Top 50 Cities in California ranked by Quality of Public Schools (Irvine: home, to buy)

[18Montclair]

Schooldigger's latest ranking.

1 Portola Valley
2 Los Altos Hills
3 Orinda
4 Hillsborough
5 La Canada-Flintridge
6 Larkspur
7 San Marino
8 Kentfield
9 Manhattan Beach
10 Moraga
11 Los Altos
12 Agoura Hills
13 Del Mar
14 Rancho Santa Fe
15 Piedmont
16 Cupertino
17 Palo Alto
18 Carmel
19 Solana Beach
20 Stanford
21 Kensington
22 Mill Valley
23 Sierra Madre
24 Lafayette
25 Palos Verdes Estates
26 South Pasadena
27 San Ramon
28 Pacific Palisades
29 Corona Del Mar
30 Alamo
31 Studio City
32 Sloughhouse
33 Los Gatos
34 La Jolla
35 Garden Valley
36 Foster City
37 Stevenson Ranch
38 San Anselmo
39 Rolling Hills Estates
40 Irvine
41 Arcadia
42 Los Alamitos
43 Carmel Valley
44 La Crescenta
45 Ross
46 El Dorado Hills
47 Saratoga
48 Albany
49 Coto De Caza
50 Walnut Creek

California State Cities - CA City School Rankings

[nmnita]

That is an interesting list to say the least. I wonder what the districts are being rated on and I am surprised to see Sierra Madre on the list. When did they separate from the Pasadena School district? Where have I been?

Nita

[Dean Trails]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

Schooldigger's latest ranking.

1 Portola Valley
2 Los Altos Hills
3 Orinda
4 Hillsborough
5 La Canada-Flintridge
6 Larkspur
7 San Marino
8 Kentfield
9 Manhattan Beach
10 Moraga
11 Los Altos
12 Agoura Hills
13 Del Mar
14 Rancho Santa Fe
15 Piedmont
16 Cupertino
17 Palo Alto
18 Carmel
19 Solana Beach
20 Stanford
21 Kensington
22 Mill Valley
23 Sierra Madre
24 Lafayette
25 Palos Verdes Estates
26 South Pasadena
27 San Ramon
28 Pacific Palisades
29 Corona Del Mar
30 Alamo
31 Studio City
32 Sloughhouse
33 Los Gatos
34 La Jolla
35 Garden Valley
36 Foster City
37 Stevenson Ranch
38 San Anselmo
39 Rolling Hills Estates
40 Irvine
41 Arcadia
42 Los Alamitos
43 Carmel Valley
44 La Crescenta
45 Ross
46 El Dorado Hills
47 Saratoga
48 Albany
49 Coto De Caza
50 Walnut Creek

California State Cities - CA City School Rankings

Of course, none of them would rank higher than 609th in Arkansas!

[mrzod]

someone create a google maps and plot it against income in the area

[Steve97415]

Is it really the quality of the schools...or is it the quality of the students who attend them and the quality of the home culture established by their parents? Look at the average home price in these areas. It's the same old economic filter we've been seeing in education for decades. Chances are you aren't going to be able to buy into a pricey community unless you have a good work ethic. It's not surprising that those people demand the same of their kids. It also helps that the economic filter keeps the riffraff out and your kids will have mostly good peers.

[Fontucky]

Coto de Caza's not a city.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Dean Trails

Of course, none of them would rank higher than 609th in Arkansas!

Well maybe one or two...lol

Nita

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Steve97415

Is it really the quality of the schools...or is it the quality of the students who attend them and the quality of the home culture established by their parents? Look at the average home price in these areas. It's the same old economic filter we've been seeing in education for decades. Chances are you aren't going to be able to buy into a pricey community unless you have a good work ethic. It's not surprising that those people demand the same of their kids. It also helps that the economic filter keeps the riffraff out and your kids will have mostly good peers.

Normally the two go together. I always find these charts and studies interesting, fun to look out but not terribly impressive...

Nita

[clongirl]

Originally Posted by Steve97415

Is it really the quality of the schools...or is it the quality of the students who attend them and the quality of the home culture established by their parents? Look at the average home price in these areas. It's the same old economic filter we've been seeing in education for decades. Chances are you aren't going to be able to buy into a pricey community unless you have a good work ethic. It's not surprising that those people demand the same of their kids. It also helps that the economic filter keeps the riffraff out and your kids will have mostly good peers.

You're absolutely right. I'm lucky enough to actually live in one of the city's on the list and the support for the schools is astounding. It seems to be part of the culture here..to invest money in education. Which in turn drives the price of housing in these parts as well. So it seems to be a win/win for the residents.

I was actually at a high school information evening last night and was really shocked at the newness and state of the art theater and equipment used. It was a beautiful space!

In contrast, the theater at the high school I went to had folding chairs and a small dingy stage with hardly any lighting.

Also, the demographics of this area indicate that 95% of the parents have gone to college themselves and 60% have graduate degrees. So of course, the children are also urged to succeed and do well in school...just like the parents.

It's a shame that not all California schools are able to be like this. It does make me sad that so many other schools are falling apart and the socio-economics of many cities do not allow for all the "extras". But, until education is of the upmost importance for the majority of families, then the cycle will continue for these communities, with or w/o extra funding by the state.

[Delron]

Originally Posted by Dean Trails

Of course, none of them would rank higher than 609th in Arkansas!

LOL. Do you honestly think there are many schools/school districts in the entire country, let alone the planet, that can compare to those that are next door to Stanford, UC Berkeley/Lawrence Livermore Labs, that are in Silicon Valley, that are right next to NASA's Jet Propulsion Labs (JPL - La Canada High School is practically across the street)? Let alone school districts in Arkansas?

Perhaps for animal husbandry courses and corn shucking 101, Arkansas offers a top notch education, but there is a reason why many of the most brilliant minds on the planet continue to flock to and reside in California. And where they are concentrated, the schools are exceptional because the parents care more about education than practically anything, the schools are actually well funded, and the parents themselves tend to be extremely intelligent, as in, falling into the top 1% of the planet, and thus they tend to have extremely intelligent children. The rest of California's public schools might be incredibly awful, but California is the prime example in this country of the disparity between the haves and the have nots. Yes, ALL of those areas are incredibly affluent, with property values to match. The individual who mentioned work ethic and focus on education was spot on.

Do you honestly think a school district where a large concentration of the top scientific minds, not only rocket scientists but the absolute BEST rocket scientists, put their children is going to be anything but exceptional? Where the top minds of UC Berkeley, Stanford, google, microsoft, and other top technological companies put their kids is going to be second rate to ANYWHERE?