Choosing Your Schools Wisely (San Jose, Oakland: best city, renting, how much)
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For the sixteenth time, I was asked to provide some insight about the schools in the Bay Area, and it just made me think: "One reason people want to move into the Bay is because of the amazing schooling it offers their children". So, just because I have nothing else to do, and because I would like to help out others that would like to move here, here is a list of the cities I consider have the most well regarded schools. Of course, the definition of "amazing" differs from person to person, and I can only assume you are happy with and can afford a house in the areas I mention:
Santa Clara County:
Cupertino: Without a doubt the best city for schooling in the Bay Area, and more affordable than places like Cupertino.
Los Altos/Los Altos Hills: Top notch education system but no doubt one of the most expensive places you can hope to live in.
Los Gatos: A little below in terms of education than its next door neighbor Saratoga, but still nobody's going to scorn at you for going to a school here.
Milpitas: Has a decent school district, and it gets nods for its affordability.
Mountain View: Most, but not all, of the elementary and middle schools are pretty good, and the high school is pretty good too.
Palo Alto: Has the best school district in Santa Clara County behind Cupertino, but it is quite expensive.
San Jose: This one's tough. In general, I consider the Evergreen, West, and Almaden regions of San Jose to be the best. Avoid the East, South, Downtown, Beryessa, and Blossom Hill regions.
Saratoga: Very desirable area with some extremely desirable schools.
San Mateo County:
Atherton: Some very noteworthy Elementary Schools and a decent high school, but the middle schools are out of town. Plus, do you want to pay at least 4 mil for your house?
Belmont: Best schools in San Mateo County, though Millbrae or Burlingame could overtake that spot soon. And if you're a heavy smoker, avoid...
Burlingame: The schools are generally high achieving, and the area is less crowded than its neighbor to the south (San Mateo).
Foster City: Do you mind going to San Mateo for high school? If not, then this place is the right place for you in terms of schooling.
Hillsborough: Are the schools amazing? Yes. It it affordable? No, not really.
Menlo Park: Unless you choose the east side of town, consider yourself lucky in terms of schools.
Millbrae: All of the schools are great, in particular the highly ranked middle school.
Redwood City: I'm only bringing this up because the elementary schools in the Redwood Shores district are top notch (and you'll likely end up going to middle and high school elsewhere if you choose Redwood Shores). Otherwise, there's nothing else worth mentioning.
San Mateo: A couple high schools, a couple elementary schools, and a bunch of average schools.
San Carlos: I like the schools here, and the town is pretty charming itself too. The downside: no high school.
Woodside: The elementary school is good, but you might end up stuck with Woodside High School, which would really suck.
Alameda County:
Alamdea: For a city so close to the airport the schooling system is surprisingly good. Still, the airport will probably get on your nerves.
Albany: This tiny town north of Oakland has a school district worth mentioning. But the traffic...
Castro Valley: Amazing schools, with amazing cherry orchards (not in the school, but in the city).
Dublin: The schools here model those in Contra Costa County in that they are all high achieving, name brand schools with some very expensive housing.
Fremont: Another tricky one, in general the east is better than the west but also way more expensive.
Livermore: The schools here are "a poor man's Dublin and Pleasanton" to one of my friends, but that statement's unfounded. Schools here are still worth mentioning.
Piedmont: I love the schools here, but one thing I can't get over is that it's completely surrounded by Oakland. The question now is: can you live with that?
Pleasanton: Of the Dublin-Livermore-Pleasanton area school districts, this one gets my 1st place vote.
Sunol: Just one elementary school here, and it's great. But you'll probably end up going to either Pleasanton or Fremont for middle and high schools. And Sunol is so sparsely populated.
Contra Costa County:
Alamo: Sandwiched between Danville and Pleasant Hill, you'll be hitting a home run in terms of education if you choose here. Unfortunately, there are no high schools.
Clayton: I think the middle and elementary schools here are great, but I don't know, can you live in the middle of nowhere?
Danville: The second best school system off of 680 behind San Ramon can be found here.
Lamorinda (Lafayette, Moraga, and Orinda): All of the schools here are top notch and are undoubtedly the best in Contra Costa County. Just for good measure, my ranks from "best" to "worst": Orinda, Moraga, Lafayette.
Benicia/Martinez: The schools here are shockingly good for two cities dominated by industrial complexes and naval shipyards, but personally I can't handle the surroundings.
Pleasant Hill: While not the best city for schools off of 680, nobody's going to look down on you for going to a school here.
San Ramon: The best of the best schools off of 680 are found here. Of course, Danville residents might object...
Walnut Creek: All of the schools here are worth mentioning.
Basically, if you do choose Contra Costa County, stay in the central part and do not go to the west or the east if you want a half-decent schooling.
Marin County:
Corte Madera: One good elementary school, but unfortunately that's it.
