School Test scores (San Jose, San Francisco, Fremont: house, school districts, universities)

[asqwrd]

Hi I am looking at a house in newark and castro valley. I was wondering how the schools are in newark and also how open enrollement actually works. My dilema is that Castro Valley has good test scores for its schools but it would be a long commute to work for me if I were to move there. While newark has decent test scores for high school and middle schools by the house im looking at but the elementary school it is assigned to has low scores.(The school im refering to is Schilling). I was wondering if test indicate whether the schools are good or not here or could it be due to a lot of students at certain schools being esl students? Im from tennessee and the schools i went to had low scores but me and my siblings went to good colleges and have good jobs so im trying to figure out if test scores are the end all be all?

Thanks

[ippi76]

In Newark I believe you just show proof of residency and you're automatically in the schools. Newark is sort of a mix of people which is why you get average scores. There are some high income tech households and some more working class households. Overall, though, the junior high and high school are pretty good, I'm not too sure about individual elementary though.

Castro Valley like you said has good scores all over, but honestly I'd say Newark to keep the commute sane. What about Fremont? It has good schools and is right next to Newark.

[asqwrd]

Originally Posted by ippi76

In Newark I believe you just show proof of residency and you're automatically in the schools. Newark is sort of a mix of people which is why you get average scores. There are some high income tech households and some more working class households. Overall, though, the junior high and high school are pretty good, I'm not too sure about individual elementary though.

Castro Valley like you said has good scores all over, but honestly I'd say Newark to keep the commute sane. What about Fremont? It has good schools and is right next to Newark.

Thanks for the reply. I have looked into fremont but the better areas are out of my price range

[Cornhusker_CA]

My son and daughter were study at Newark Memorial High School. My son entered EE program at UCSD and my daughter studied Bioengineering at UC Berkeley. My conclusion is evaluating your kids’ performance and sees how they stand in the school.

An average performing student study at Fremont’s Mission San Jose High School may not enter better university than he/she study at Newark Memorial High School. An average performance school lets good students easily stand out and get better chances to enter good universities.

API scores at Newark’s James L. Bunker Elementary are 854 in 2011 and 862 in 2010, scores are better than 11 schools in Fremont’s 28 elementary schools.

[asqwrd]

Originally Posted by Cornhusker_CA

My son and daughter were study at Newark Memorial High School. My son entered EE program at UCSD and my daughter studied Bioengineering at UC Berkeley. My conclusion is evaluating your kids’ performance and sees how they stand in the school.

An average performing student study at Fremont’s Mission San Jose High School may not enter better university than he/she study at Newark Memorial High School. An average performance school lets good students easily stand out and get better chances to enter good universities.

API scores at Newark’s James L. Bunker Elementary are 854 in 2011 and 862 in 2010, scores are better than 11 schools in Fremont’s 28 elementary schools.

Thanks, do you need to do open enrollment to get in that school or as long as a resident u can register at any school?

[oldtrader]

The true test of a school is through Great Schools Org where they give the professional ratings for every school in the nation. You will find that there are some good schools and some not so good in each of those school districts.

Newark GreatSchools.org Search: newark (http://tinyurl.com/7o9j2s9 - broken link)

Castro Valley GreatSchools.org Search: castro valley (http://tinyurl.com/7t4v95d - broken link)

[asqwrd]

Originally Posted by oldtrader

The true test of a school is through Great Schools Org where they give the professional ratings for every school in the nation. You will find that there are some good schools and some not so good in each of those school districts.

Newark GreatSchools.org Search: newark (http://tinyurl.com/7o9j2s9 - broken link)

Castro Valley GreatSchools.org Search: castro valley (http://tinyurl.com/7t4v95d - broken link)

I have used that site but i was wondering if there are other factors to consider other than test scores. I have heard some schools teach to the test which isnt neccessarily good and other schools might have more students who dont speak english which makes learning harder for them and might not be an indication of bad teaching.

[Cornhusker_CA]

Originally Posted by asqwrd

Thanks, do you need to do open enrollment to get in that school or as long as a resident u can register at any school?

School boundaries

Newark Unified School District: School Boundaries

[OrangeSunset]

Originally Posted by asqwrd

I have used that site but i was wondering if there are other factors to consider other than test scores. I have heard some schools teach to the test which isnt neccessarily good and other schools might have more students who dont speak english which makes learning harder for them and might not be an indication of bad teaching.

Agreed.

You probably want to visit the school and talk to the parents. Get a feel for what they like/dislike about the school and decide if it might be a good fit for your child.

Also, join the local parent message board(s). They might have great insight to share about the local school environment.

The Berkeley parents network is a great resource:
Berkeley Parents Network: Schools K-12

Some other ones listed here:
Best Parent Groups in the Bay Area « CBS San Francisco