relocating to Santa Monica from Boston area (Vista, Culver City: house, neighborhood)

[SnowDay2011]

Hello. My husband and I are considering relocating to Santa Monica area from the Boston suburbs. We have 2 daughters ages 9 and 12. Relocation would be in one year, he would commute for 2011-2012 school year..so kids would be 10 and 13 when we move. We did live in Pacific Palisades for about 18 months when my oldest was 3 and my youngest was born..so we know the area. My main concern is that we will mess up 2 well adjusted girls by moving to SoCal. We can afford private school, but will not be crazy rich. Our kids are in public school here but we would strongly consider private school for them if we move. Any suggestions on whether the move is a good idea and private and public schools in the area that are more down to earth? I want them to get an exceptional education and broaden their horizons, I just don't want to completely mess them up in the process. Any advice / input would be appreciated!

[BRinSM]

SM has really good public schools, especially below the high school level. even the high school is ranked highly. if you want a more suburban environment with good schools, i would look out in the thousand oaks/westlake village area. that would be a drive for your husband, but many, many other people do it everyday.

[disgruntled la native]

Kids can get messed up anywhere. Santa Monica public education is as good as it gets around here

[smokingGun]

Children are much more resilient than you imagine, especially before high school. If you want to them to be more aware of LA's cultural diversity SM unified schools are an excellent choice, but also realize that a large percentage of homeowners in that area send their kids to private. And based on what I've heard there's a bit of an elitist/snob attitude that permeates both parents & students alike, misguided as it may seem.

Oh and don't worry too much about traumatizing your tweens. Your kids' rep will skyrocket among their peers when they tell them they're moving to SM. At that age they think it's paradise compared to Newton or Brookline lol

[majoun]

Originally Posted by smokingGun

Children are much more resilient than you imagine, especially before high school. If you want to them to be more aware of LA's cultural diversity SM unified schools are an excellent choice, but also realize that a large percentage of homeowners in that area send their kids to private. And based on what I've heard there's a bit of an elitist/snob attitude that permeates both parents & students alike, misguided as it may seem.

Oh and don't worry too much about traumatizing your tweens. Your kids' rep will skyrocket among their peers when they tell them they're moving to SM. At that age they think it's paradise compared to Newton or Brookline lol

The percentage of SM's population who are homeowners is a relatively small minority. There are only two Westside areas with a majority of homeowners - Culver City and Westchester. All other westside areas - especially the upscale places like SM and Beverly Hills - have a majority of renters.

Part of the extra cost of living in SM compared to the surrounding areas is being able to use public schools - which is something not advisable in Venice,Brentwood, Mar Vista, West LA, or even Pacific Palisades (although every Palisades school being a charter makes them less problematic than other LAUSD areas). Yes, there are kids who go to St. Monica's or (if the parents are ultra-wealthy and in the entertainment industry) Crossroads, but there are even wealthy parents who send their kids to the public schools. This is not found in the LAUSD areas surrounding SM anymore.

[SnowDay2011]

Thanks for the responses. Yes, we would be renters. We are really New Englanders and would keep our house outside of Boston for summers, etc.

So, is Crossroads an avoid in terms of snobby, materialism factor?
What about Harvard Westlake?

From what I read Lincoln Middle School in Santa Monica is good, but I may want to look for private high schools.

Our schools our good, but not off the charts. Not sure if any of you are familiar with Boston suburbs, but I live on the South Shore..not in Wellesley, Brookline, Newton area where schools are very well regarded.

One of the reasons we would choose to move is for an upgrade in terms of education. The money is much better than what we make here. But again, we are fine here. Love our house and we are close to family and the kids are happy. We are really wrestling with whether or not we want to rip our kids out of here. It is our choice about moving or not, we can stay put if we think it is a bad idea. I want to like the idea but I am nervous for my kids.

[disgruntled la native]

Lincoln Middle School is excellent. Maybe the best public middle school in the country. But you need to be living in North Santa Monica to go there. South Santa Monica/Ocean Park has the terrible JAMs which is not nearly as good.

