Areas of Santa Clarita (Valencia, Canyon Country, Stevenson Ranch, Saugus, Newhall) (short sales, 2009)

[marimari123]

00molavi--West Ranch High School is pretty new. It only opened about 3 years ago. Since Stevenson Ranch only has elementary schools, kids from there come to Westridge for junior high (Rancho Pico Jr High) and high school (West Ranch High School). Westridge is basically the area on both sides of Valencia Blvd west of The Old Rd. Stevenson Ranch and Westridge are both west of the 5 freeway with McBean Parkway/Stevenson Ranch Parkway kind of being the border. Since both areas are west of the freeway, both areas share the zip code. As far as price goes, it all depends on your budget. I think many homes in Westridge would be considered too expensive for most buyers. If your other choice is La Crescenta, I think I can guess that the prices here are within your budget.

NickelDime and elousv--I have a friend who lives in River Village and she said that recently all the approvals were made for that last bit of cross valley connector. Right now the only portion not connected is between River Village (near bouquet canyon) and Golden Valley. They're supposed to open that up next year. Also, for awhile there, Lennar was giving all kinds of incentives to get people to move to River Village. My friend got financial incentives (low interest rates, rebates, etc,) plus landscaping and window treatments. I guess only time will tell if Lennar will complete that project.

Hope that helps.

mari

[NickelDime]

great info, Mari ! thanks so much!

BTW, Yahoo! Local Maps has the names of the villages and their respective areas designated as an overlay on their map. Much more descriptive than the ol' google standby.
Yahoo! Maps / SCV: http://tinyurl.com/939c9m


Also, there is a Commuter Express bus that runs to Warner Center; looks like an hour flat, which is a small premium to the drive but I'm sure pays dividends on the frustration factor.
Route 796: http://tinyurl.com/7ksskp

Wiki/SCV Transit: http://tinyurl.com/86pz6y

Our timeline is to move in September, which coincides with our lease coming up at our SFV rental.

The RiverVillage community looks on the map like it is in Canyon Country/Saugus with a 91350 zip code, yet it is being marketed as "Valencia." Hype or not? Which elementary school would this feed?

Can anyone advise the timeline for elementary school registrations in the Valencia area?

Also, any advice on a good preschool program for 3 year olds?

Thanks all...

[maja]

Originally Posted by NickelDime

great info, Mari ! thanks so much!

BTW, Yahoo! Local Maps has the names of the villages and their respective areas designated as an overlay on their map. Much more descriptive than the ol' google standby.
Yahoo! Maps / SCV: Yahoo! Maps, Driving Directions, and Traffic


Also, there is a Commuter Express bus that runs to Warner Center; looks like an hour flat, which is a small premium to the drive but I'm sure pays dividends on the frustration factor.
Route 796: http://tinyurl.com/7ksskp

Wiki/SCV Transit: City of Santa Clarita Transit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Our timeline is to move in September, which coincides with our lease coming up at our SFV rental.

Can anyone advise the timeline for elementary school registrations in the Valencia area?

Also, any advice on a good preschool program for 3 year olds?

Christ Lutheran Preschool is a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful program. Loving and caring with a developmental (not academic) approach. Also has a lovely, hard -to- find shaded playyard. They are located in Valencia off McBean Rd. (at Rockwell Canyon Rd. I believe.) Apply early. There's usually a waiting list as is the case at most preschools out here! BTW, I believe elem. school registration is in March and some schools have a waiting list. Good luck!

[00molavi]

Originally Posted by marimari123

00molavi--West Ranch High School is pretty new. It only opened about 3 years ago. Since Stevenson Ranch only has elementary schools, kids from there come to Westridge for junior high (Rancho Pico Jr High) and high school (West Ranch High School). Westridge is basically the area on both sides of Valencia Blvd west of The Old Rd. Stevenson Ranch and Westridge are both west of the 5 freeway with McBean Parkway/Stevenson Ranch Parkway kind of being the border. Since both areas are west of the freeway, both areas share the zip code. As far as price goes, it all depends on your budget. I think many homes in Westridge would be considered too expensive for most buyers. If your other choice is La Crescenta, I think I can guess that the prices here are within your budget.

mari

Thanks for the info. Any 1st hand info on how West Ranch High is esp compared to Crescenta Valley? I have looked at the online rankings and ratings but where we are now this rankings don't tell all. Our older is going to be in 8th grade and my wife has the gun to my head to buy a house, so I would hate to make a 700K mistake.

[maja]

I have a friend whose daughter goes there. She thinks its pretty good academically - her daughter is exceptionally bright (lots of AP) classes, so that says quite a bit. It does fall short when it comes to Art and there's a significant amount of typical highschool misbehavior; i.e., drugs, drinking, etc. as well as scary driving around the school - three schools right together, lots of traffic, young, hotshot drivers... Try schoolmatters.com and greatschools.com sites for more info. Good luck.

