Cheapest 1 or 2 bdrm apts in S. SF w/in great school districts? (San Jose: best schools)

[benandgrace]

Hi. I'm new to the SF forum. My family and I are considering SJ and S. SF. I could work as a medical lab courier in either of the two places and my wife could as well, as a RN. A 1 bdrm within very good school district in SJ will be about 1200, I think. I don't know where the good school disctricts are in S. SF. I don't even know what sides/parts of SF are good/bad. Thanks for any help.

[mdwstrnkid]

Originally Posted by benandgrace

Hi. I'm new to the SF forum. My family and I are considering SJ and S. SF. I could work as a medical lab courier in either of the two places and my wife could as well, as a RN. A 1 bdrm within very good school district in SJ will be about 1200, I think. I don't know where the good school disctricts are in S. SF. I don't even know what sides/parts of SF are good/bad. Thanks for any help.

Well, I don't think that you'll find many good public schools in SF, at least at the elementary school level. Also, keep in mind that housing in SF is significantly more expensive that it is in San Jose. I took a quick look at CL and saw that most of the 1BR units under 1500 are for shared housing, in-law units, studios, or are in sketchy areas.

[twins4lynn]

You mention SF and SSF, which are two different cities. Which one are you considering?

[CAMademoiselle]

I don't know about San Jose, but there is just one school district in San Francisco (San Francisco Unified School District) and the public schools are not zoned. Rather, for elementary and middle school, you fill out an application listing your preferred school in rank.

When I switched my son to public from private, I actually had to go to the district to bring all the paperwork and met with a great lady. She was able to tell me instantly whether or not there was a space in my first choice school and even called me after the school year started when a space opened up. I found the system very easy to navigate.

As far as good public elementary schools, there are some. I switched my son from a private school in the city to a public school and so far he's done much better at public than with what I paid for -- go figure.

You will have to do your research though to find a school that fits both your needs. If you have a question about a specific SF school, you can PM me.

[sonarrat]

Burlingame has the best schools in the area, but a one-bedroom that wouldn't be unbearable to live in will set you back $1500 and up.

[benandgrace]

twinsforlynn, I would probably work in SSF and the thought of living as close as possible to work sound best to me, though I don't know anything about SSF.

[benandgrace]

CAMademoiselle, so it's first come first serve? I'm guessing the reason why someone on this thread mentioned there being no good elementary schools in SF is because a lot of rough kids (with parents who didn't procrastinate about getting their kids to good schools) are in those schools. Anyway, thanks for your offer about the info. I'll message you in the future if I need to.

Originally Posted by CAMademoiselle

I don't know about San Jose, but there is just one school district in San Francisco (San Francisco Unified School District) and the public schools are not zoned. Rather, for elementary and middle school, you fill out an application listing your preferred school in rank.

When I switched my son to public from private, I actually had to go to the district to bring all the paperwork and met with a great lady. She was able to tell me instantly whether or not there was a space in my first choice school and even called me after the school year started when a space opened up. I found the system very easy to navigate.

As far as good public elementary schools, there are some. I switched my son from a private school in the city to a public school and so far he's done much better at public than with what I paid for -- go figure.

You will have to do your research though to find a school that fits both your needs. If you have a question about a specific SF school, you can PM me.

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by benandgrace

twinsforlynn, I would probably work in SSF and the thought of living as close as possible to work sound best to me, though I don't know anything about SSF.

SSF is a nice enough town, but I don't think the school districts are very good. At least when I was in high school (1990s), they were known to be among the worst on the Peninsula. As it was already mentioned, Burlingame has very good schools - so do San Mateo, Foster City (which partners with SM for high school), Redwood City, Palo Alto, and a few others. If you do end up working in SSF, you might want to check out Pacifica... it would be an easy commute, and while I'm not 100% sure, I believe the schools are pretty good. Rents are still fairly "affordable" too, compared to the other cities I mentioned.

[twins4lynn]

I second the suggestion of Burlingame. They have excellent schools all the way through (elementary, middle and high school). It's a very safe place to live, and a quick commute to SSF.

[benandgrace]

Thanks, everyone, for the tips on cities and schools. I'm going to keep that info in mind and do some research on them sometime.