How are the private schools in San Diego?? (Carlsbad, Encinitas: school district, income)

[LexSteel]

As someone who is planing to move to San Diego within a few years and constantly seeing posts about how awful the San Diego school system is I was wondering how are the private schools? I obviously know this will be an expensive route but getting my child a high quality education matters the most to me.....so I was just wondering if anyone here can let me know about the private schools and which ones are good...thanks and God Bless

[cruitr]

I live in Clairemont (Bay Ho). It's a very convenient location. Ten minutes to anywhere. However, our schools are known to be marginal. So my neighbor sends their kids to Horizon schools: Horizon Christian Fellowship

Their kids are very well-behaved and the parents tell us they are very pleased with Horizon schools. Tuition costs are posted at the Horizon website.

[soymabelen]

Originally Posted by LexSteel

As someone who is planing to move to San Diego within a few years and constantly seeing posts about how awful the San Diego school system is I was wondering how are the private schools? I obviously know this will be an expensive route but getting my child a high quality education matters the most to me.....so I was just wondering if anyone here can let me know about the private schools and which ones are good...thanks and God Bless

I did some research on this subject before relocating. It really depends on what level and what kind you are looking for. I basically looked at independent secular schools at the Elementary to Middle school level and then I included some religious at the High school level.

Out of the Independent secular K-12 schools, Francis Parker seems to be a solid option all round. I met two ot their teachers entirely by chance and they were very happy there. La Jolla Country School does not seem to hold as well, also having more of a reputation for snobbery and everything that goes with that.

There are a whole lot of Christian schools, as well as Catholic schools K to 8th grade, but I found them too religious for my taste, of course, they might be great options for other families. I believe there is also a great Jewish school that looked fantastic other than it being Jewish which we are not!

At the High school level I think there are several Catholic schools, including a couple of single sex ones, which seem good options but I did not go too deep in my research.

Ultimately, and for many reasons, we opted for the public school sector. We are in the Poway Unified school district. We have one child in Kindergarten and another in 8th grade and we are new to public school, before this relocation our children attended an independent secular Pre-K to 8th grade school. The Kindergarten class so far seems spot on for our 5 year old. I have just started volunteering and I am happy with what I see. Our 8th grader has adjusted nicely to the larger environment but we are having teacher conferences soon because there are a couple of classes where she is not feeling challenged. I am positive that there will be changes, but I am learning that public school does not feel the need nor does it have the flexibility to be as responsive to students's needs, not impossible but you will have to be persistent. Overall, and I realise it is only early days, we are happy with our public schools, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

[sdwave]

My kids go to The Child's Primary School and they love it. It is K-8 in the Clairemont area. It has everything that we were looking for in an elementary/middle school: small class sizes, experienced teachers, and affordable tuition. If you are still looking for a school, I would recommend looking into it. [url=http://www.tcps.org]The Child's Primary School - Home[/url]

[sdhkshdcny09]

Francis Parker and Bishops School have the best reputation for successful students.
Cathedral Catholic is a great school too. I too have heard about the snobbery at La Jolla Country Day.

Montessori schools are reputable for the younger ones.

i wouldnt necessarily agree that San Diego (SDUSD) public schools are bad however. They actually perform higher on state tests than any other large city in Calfornia. What about scripps ranch, la jolla?

oh and you may want to look into High Tech Middle and High School. Heard great things about it...my two younger cousins attend. However its a charter and enrollment is based on a lottery.

[sdurbanite]

Other private schools that haven't been mentioned yet are Santa Fe Christian, St. Augustine (Boys) and Our Lady of Peace (Girls)

[NYSD1995]

We have a niece in High Tech Middle. It is a good program but there are some issues - namely not much of a focus on academics and many of the same cultural issues that you run into in any urban school.

We are looking at sending our son to private school. There are a number of options. Francis Parker, LJCD, and Bishop's are very expensive. There are a number of well-regarded Catholic schools as well, Madelaine School, Our Lady of Grace. For high school there is also OLP and St. Augustines.

It really depends on what you are looking for. There are some excellent public schools in San Diego County but they do have their tradeoffs. If you are looking for small(er) class sizes and a focus on academic rigor, discipline, personal responsibility and community service, that can be tough to find in the public settings. We do not like the cultural aspect of the public schools here, and we do not want a program so focused on the social / emotional aspect of education (which is the dominant theme in most CA schools)

[JakeDog]

Why not just live in Poway, Carmel Valley, Encinitas, Carlsbad? The schools are good.

[NYSD1995]

Originally Posted by JakeDog

Why not just live in Poway, Carmel Valley, Encinitas, Carlsbad? The schools are good.

Part of it is we want our child to be in a school culture with higher levels of structure and discipline, and less impacted by cultural differences. Public school children tend to self-segregate by race, income, personal interests, etc. where private schools often have a more 'community' feeling, drawing students from around the city, centered around the school, as opposed to the area where the kids live.

Private schools also tend to be smaller with smaller class sizes. The North County schools, while academically strong, have very large class sizes. It's just a personal preference.

[JakeDog]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

Part of it is we want our child to be in a school culture with higher levels of structure and discipline, and less impacted by cultural differences. Public school children tend to self-segregate by race, income, personal interests, etc. where private schools often have a more 'community' feeling, drawing students from around the city, centered around the school, as opposed to the area where the kids live.

Private schools also tend to be smaller with smaller class sizes. The North County schools, while academically strong, have very large class sizes. It's just a personal preference.

OK. It's nice to have kids from school next door or within walking/biking distance to play with IMO, but I'm probably biased b/c that was my experience growing up. I think kids segregate based on personal interests everywhere, as do adults.