[GracieJJ]

If its do'able, consider the private elementary schools. Not much wrong with public but i got talking to some parents who pulled their child from private school my kid used to go to, they swear that their putting their kid back into private.

Only pre-school we ever gone to and had our eldest attend, was SCV Montessori. Very strong academicaly, warm atmosphere. small class ratio 1:10 at any one time. Also had a waiting list but now they are adding an afternoon programme ..

[elousv]

Originally Posted by NickelDime

The RiverVillage community looks on the map like it is in Canyon Country/Saugus with a 91350 zip code, yet it is being marketed as "Valencia." Hype or not?

Well one thing I attach to "Valencia" are Paseos. Seems like the newer developments have less and less of them. Tesoro I don't think has any, River Village does advertise them. That area is kinda off on it's own. You have the river on one side and past that is the old Saugus speedway that still has swap meets and then further down Soledad is industrial and shopping like Walmart and Sam's. Past that you get to Canyon Country. Oh, keep in mind that the train is right there along Soledad and that will be a source of noise. On the other side are hills and over that you would hit Central Park. Across Bouquet you have Lowe's then Bridgeport. Toward Valencia center you first hit the auto mall. Don't forget that right now Newhall Ranch is a dead end. Once that bridge goes in there will be massive amounts of cars on it, mine included. More noise, so keep that in mind when you are looking at lots/houses.

[marimari123]

West Ranch High--It's pretty good. Strong academically, good music program I think. As maja said, there does seem to be a drug/alcohol issue. I didn't go to high school is such an affluent area (20 years ago) so none of us could afford drugs/alcohol even if we wanted it. But kids at West Ranch are mostly from well-off families. There are some pretty crazy drivers but I think that's common around most high schools. Looking at API scores, Crescenta Valley is stronger than West Ranch (870 CV vs 818 WR). I can't really compare though, since I don't know about CV.

Preschool--For years, "THE" preschool in town was Sunshine. They have 2 locations, both in Valencia. The people who own Legacy Christian Academy (Very strong academics private school) used to own Sunshine preschools. They did an amazing job with Sunshine. Unfortunately last year, they sold the 2 preschools to Mini-Skools (big company owns a lot of preschools) and we see a huge drop in quality. I would have said "SUNSHINE" in a heartbeat if you'd asked last year. In fact, I'm sure I have some old posts on here saying how much I love sunshine. Now..I don't know. It's still good. Technically the same curriculum (Student:Teacher Ratio is no more than 8:1). But not as good as before. Also, Tutor Time is good though not as academic as Sunshine. I've heard good things about St. Stephens as well (really not academic at all...more play and socializing).

River Village--It's not Valencia. Your address will say Santa Clarita 91350. That's a Saugus zip code. The elementary schools will be Saugus district. I think Bridgeport (saugus school district) would be closeby, even though that's technically Valencia. My guess is that since RV isn't completely built out yet, they'll just send children to whichever school has space in it. Definitely call the school district and ask where River Village kids go.

School Registration--Kindergarten is usually in February. I don't know when registration is to be completed for older children.

Hope that helps.
mari

[NickelDime]

Very helpful Mari and elousv.

We went back today and took a hard look at West Hills, West Creek, and RiverVillage.

We noticed the same thing -- RiverVillage is truly a Canyon Country neighborhood being marketed as Valencia. The Paseos are weak, at best, in RiverVillage. It is definitely on the outskirtks, but the homes are about 10% cheaper -- and that's the reason.

So we are more interested now in West Hills, which has great paseos, the clubhouse is already built, the trails are finished (with the exception of the forthcoming bridge over Copper Canyon). The school is a brand new West Creek Elementary, which opens this fall in Saugus Union District. Lennar is actually building the school for the district, which is right down the street from Tesoro.

Thoughts on the West Hills area? Again, it is outside the Valencia core but appears to be more in line with Valencia "proper" from RiverVillage.

Great help on the preschool program, thanks Mari.

[elousv]

Originally Posted by NickelDime

Thoughts on the West Hills area? Again, it is outside the Valencia core but appears to be more in line with Valencia "proper" from RiverVillage.

If you want brand spankin new, then that will probably be one of the last places to get it. There is not much room left when West Hills/Creek are done. We almost bought in Tesoro when we were looking. When we drive through there the neighborhoods are nice. I assume West Hills will be nice also. It is just a little further out, but there is stuff nearby. The Albertson's at Tesoro would be close. There is a Walmart and Home Depot along with a bunch of other stuff at Newhall and Copper Hill. Now that the connection to the 5/126 is done it is easy to get to those highways off Newhall. It will be a while before trees are grown and don't forget it gets nasty hot in the summer so plant immediately upon move in. Hey it's time to party, Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!