Elementary Schools in Irvine (Orange, Costa Mesa: real estate, rental, houses) - Orange County - California (CA) - City-Data Forum

patosf · 07-12-2011, 12:51 AM

My husband has been offered a job in Irvine so we are considering a move from the Bay Area (peninsula). Since I am accustomed to high prices here, I doubt I would suffer from too much sticker shock in OC. I am mostly concerned about finding a great family oriented neighborhood and school for my 5 yr old who will be starting Kindergarten this Fall. We also have a preschooler. After reading the threads, it sounds like it's best to live in Irvine and avoid the crazy commutes. What elementary schools are recommended, both public and private? Then, what corresponding neighborhood (for the publics) would I want to find housing? On greatschools.net, I only really found Stonegate Elem with raving reviews. I know I am missing others. Since we will hopefully only be there for a few years, we are just planning to rent. I am not too concerned with rental prices since again I doubt too much would shock me.

I did find a few schools in Costa Mesa. Is that painful to commute from and what is that area like?

Thank you!

EscapeCalifornia · 07-12-2011, 01:01 AM

If you really care about school quality, there's no comparison between Irvine and Costa Mesa. Irvine wins every day.

OC Investor2 · 07-13-2011, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by patosf

My husband has been offered a job in Irvine so we are considering a move from the Bay Area (peninsula). Since I am accustomed to high prices here, I doubt I would suffer from too much sticker shock in OC. I am mostly concerned about finding a great family oriented neighborhood and school for my 5 yr old who will be starting Kindergarten this Fall. We also have a preschooler. After reading the threads, it sounds like it's best to live in Irvine and avoid the crazy commutes. What elementary schools are recommended, both public and private? Then, what corresponding neighborhood (for the publics) would I want to find housing? On greatschools.net, I only really found Stonegate Elem with raving reviews. I know I am missing others. Since we will hopefully only be there for a few years, we are just planning to rent. I am not too concerned with rental prices since again I doubt too much would shock me.

I did find a few schools in Costa Mesa. Is that painful to commute from and what is that area like?

Thank you!

Irvine beats Costa Mesa on schools hands down. CM has a significant population of recent immigrants and alot of the schools are full of hispanic ESL students. Irvine also has a significant portion of imigrant ESL students, but they are typically asian - both East and South - and are the sterotypical academic acheivers. In CM, parents worry about the quality of the education. In Irvine the worry is you often find schools that are TOO academically intense.

Attached is a link to an OC register ranking for the top Public Elementary schools in OC. There are like a dozen Gold & Silver Medal schools in Irvine. Special report: Orange County's best elementary schools of 2011 | schools, school, elementary - News - The Orange County Register

In addition to the schools mentioned here there are 2 schools in Irvine that run K-8 programs on a year round schedule. Both are top schools but because they are both Elementary and Middle schools they are usually excluded from these kinds of rankings. They are Plaza Vista in Westpark and Vista Verde in Turtle Rock. Other standout schools that leap to top of mind are Stonecreek and Meadow Park which are both in Woodbridge.

Unless you have values based reasons for going to private school, don't waste the money if you live in Irvine. Part of the reason the real estate is expensive here (even for OC) is that people pay the price to get into the great public schools.

Good luck!

patosf · 07-13-2011, 11:00 AM

Thank you OCInvestor. The rankings of schools is very helpful. Thank you!!

BRinSM · 07-13-2011, 11:34 AM

unless the job is much better in irvine, i'd recommend staying in the bay area. IMHO the peninsula is a much better place to live than OC. irvine is certainly nice, but it definitely has a certain stepford quality about it that i've never experienced on peninsula. much nicer scenery in the bay area as well (unless you live on the coast in OC).

patosf · 07-13-2011, 12:55 PM

Did you move from Irvine to the peninsula? Just curious if you have lived in both places. I would rather stay here in the Bay Area but I guess we have to go if my husband takes this job in Irvine. I am concerned about raising the kids in OC but am hoping Irvine will be ok. I would prefer not to be live with the Stepford types but hopefully there are normal down to earth people somewhere in Irvine. I don't even want to think about missing the cooler Winter weather and beauty we have here in the Bay Area. I am also not thrilled to deal with the traffic and tons of folks. Can't believe the population is exploding so much. [i]Per Wikipedia, Irvine has a population of 212,375 as of the 2010 census. However, the California Department of Finance estimates its 2011 population to be 219,156. At least it's the 4th safest city in America!

BRinSM · 07-13-2011, 02:12 PM

in full disclosure, i haven't lived in either but i feel that i have spent enough time in each place and know enough people from each location to make a decent judgement. as for your kids, i'm sure they will be fine. both areas are definitely affluent, so that won't change, there's just a bit of a vibe to socal that is hard to explain. there are plenty of normal folks, don't get me wrong. i think with hollywood so close, there's a bit of a 'look at me' attitude that persists (which is fairly common in all suburbs of LA and OC). having said that, it shouldn't be difficult to avoid if that's not your thing.

PhurryJenn · 07-28-2011, 07:28 PM

I've not spent much time up North, so I can't give direct comparisons.

I grew up in Irvine. Currently I'm living in LA, put planning (hoping) to move back down to Irvine before my kids start school (they are under 2 now).

Although I know others will have varying opinions on this, I'd say IF you do move down to Orange County, it would be WELL worth it to live in Irvine over Costa Mesa. IMO the schools in Irvine are great, and in that area public schools are just fine. That being said I went to Elementary & High school at public Irvine Schools (Westpark & University) however I went to private school for Jr High. It was a religious school. I think my experience both socially and with my education was better at the Irvine Public Schools than in the Private School I attended.

As far as the Stepford types, it really depends on what village you live in (Irvine is a planned community made up of different villages). I personally like the village of Westpark. It's not the newest area, but it's nice, and IMO a little more down to earth without being in the older (el camino real/deerfield) areas.

IME while some schools in Irvine are better than others, none are really "bad". IUSD is one of the best school districts around, hands down.

Also, if you are living in another city (such as Costa Mesa) know that it's not always easy to transfer into IUSD. Again, it's a great district, and many would want to attend.

patosf · 07-28-2011, 08:09 PM

Thank you Phurry! My husband and I are planning a quick trip in a few weeks to check out the area. Can you suggest other villages too that you like in addition to Westpark? I would be more comfortable in a village that's more down to earth, like you suggest. I don't mind older communities, if you mean the houses are "older". Though I understand the oldest homes were built in the 70's. We will be renting. What elementary schools do you suggest that coincide with your fav villages? Thanks for the help. I also need to find a preschool. After a lot of feedback, I understand the Irvine schools blow the other districts out of the water, I guess. So won't be considering Costa Mesa.

mrwumpus · 07-29-2011, 11:14 AM

Visit DataQuest - Educational Demographic reports - select additional parameters--- test and you can enter the name of any Irvine school and get detailed demographic and score reports from 2010. You can find expulsion/suspension data, percentage of students in the gifted program, everything.

The other posters are right, though, and with a 42% Asian student population in the Irvine district, you can probably guess that the recognized tendency for Asian families in that area to highly value and promote academic excellence tends to influence the quality of the schools in general.