Moving to CA. (San Diego, San Jose, Orange: condos, crime, townhomes)

[missionhome]

Yes, if you are in the same school district, you can apply for school of choice. This would allow you to go to any of the four high schools in the Saddleback Valley Unified School District. This is not a guarantee though, however most people do get into the school they want. The only wierd part of going to a school of choice could be your entire neighborhood has cars with Trabuco stickers on the back and all the other teens are wearing Trabuco shirts, etc... If you are looking for a newer home, it is harder to find one in MVHS attendance boundaries just because the neighborhoods that go there are older ones. The home on Morales Drive is the nicest one I saw in your price range that goes to MVHS.

[TheStarLiesWest]

So I'm going on a limb and saying the public system in MV is pretty good? My daughter is nearing 2 and won't start school for three more years, but we're going to be living in MV for quite a while. If things pan out like we hope, we'll be purchasing a house there as well. For now, we're just a young family moving to a great, safe place and trying to fulfill a dream we've had forever.

Is there room for that slice of safety for us?

[jessemh431]

Oh yes. MV schools are some of the best in the country. No need to pay for private.

[TheStarLiesWest]

That's so important to me. You've really been a big help and an instrumental person in helping us make a decision. Thank you so much.

[TheStarLiesWest]

Capistrano and Saddleback districts. What's the main difference?

[jessemh431]

I dunno the actual districts, I just know every school down there is good. Apparently missionhome knows.

[missionhome]

Capistrano Unified is a very large school district. It serves over 50,000 students in the cities of Mission Viejo, San Clemente, Laguna Niguel, Aliso Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Juan Capistrano, and Dana Point. It also serves the unicorpirated neighborhoods of Ladera Ranch, Coto de Caza, and Las Flores. Currently, some parents are trying to recall the district board over spending. Basically the root of the problem was the district built an unnecessary new headquarters building that cost something like $80 million bucks. Parents would have rather seen that money go into repairing and maintaing schools. Still, this stuff doesn't affect the education of the schools that much and the district is still one the top performing in the USA, especially for its size (#95 in the USA). I would rather see the board members go, but I'm not going to go as intense as some parents. Mission Viejo parents at Newhart Middle School are some of the most angry I've seen. Newhart is a very well performing school, with an API in the mid-800's, but the school has over 50 percent of its classrooms in portables. Taxes that should have gone towards fixing schools like Newhart in Mission Viejo went toward the new district building and that is why they are being investigated. Still, the quality of the schools are excellent and it is probably the second best school district (after Irvine) in Orange County.
Saddleback Valley Unified is also a really great school district. The schools appearance and quality are comparble to CUSD and the test scores are all with a few points of each other. It is much more intimate and small with only four high schools, and serves around 34,000 students. SVUSD doesn't have the problems at the district level with parent-supervisor anemosity. That is a major plus for SVUSD. Going to the school's though, you won't really notice any difference. SVUSD hasn't done anything foolish like build a multi millioin dollar headquarters to tick parents off. I'm sure they would notice all their portable classrooms at La Paz Middle School if their district spend almost $100 million on a building studnets will never go in. Basically those are the differences. Either way, your child will get a really good education and the controversy only shows how important education is to people around here, which is why the schools are so good.

[TheStarLiesWest]

Wow, your information and guidance here is stunning. Either way we go, she will be safe and well educated, and that pleases me. You really know your stuff, and it's people like you that make this board worth my time and effort.

Thank you so much for confiding in CA and showing why we will love it.

[jessemh431]

So I take it you no longer like NorCal? Where were you looking up there? What made you decide to post down here.

[TheStarLiesWest]

Sacramento. I honestly thought it was the only affordable place I could find in CA. But I've always loved SoCal. I just took a shot in the dark and tried to see if anyone down in SoCal would respond. Most of the time in the past I've gotten crappy responses from snooty richer people trying to keep people out of CA.