Fairfax: It is quite far off from 101, but if you don't mind that, this place might be just right for schooling...
Kentfield/San Anselmo: I love the schools here, as do many of the residents.
Larkspur: Like many school districts in Marin County (which there aren't too many of, btw), the schools are great, and personally I consider the high school to be the second best in Marin County.
Mill Valley: Hands down best schools you will find in Marin County. The high school here is my favorite.
Ross: Are you OK with just one elementary school? It is very highly ranked, but it's just one elementary school...
Tiburon/Belvedere: Second best school district behind Mill Valley in Marin County.
Anyways, this is a lot to take in for anyone. Like I said, I left out the satisfaction and affordability factors in my analysis for the most part. If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to comment (one exception: DO NOT VENT YOUR ANGER OUT ON ME BECAUSE I SUGGESTED ANOTHER SCHOOL DISTRICT WAS BETTER THAN YOUR'S OR I LEFT OUT YOUR SCHOOL DISTRICT. THESE ARE PERSONAL OPINIONS!).
That list is overly simplistic for several reasons...
* keep in mind that cities, elementary school districts and high school districts often don't overlap. In fact, a given street in a given city may well be arbitrarily split between two elementary school districts.
* some schools are likely to bus your kid to a farther school with completely different demographic distribution, whereas others will have room enough, so what you see may not be what you get
* proximity to a good private school can also be a factor both when renting or buying, certainly a discourse on school quality ought to include these
* how much money parents contribute to their local school, or (for some alternate schools, mandatory hours) is probably a better factor to look at than the overall district's reputation
* various areas (note I'm not saying "cities') have excellent elementary schools but very average high schools, whereas other areas are much more consistent
* when you look at achievement broken down by demographics, the picture painted is very different, much less stark
* some schools are no-go for special-needs kids, others are rather well-equipped. Hard to call a school top-notch if it only means to cater to a subset of the kids
I could go on but that'll do..
alot of south san jose kids, mine included, are in the Morgan Hill USD, which is much better than say, the Oak Grove SD our neighbors to the north are in.
alot of south san jose kids, mine included, are in the Morgan Hill USD, which is much better than say, the Oak Grove SD our neighbors to the north are in.
I was always curious how that area became a part of Morgan Hill USD. Do you consider the high schools in Morgan Hill (Live Oak and Sobrato) better than Santa Teresa? Greatschools rank them all at a mediocre '6'.
That list is overly simplistic for several reasons...
* keep in mind that cities, elementary school districts and high school districts often don't overlap. In fact, a given street in a given city may well be arbitrarily split between two elementary school districts.
* some schools are likely to bus your kid to a farther school with completely different demographic distribution, whereas others will have room enough, so what you see may not be what you get
* proximity to a good private school can also be a factor both when renting or buying, certainly a discourse on school quality ought to include these
* how much money parents contribute to their local school, or (for some alternate schools, mandatory hours) is probably a better factor to look at than the overall district's reputation
* various areas (note I'm not saying "cities') have excellent elementary schools but very average high schools, whereas other areas are much more consistent
* when you look at achievement broken down by demographics, the picture painted is very different, much less stark
* some schools are no-go for special-needs kids, others are rather well-equipped. Hard to call a school top-notch if it only means to cater to a subset of the kids
I could go on but that'll do..
A full analysis would likely require me to write an entire book. Let's face it, it's not easy to analyze the quality of school districts in five different counties. I wasn't entirely happy with the final result mainly because I didn't include many of the things you mentioned above, but compared to 600-800 pages of writing this will do. The city-data forum is not intended to burden people with a ton of information (which I'm afraid I still did even with the oversimplification), but rather provide concise explanations and answers to questions people have.
If you'd like, I can analyze by school district instead, but bear in mind that I will still have to leave out many of the points you brought out to make it easy for other viewers to understand.
A full analysis would likely require me to write an entire book. Let's face it, it's not easy to analyze the quality of school districts in five different counties. I wasn't entirely happy with the final result mainly because I didn't include many of the things you mentioned above, but compared to 600-800 pages of writing this will do. The city-data forum is not intended to burden people with a ton of information (which I'm afraid I still did even with the oversimplification), but rather provide concise explanations and answers to questions people have.
If you'd like, I can analyze by school district instead, but bear in mind that I will still have to leave out many of the points you brought out to make it easy for other viewers to understand.
Well you titled your post "Choosing Your Schools Wisely" - so instead of simplistic, subjective and incomplete hence wrong ready-made answers, a better approach is to provide various criteria the city-data audience can run with to evaluate schools on their own criteria priorities.
Instead of "I think A is good and B is bad", try "when deciding, take this and that into account (as A may be good for you but bad for someone else)."
So instead of recommending at city- or district- level, why not simply list all the criteria to pay attention to. Then, if the criteria you're taking into account for your list is simply API or real-estate costs, well these lists already exists... If it's reputation / your opinion, I'm not sure there's anything for viewers to understand or legitimately "think" about.