Harvard Westlake is extremely hard to get into. It's the most prestigious high school in LA county, and probably sends more kids to the Ivies, Stanford, MIT, top 25 schools than anywhere else in the country. It's also extremely snobby, and far away from Santa Monica. If you want your kids to go to an Ivy league and you want to pressure the hell out of them, ok. Brentwood and Windward are smaller, slightly less notable versions of Harvard Westlake.

Crossroads is also hard to get into, but more "alternative" and artsy. They'll send less kids to Ivies and more to schools like Oberlin, hampshire, bard. Crossroads is infamous for its Hollywood families and kids liberal use of drugs, sex, and stuff way beyond their years. and late model sports cars driven by 16 year olds. Wildwood is similar to Crossroads, maybe even more intensely celebrity and snobby now. But I will say Crossroads and Wildwood are not the pressure cookers that Harvard Westlake, Brentwood, and Windward are. It's little more laid back.

So those are the 5 most known private schools in the westside. t public school might be a better option because it's less of an insane bubble. Tuition at these schools is about 30k a year now also.

[SnowDay2011]

Thanks so much! We definitely want to avoid the pressure cooker factor, which is why we don't live in West suburbs of Boston. So will cross Harvard Westlake right off the list! We can afford the tuition just don't want to cause major social shock to our pretty down to earth kids.

Do you know anything about Archer School?

[majoun]

Originally Posted by disgruntled la native

Lincoln Middle School is excellent. Maybe the best public middle school in the country. But you need to be living in North Santa Monica to go there. South Santa Monica/Ocean Park has the terrible JAMs which is not nearly as good.

I have A LOT of friends who went to John Adams when they were kids (back when it was a Jr. High). That's the SM public school that more SM residents complain about than any other. Its test scores are good but it's poorly run and there are some security/discipline issues from what I've heard. Santa Monica Blvd. is the dividing line between Lincoln and JAMS.

Crossroads is also hard to get into, but more "alternative" and artsy. They'll send less kids to Ivies and more to schools like Oberlin, hampshire, bard. Crossroads is infamous for its Hollywood families and kids liberal use of drugs, sex, and stuff way beyond their years. and late model sports cars driven by 16 year olds. Wildwood is similar to Crossroads, maybe even more intensely celebrity and snobby now. But I will say Crossroads and Wildwood are not the pressure cookers that Harvard Westlake, Brentwood, and Windward are. It's little more laid back.

"Liberal use of drugs, sex, and stuff way beyond their years" is an understatement when it comes to Crossroads. The kids there take after their parents who are almost all in the entertainment industry. That's where most of the big stars send their kids. That school has a long history of extreme decadence. I don't think Wildwood and Windward existed in my day.

So those are the 5 most known private schools in the westside. t public school might be a better option because it's less of an insane bubble. Tuition at these schools is about 30k a year now also.

Harvard Westlake isn't in the Westside - while Studio City is the most "westside"-ish Valley neighborhood, it's still the Valley.

What about St. Monica's? I don't think that's as expensive as the others (definitely not as expensive as Crossroads, Harvard Westlake, or Brentwood) - I'd also imagine it's more sedate and focused on learning being a Catholic school, and wouldn't be party central like Crossroads.

[disgruntled la native]

OP - Archer is an all girls school. Has a very good reputation and sends its girls to top schools. But it's in the same snobby, elite, high strung class as Brentwood or Harvard Westlake (though as I said, Harvard Westlake is the most). Any Westside private school (I'm not counting Catholic schools) is gonna be elitist, high pressure, and crazy. But like I said, if you want the more laid back "hippie" ones, Crossroads, New Roads, or Wildwood are the best bet.

Wildwood has caught up to Crossroads with that image. New Roads (created by same founder of Crossroads, except its supposed to have a large number of minority kids on scholarship) is also like that. Wildwood and Crossroads have the most celebrity kids, and are also very progressive and liberal (Crossroads was having all school cross dressing days as far back as the 80s)

Harvard Westlake's lower campus is on the Westside being right by Beverly Glen and Sunset. Yes, the upper campus is off coldwater and ventura so it's not the westside, but the students there are mostly from the westside, and it's about as "westside" a place as it gets.

You're right about St Monica's. It's cheaper and much more mellow. Less pretentious than the 30k a year Westside private schools. But they're not sending as many kids to top universities, and you don't have the prestige at St Monica's.