schools in castro valley vs. san leandro?? (San Francisco, Oakland: neighborhood, school district)

[drjcl]

Can I ask a question about relocation?

We may be taking a job at Kindred Hospital at 2800 Benedict Dr in San Leandro.

Considering the Bayovista area of San Leandro, versus areas in Castro Valley.

We have two young twin daughters who will be starting elementary school in 2 years..

Trying to find specific info about the schools in these two areas.. I am aware that there are these SARC reports… but, they seem pretty confusing to read.

Can you just tell me which area of the two has the better schools, lower crime, drugs, gangs, violence, etc…

Thanks in Advance,

John
screensaver at cox.net

[sanl]

SL school district-
Elementary- OK for some.

chk out -St Leander Elementary School
-Wilson Elementary School

[jrb724]

Castro Valley schools are superior overall if you go by API test scores. The CV district scores in the 800's versus San Leandro in the 700's.

For elementary schools, the difference in scores is much smaller (there are some elementary schools in SL on par with CV). The reason for the 100 point difference in the two districts is primarily due to the lower middle and high school scores in San Leandro.


Keep in mind that parts of Castro Valley are part of the Hayward school district, which generally scores a bit lower than San Leandro. Check out the district boundaries and specific school your children will attend before making a decision. The district boundaries can be unusual at times.

[Frank99]

To clarify, there are some parts of unincorporated San Leandro that are part of the Castro Valley school disctrict, but not parts of Castro Valley that are part of the Hayward distict. I lived in Castro Valley for 40 years and my wife spent 30 years in San Leandro. Stay the hell away from San Leandro. Castro Valley schools win hands down. Since there's only one high school in each place it's easy for you to do a comparison. CV is not what it used to be, but this one is a no brainer. San Leandro has been overrun by gangs and SL High School was the first school in California to install security cameras. Also, if you want to go to a mall, you definitely don't want to go to Bay Fair Mall in San Leandro. You'll want to head to Stoneridge Mall in Pleasanton. It seems you've narrowed your search to these 2 places, but I would HIGHLY recommend you consider driving 10 minutes over the hill to San Ramon/Pleasanton/Dublin area to look for a place to live. I say this because, although the Bay O Vista area in the hills is fine, you're going to do most of your living (shopping/eating) etc. in another area as San Leandro is a complete ghetto nowadays.

[NorCal Dude]

A growing concern in Castro Valley has been address fraud. Too many people trying to weasel their kids into castro valley schools knowing dang well their children live in the Ghettos of Hayward and San Leandro. Over all the schools are not what they used to be but out of all the communities in the East bay you really will only find better schools in Alameda and Piedmont.

[18Montclair]

Actually NorCalDude,
Oakland has higher scoring elementary schools than not only Hayward, San Leandro, Castro Valley and Alameda-but San Francisco too.

Here are the highest scoring elementary schools in SF, Daly City, South City, Millbrae, Southern Marin, Oakland, Berkeley, Piedmont, Orinda and Alameda-I think this gives some ideas of which public elementary schools are the most academically advanced.

Elementary Schools that earned a score of 900+ for its Academic Performance Index(API), for 2007

Let's just say that a score of 800-900 is excellent, and 900 or higher is the creme of the crop.

900+
Orinda-Sleepy Hollow Elem. 979
Oakland-Hillcrest Elem. 961
Orinda-Wagner Ranch Elem. 955
Tiburon-Bel Aire Elem. 954
Orinda-Del Rey Elem. 953
Orinda-Glorietta Elem. 950
Piedmont-Beach Elem. 949
Mill Valley-Edna Maguire Elem. 943
Piedmont-Wildwood Elem. 943
San Francisco-Yu(Alice Fong) Elem. 943
Mill Valley-Tamalpais Elem. 940
Oakland-Thornhill Elem. 938
Piedmont-Havens Elem. 935
Mill Valley-Old Mill Elem. 932
Oakland-Montclair Elem. 932
Mill Valley-Strawberry Point Elem. 926
Alameda-Bay Farm Elem. 920
San Francisco-Clarendon Elem. 920
Mill Valley-Park Elem. 919
Alameda-Earhart Elem. 918
Alameda-Franklin Elem. 917
Tiburon-Reed Elem. 914
Alameda-Edison Elem. 913
San Francisco-Lawton Elem. 907
Oakland-Chabot Elem. 905
San Francisco-Alamo Elem. 903

According to the CA Dept of Education
http://api.cde.ca.gov/reports/page2....submit1=submit

as you can see,Oakland has some of the best.

Middle Schools and High Schools are a different story obviously but elementary schools are a bright spot in the OUSD.

[18Montclair]

Also to the OP, Id rather live in San Leandro's Bay-O-Vista or Estudillo Estates Area than in Castro Valley although I like that area of CV along Crow Canyon as you drive towards San Ramon.

[NorCal Dude]

Montclair showing the few neighborhood middle schools in the wealthy Oakland hills is definatly a good example of the great public schools found in the hillside communities. How ever you and I both know the Middle schools and or High schools that these grammar schools feed into are terrible. San Leandro High is in the bottom 20% of all High schools in API ranking castro valley high is in the top 30% of all California High schools. That is a huge difference. And the main reason many people choose castro valley over san leandro or the main reason many choose to go private in san leandro.

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by NorCal Dude

Montclair showing the few neighborhood middle schools in the wealthy Oakland hills is definatly a good example of the great public schools found in the hillside communities. How ever you and I both know the Middle schools and or High schools that these grammar schools feed into are terrible. San Leandro High is in the bottom 20% of all High schools in API ranking castro valley high is in the top 30% of all California High schools. That is a huge difference. And the main reason many people choose castro valley over san leandro or the main reason many choose to go private in san leandro.

Yes, our middle and high schools are very low as far as test scores.

Some of the middle and high charter schools are quite excellent as far as test scores-American Indian Middle School and High both are over 900.

[NorCal Dude]

Regarding San Leandro there is a section of the southern portion of the city that is Zoned in the Arroyo boundaries of San Lorenzo Unified. Arroyo high school at least is in the top 50% scoring a 6 and from what I hear they try to run a tight ship considering the circumstances.