advice on encinitas area elementary schools..moving soon! (Vista: to rent, buy)

[1kailuagirl]

Hi,
We are moving to SD next month and have decided on the Encinitas area...We are going to rent for a bit to figure out where we want to eventually buy a house, but I wanted to ask if anyone can fill me in on which elementary schools are desirable in the area. (and which to avoid) My son is going into the 4th grade, and we are moving from Rhode Island. I'd prefer an elementary that feeds into a good middle school, etc. Thank you so much...my head is spinning with this move, and any info will be really helpful!

[Charles]

Why did you decide on the Encinitas area?

This may provide some help with schools

School Performance Maps

[Encinitan]

Well, the good news is, the Encinitas Union School District (K-6) is pretty good, certainly above average, from top to bottom. But there are a few schools that underperform a bit based on the rest of the district, although they are still strong in terms of most schools countywide.
The top performers among elementary schools, I would say, are Olivenhain Pioneer, Mission Estancia, Flora Vista. Park Dale Lane, La Costa Heights, and Ada Harris are tops too, but maybe a cut below the others. Only Ocean Knoll is a real problem in terms of testing, largely because there is a large number of English learners and Spanish speakers there. That tends to hurt the language test scores. By and large, as I said, the EUSD schools are top notch. The high schools in the San Dieguito Union High School District (La Costa Canyon, Torrey Pines, and San Dieguito Academy) are among the best in the whole county.

[loveautumn]

St. John's Catholic Church has a very good school pre-K thru 8th grade...and alot of people who also aren't Catholic send their kids there.

[1kailuagirl]

Originally Posted by Charles

Why did you decide on the Encinitas area?

This may provide some help with schools

School Performance Maps

thanks for that great map.....my husband and I are former Californians and have spent much time in SD...His job doesn't have alot of commuting and we wanted a more laid back, surf town vibe. We are an active, outdoors family. After a bunch of research, and finding the schools were good, Encinitas seemed a good fit.

[1kailuagirl]

Originally Posted by Encinitan

Well, the good news is, the Encinitas Union School District (K-6) is pretty good, certainly above average, from top to bottom. But there are a few schools that underperform a bit based on the rest of the district, although they are still strong in terms of most schools countywide.
The top performers among elementary schools, I would say, are Olivenhain Pioneer, Mission Estancia, Flora Vista. Park Dale Lane, La Costa Heights, and Ada Harris are tops too, but maybe a cut below the others. Only Ocean Knoll is a real problem in terms of testing, largely because there is a large number of English learners and Spanish speakers there. That tends to hurt the language test scores. By and large, as I said, the EUSD schools are top notch. The high schools in the San Dieguito Union High School District (La Costa Canyon, Torrey Pines, and San Dieguito Academy) are among the best in the whole county.

Thanks so much for all that info...You have set me on a good path

[cobmw]

The API score for San Dieguito Academy is only 810. Yet it is rated in a US News and World Report article as one of the top 200 schools in the country. Any idea how the school can be rated so high with such a mediocre API score?

[Charles]

Originally Posted by cobmw

The API score for San Dieguito Academy is only 810. Yet it is rated in a US News and World Report article as one of the top 200 schools in the country. Any idea how the school can be rated so high with such a mediocre API score?

Compare the evaluation criteria between the two raters. For example, one rater may weigh demographics (parents education attainment, ESL students, median incomes, etc) into the calculation more than the other rater.