hotter here than in Camarillo, but I my opinion the Conejo Valley is a nicer place to live.

[5FLgirls]

Originally Posted by GirlsRUs

Do you prefer any particular religion?

St. Mary's and All Angels in Aliso Viejo is good, if you like Catholic.

We love St. Mary's for a few different reasons--but it only goes to eighth grade. One, it is a non-denominational school. The children have chapel once a week and learn some religion in the classroom but are not inundated with it. Two, it is one of the only IB elementary schools in Orange County. Those were the two main reasons we picked the school. I've found that most parents are there for the right reasons and are pretty down to earth (although there are always parents in the other extreme everywhere...). One of the administrators is trying to decide between J Serra High and Santa Margarita for her son for next year and they're both in "down to earth" locations.