Junior High in Mission Viejo (Portola: buying a house, transfer, buying)

[kafka86]

We are in the process of purchasing our first home in Mission Viejo. We have less experience in buying a house and choosing houses based on school district.

I have a 1-year-old child I want him to go to good schools. My understanding is if the school is rated 8+ on Zillow is supposedly good ones.

My question is- We have liked few houses where the nearby school for elementary and high school is great but has 7 Zillow score for junior high.

Can I opt to go to send my child to a different school for junior high? Are there more than 1 junior high schools in the district?

I know I am thinking in the near future... but again we want to go for a house in good school district basically coz it also has resale value + good school our child ( in future).

Please advice

[guitarsarebeautiful]

Not a fan of those rating systems.

Because of a poor rating for the closest elementary school (4), my grand-daughter attended a higher ranked elementary school and it was a disaster. Mainly issues with administration and teacher turnover.

After one semester, we had her transferred her back to the home school. Now she is in a dual-immersion Mandarin Chinese program and loving it.

I don't know how Saddleback USD or Capo USD does things but in our district, if the school is given a rating of 4 or less, you can attend a different elementary school.

Your best bet is to get involved. My daughter is in PTA and she get a lot of info she would not get otherwise.

[payutenyodagimas]

Originally Posted by guitarsarebeautiful

not a fan of those rating systems.

My daughter is in pta and she get a lot of info she would not get otherwise.

pta?

[Farink]

Why don't you start by looking on schooldigger.com? Type in the school's name and it gives you the ranking in the district (i.e. De Portola Elementary ranks 2/23 elementaries in Saddleback), test score performance and percentage of students on free/reduced lunch and the demographic makeup? At the end of the day, it depends on our kids and the teachers that we get. It's possible to be a 1st ranked school and get a teacher that's not a good fit for our child. I personally like schooldigger.com and I spent a few days in Mission Viejo this week driving by the school to see the structure from the outside and the types of homes surrounding it.

[Bellevuesnewbie]

Talk to the parents who have kids going to that particular school and check Niche.com for rating & reviews. Don't just rely on Greatschools.org or Schooldigger.com. We made that mistake before & learned the hard way. Find the schools that you think will be the best fit for your child and your family...

[KaraG]

Your child is 1, who knows what the scores will be in ten years when they go to middle school. My kids went to La Paz and we thought it was a great school. I wouldn't worry.

[kafka86]

Thanks everyone for your inputs. All the school links will definitely taken seriously.
On the sad note, we didn't get the house in Mission..Ours wasn't the best offer

[Chava61]

One of my nieces went to Los Alisos Intermediate School and the second niece is currently attending Los Alisos. My brother and his wife seem to be pleased with this school and probably my nephew/their son will eventually go there as well.