For the sixteenth time, I was asked to provide some insight about the schools in the Bay Area, and it just made me think: "One reason people want to move into the Bay is because of the amazing schooling it offers their children". So, just because I have nothing else to do, and because I would like to help out others that would like to move here, here is a list of the cities I consider have the most well regarded schools. Of course, the definition of "amazing" differs from person to person, and I can only assume you are happy with and can afford a house in the areas I mention:
Santa Clara County:
Cupertino: Without a doubt the best city for schooling in the Bay Area, and more affordable than places like Cupertino.
Los Altos/Los Altos Hills: Top notch education system but no doubt one of the most expensive places you can hope to live in.
Los Gatos: A little below in terms of education than its next door neighbor Saratoga, but still nobody's going to scorn at you for going to a school here.
Milpitas: Has a decent school district, and it gets nods for its affordability.
Mountain View: Most, but not all, of the elementary and middle schools are pretty good, and the high school is pretty good too.
Palo Alto: Has the best school district in Santa Clara County behind Cupertino, but it is quite expensive.
San Jose: This one's tough. In general, I consider the Evergreen, West, and Almaden regions of San Jose to be the best. Avoid the East, South, Downtown, Beryessa, and Blossom Hill regions.
Saratoga: Very desirable area with some extremely desirable schools.
San Mateo County:
Atherton: Some very noteworthy Elementary Schools and a decent high school, but the middle schools are out of town. Plus, do you want to pay at least 4 mil for your house?
Belmont: Best schools in San Mateo County, though Millbrae or Burlingame could overtake that spot soon. And if you're a heavy smoker, avoid...
Burlingame: The schools are generally high achieving, and the area is less crowded than its neighbor to the south (San Mateo).
Foster City: Do you mind going to San Mateo for high school? If not, then this place is the right place for you in terms of schooling.
Hillsborough: Are the schools amazing? Yes. It it affordable? No, not really.
Menlo Park: Unless you choose the east side of town, consider yourself lucky in terms of schools.
Millbrae: All of the schools are great, in particular the highly ranked middle school.
Redwood City: I'm only bringing this up because the elementary schools in the Redwood Shores district are top notch (and you'll likely end up going to middle and high school elsewhere if you choose Redwood Shores). Otherwise, there's nothing else worth mentioning.
San Mateo: A couple high schools, a couple elementary schools, and a bunch of average schools.
San Carlos: I like the schools here, and the town is pretty charming itself too. The downside: no high school.
Woodside: The elementary school is good, but you might end up stuck with Woodside High School, which would really suck.
There are some major problems and omissions with your list which I need to bring up.
Santa Clara County:
Cupertino: Has high API scores, but severely impacted enrollment in some areas causing the possibility you might have to find an alternative. Parts of the bordering cities (Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, San Jose, Los Altos) have access to Cupertino schools as well.
San Jose: Borrows heavily from neighboring school districts; depending on the part of town, you can have Los Gatos, Saratoga, Campbell, Cupertino, Santa Clara or Morgan Hill schools. Generally, the strongest districts are Moreland, Lynbrook, Almaden, Evergreen Valley, and Cambrian Park.
Mountain View: Some students in this city go to Los Altos High, but I believe Mountain View High is actually considered better.
San Mateo County:
Hillsborough: No public high school.
Menlo Park: Besides Belle Haven on the east side, it also has the unincorporated North Fair Oaks zone, which has Menlo Park's ZIP code but Redwood City schools.
Cupertino: Without a doubt the best city for schooling in the Bay Area, and more affordable than places like Cupertino.
There is a lot of doubt here. Cupertino would be on my MUST AVOID list due to its unbalanced high pressure academic environment. I see it as a child's worst nightmare providing the exact opposite of a well rounded educational experience.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexLKong
Palo Alto: Has the best school district in Santa Clara County behind Cupertino
Palo Alto behind Cupertino?! This preposterous statement might win a funniest poster contest but it makes one question the credibility of the entire post.
I was always curious how that area became a part of Morgan Hill USD. Do you consider the high schools in Morgan Hill (Live Oak and Sobrato) better than Santa Teresa? Greatschools rank them all at a mediocre '6'.
I think Oak Grove HS was "lockdowned" a few times last year so yes I would rather our kids go to MHUSD high schools. Our children are getting a great education in Morgan Hill schools because their Mother and I are making sure of it. There are parent of some kids who dont take that initiative, so looking from the outside in one could think that other schools are better.
Cupertino would be on my MUST AVOID list due to its unbalanced high pressure academic environment. I see it as a child's worst nightmare providing the exact opposite of a well rounded educational experience.
It certainly can be a nightmare for kids who don't want to be ground into zero-personality robots.
Besides getting caught in the adults' White (old residents) vs. Asian (new) battles. High pressure, indeed.
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