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Old 06-21-2010, 05:16 PM
 
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I am looking for feedback on the high schools in Santa Cruz County.
Thanks.
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Old 06-24-2010, 09:04 AM
 
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anyone?
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Old 07-14-2010, 10:37 AM
 
Location: Monterey Bay, California -- watching the sea lions, whales and otters! :D
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I live in Santa Cruz now, however, I raised my daughter in Felton, just six miles from Santa Cruz in the mountains and the SLV (San Lorenzo Valley) is one of the higest rated districts in the county (the school is technically in Ben Lomond). If you're set on moving to Santa Cruz, the city, then the schools aren't as good..... It depends on where you want to live in Santa Cruz County. Where are you planning to move?
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Old 07-14-2010, 12:41 PM
 
Location: Los Altos Hills, CA
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Here are the California Public High Schools with an API score of 900 or higher by Metropolitan Area, 2009

Fresno Area
University High, Fresno, 915

Los Angeles Area
Gretchen Whitney High, Cerritos, 988
Oxford Academy, Cypress, 983
California Academy of Mathematics and Science, Long Beach, 975
San Marino High, San Marino, 935
Troy High, Fullerton, 925
Santa Clarita Early College High, Santa Clarita, 912
La Canada High, La Canada, 905
University High, Irvine, 903

Sacramento Area
West Campus High, Sacramento, 914

San Diego Area
School for Integrated Academics, Vista, 923
River Valley Charter High, Lakeside, 904

San Francisco Bay Area
Oakland Charter High, Oakland, 955
Lowell High, San Francisco, 949
Mission San Jose High, Fremont, 949
American Indian Public High, Oakland, 946
Monta Vista High, Cupertino, 935
Saratoga High, Saratoga, 933
Miramonte High, Orinda, 928
Pacific Collegiate Center, Santa Cruz, 928
Lynbrook High, San Jose, 925
Campolindo High, Moraga 919
Henry Gunn High, Palo Alto, 915
Dougherty Valley High, San Ramon, 905
Piedmont High, Piedmont, 903
Acalanes High, Lafayette, 902
Palo Alto High, Palo Alto 901


http://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr10/yr10rel52.asp
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Old 07-14-2010, 12:54 PM
 
Location: Monterey Bay, California -- watching the sea lions, whales and otters! :D
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Quote:
18Montclair: Pacific Collegiate Center, Santa Cruz, 928
Unfortunately, that is a "lottery" school -- we tried to get my daughter in -- it's a lottery system, so even if you live in the neighborhood, good chances are, your child will not be accepted -- it is HIGHLY competitive. That's why I suggested the San Lorenzo Valley School District or the Scotts Valley School District -- those are the two best in the county. Pacific Collegiate is not an "open" public school -- I wish it were because many parents would send their kids there. So, I think it's good to clarify that, and that list does not give that kind of information.

As for Santa Cruz, itself, the city schools are not that great. It's just how it is. For those of us who don't mind living a few miles from the coast, the better schools are up the hills into the Santa Cruz Mountain towns of Felton, Ben Lomond, Boulder Creek and Scotts Valley.

It's not that one can't get a decent education in a Santa Cruz City school, but I do think the parents need to be actively involved, and the student motivated (which applies most anyplace, but it seems to be more important in the city schools where there are larger populations in each school).

Anyway, it may not even be relevant now for the OP. I actually did think about that school when I mentioned the others, however, I also knew you couldn't just go and enroll there....which is really too bad. Good luck to the OP!
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Old 07-14-2010, 01:44 PM
 
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for what it's worth, my boss' daughter goes to Scotts Valley and she gives it 2 thumbs up for academics. They've got AP & IB coursework & even the middling kids are motivated to at least try honors college-prep classes. And astonishingly they've got a solid core of Christian/straight-edge kids so there are alternatives to pot-smokin-DGAF slackers that you find down here in the boonies of SoCal suburbia.
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Old 07-14-2010, 02:17 PM
 
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There is only two public high schools in Santa Cruz proper that I'm aware of. Santa Cruz High and Harbor High. Growing up in the near by area I believe Harbor is a nicer school with less problems of drugs, gangs, etc
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Old 07-14-2010, 03:55 PM
 
Location: Monterey Bay, California -- watching the sea lions, whales and otters! :D
1,918 posts, read 6,773,053 times
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Quote:
smokingGun: for what it's worth, my boss' daughter goes to Scotts Valley and she gives it 2 thumbs up for academics. They've got AP & IB coursework & even the middling kids are motivated to at least try honors college-prep classes.
You're right. Scotts Valley and SLV (San Lorenzo Valley) are the tops in the county.

Quote:
Hwy phantom : There is only two public high schools in Santa Cruz proper that I'm aware of. Santa Cruz High and Harbor High. Growing up in the near by area I believe Harbor is a nicer school with less problems of drugs, gangs, etc
I think you're right about Santa Cruz, proper -- although the one in Soquel is kind of considered a "Santa Cruz" high school. I agree, Harbor High seems a little better.

I think the reason the mountain schools are better ... and this is just my opinion ... is that there is a smaller population of kids, it's more out of the way to get into the city, and the kids generally live in either a more suburbanish/small town area like Scotts Valley, or literally in a very rural/woodsy area (like Felton, Ben Lomond, Boulder Creek). I work in law enforcement, so I know that there is also less crime in the mountains, and very little, if any, gang activity.

I, personally, think that being in a more rural area, which is also very close to a big town (Santa Cruz) is the best setting. You have the best of both worlds.

My daughter enjoyed SLV High School and said that there were no cliques to speak of -- the school population was so small that all the different kinds of kids got along together: the geeks and the jocks, the goths and the cheerleaders, the band members and the science fair kids....they all got along. I actually asked her once about the cliques and she looked at me with this bewildered look and said, "What cliques??" Then she explained that what I may have seen in the movies just did not exist there. She also took AP classes and ended up with a semester's worth of college credits before she went to college -- and she would have had more had she not studied abroad for a semester!

It really depends on what the OP is looking for. A lot of people want to live in Santa Cruz, proper, but if schools are a consideration it's a Catch-22. The beauty of this area, though, is that everything is close by -- if you live in the mountains, the beach is only 15 minutes away, if you live in town, vice versa. It's a very unique environment.
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Old 07-14-2010, 11:27 PM
 
Location: Earth
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hwy phantom View Post
There is only two public high schools in Santa Cruz proper that I'm aware of. Santa Cruz High and Harbor High. Growing up in the near by area I believe Harbor is a nicer school with less problems of drugs, gangs, etc
Actually both of those are very good schools.
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