Private versus Public schools in San Jose (Cupertino, Stratford: real estate market, for rent)

[skiranger]

Hi,
we are moving to Silicon Valley and I'm thinking of putting my 7 year old child in a public school. We have narrowed it to a few elementary schools in the CUpertino District. We also have an option to put her in a private school. I gathered the public schools in the Cupertino District are pretty good and I'm wondering if I should just forgo the option of putting her in the private and instead, enrol her in a public school in the Cupertino District. We will be renting with a budget of $2400.

I found a townhome for rent in West San Jose which is said to be in the Cupertino District. What do you think of this area? I hate surburbia but I don't think I have many options because we need to live in the school district. Housing aside, is it reasonable to budget groceries on a USD200-300 a week basis?

We would be attending a 'classroom tour' in December. What should we look out for? Thanks very much in advance for taking time to input your ideas and opinions!

[sonarrat]

If it has Cupertino schools, it's a good area. That's pretty much a given, because everyone wants to enroll their kids there and will pay huge premiums to do so. But be sure to call the district itself to make sure their information is accurate.

Groceries.. well, take whatever you spend now and multiply by 1.2, because groceries are that much more expensive across the board. Except for garlic, because we're a major producer of that. And wine.

[moovin]

Cupertino schools are "good" in that the kids do well on state test scores. Does that mean you your child will get a better education there? That's not a simple correlation in my opinion. I would prefer my kids go to a "higher performing" school but I'm not clear how much weight that carries in terms of the education they receive.

The real estate market shows there's a strong correlation there and the prices reflect it.

An issue to consider is the heavy Asian community there. There are lots of quietly, stressed out Asian kids in those schools that hate their piano lessons. I draw no conclusions... just something to think about.

[whoIam]

Cupertino is unquestionably suburban, and if you made the choice to live there (even though you think you will "hate" it) for the schools, it would make sense to take advantage of them. I do know people who chose private schools over the best public schools in the area because (1) having religion as part of the instruction and as a common thread in the school community was a priority or (2) keeping their "gifted" child academically challenged was important. If those are issues for you, then of course private school might make more sense.

Regarding the emphasis on test scores and stressed out Asian kids, my experience while there (several years ago) did not give me the same impression. But I've read it a couple of times on this forum, so who knows, maybe there is some truth to it. Even within CUSD there are different styles of schooling, from more traditional to more developmental. You may see this when you go on your tour and see which type you think is a better match for your child.

As a former teacher there, I feel safe in saying that education is well supported by the district, parents, as well as local industry (of Silicon Valley). Cupertino has funding and resources that easily surpass that of private schools. It's well organized and, from my point of view, provides tools, materials and professional development of the best quality towards making teachers better educators. Now I sound like I'm writing a brochure.. haha. I guess I miss working there. Great kids, great parents, rich learning environment-- why not? and I thought I hated the suburbs, too!

[my54ford]

we are moving to Silicon Valley and I'm thinking of putting my 7 year old child in a public school.

EXACTLY why we left SJ in the early 90's!!!! We didn't have the option to send to privet school and SJ unified was terrible (then but I can't see it being any better now!) AT the time we had a house in East Side SJ, My MIL still lives in Blossom Hill area

[moving_bay_area]

I have to argue on this as you mentioned that in point 2, if one wants to keep their "gifted" kid challenged academically, then we should consider Private Schools.

Why is there a notion that Private schools are always better and they can keep the kids challenged academically ?

Well here is my scenario, who's moving from East Coast and schools are considered really great in comparison to west coast.

I have a problem regarding Private schools as Yes I was under the above impression too ( point 2 below).

I got my son - took him for testing, he gets admitted into Private schools.. No issue. I got it in Stratford, Challenger..
They didn't seem to have "gifted" programs btw for Grade1 in the campuses I went into.

And there are equal number of voices I've heard that, naah as long as you can pay the $$$ the child can get in..

Now wat is the basis/data-point for me to consider that these Private Schools are performing better than Cupertino Public Schools ?

Thanks.

Originally Posted by whoIam

Cupertino is unquestionably suburban, and if you made the choice to live there (even though you think you will "hate" it) for the schools, it would make sense to take advantage of them. I do know people who chose private schools over the best public schools in the area because (1) having religion as part of the instruction and as a common thread in the school community was a priority or (2) keeping their "gifted" child academically challenged was important. If those are issues for you, then of course private school might make more sense.

Regarding the emphasis on test scores and stressed out Asian kids, my experience while there (several years ago) did not give me the same impression. But I've read it a couple of times on this forum, so who knows, maybe there is some truth to it. Even within CUSD there are different styles of schooling, from more traditional to more developmental. You may see this when you go on your tour and see which type you think is a better match for your child.

As a former teacher there, I feel safe in saying that education is well supported by the district, parents, as well as local industry (of Silicon Valley). Cupertino has funding and resources that easily surpass that of private schools. It's well organized and, from my point of view, provides tools, materials and professional development of the best quality towards making teachers better educators. Now I sound like I'm writing a brochure.. haha. I guess I miss working there. Great kids, great parents, rich learning environment-- why not? and I thought I hated the suburbs, too!

[moving_bay_area]

Hello,

I would like to hear from you where you ended up finally.
Did you opt to choose to go with CUSD schools ? or Did you opt to go for Private schools ?

Please let me know.

THanks.

Originally Posted by skiranger

Hi,
we are moving to Silicon Valley and I'm thinking of putting my 7 year old child in a public school. We have narrowed it to a few elementary schools in the CUpertino District. We also have an option to put her in a private school. I gathered the public schools in the Cupertino District are pretty good and I'm wondering if I should just forgo the option of putting her in the private and instead, enrol her in a public school in the Cupertino District. We will be renting with a budget of $2400.

I found a townhome for rent in West San Jose which is said to be in the Cupertino District. What do you think of this area? I hate surburbia but I don't think I have many options because we need to live in the school district. Housing aside, is it reasonable to budget groceries on a USD200-300 a week basis?

We would be attending a 'classroom tour' in December. What should we look out for? Thanks very much in advance for taking time to input your ideas and opinions!

[mstnghu2]

Originally Posted by moving_bay_area

Hello,

I would like to hear from you where you ended up finally.
Did you opt to choose to go with CUSD schools ? or Did you opt to go for Private schools ?

Please let me know.

THanks.

This thread is almost four years old...not sure you're going to get a response.