Moving from Sac. to Valley - schools and neighborhoods (Los Angeles: magnet schools, income)

[DianeFD]

Hi - we are considering moving from Sac. to the Valley area and need advice about schools and neighborhood. Ideally looking for public charter for my 5th and 7th (in fall) graders with a decent percentage of Jewish kids in a neighborhood with middle income, laid back families. A school where the kids are happy is the priority, then hoping to find the neighborhood from there. I would consider the Encino/Newbury Park/Santa Clarita loop. Thanks!

[BRinSM]

the conejo valley communities, simi valley, and santa clarita all have consistently better schools than the san fernando valley (LAUSD) from K-12. if you want to live in the SFV and have good schools k-12, then you're forced to live in woodland hills, west hills or granada hills. there are good charters and magnets elsewhere, but they have a lottery system to get in. budget is also important to consider. anywhere with good schools in the LA area is expensive, there's no getting around that. of the areas I mentioned, simi valley is the most affordable followed by santa clarita.

[lrmsd]

I coincidentally just posted this on another thread, re: a list of Charter Schools in LA:
Charter Schools in Los Angeles County (CA Dept of Education)

And, a list of LA Magnet schools:
eChoices - Magnet Home