Can you give me advice on good charter/ magnet schools in OC? (Santa Ana: apartments, homes)

[anagrig]

Our daughter is currently attending a great middle/high charter school in Massachusetts with specialization in math and science. They also have a great humanities curriculum. Very rigorous academics for free (just need to participate in fundraisers). If anyone could recommend a really great charter or magnet school that serves 8th grade and up, would be sincerely appreciated.
I don't want to go private not because we could not afford it (it definitely will be a burden), but mostly because she would hate to be around the snobby ,rich kids. Right now she is surrounded mostly by the kids who come from highly educated professional families. Many of them are Indian, Russian, Jewish immigrants. We love this kind of diversity, especially since everyone shares the same goal of providing the best education for the kids.

if anyone could give me advice from personal experience, I would be thrilled!

[cobmw]

It's sad that there are no charter schools in OC that specialize in science or math. There are only a couple of good charter schools of any kind in OC. Oxford Academy produces some smart kids in all disciplines but you must first attend an Anaheim school (yuck) to qualify to attend. Then you must compete for a spot at Oxford. It won't be easy. The other good charter is Orange County School of the Arts. While they do have a good academic program their main emphasis is on the arts. School hours are until 4:40 each day so kids can practice their art discipline. And it is in Santa Ana.

Why aren't there more top-notch charter schools in an area with a conservative base like OC? Frustrating question. Best answer I can give is that there just aren't that many good charter schools anywhere in the state considering its size (CO while much smaller has many good charter schools). The CA teachers association is the largest financial contributor to politics in CA. They run the education show and they do not like competition from charter schools.

[Coldjensens]

Fullerton Troy is similar to Oxford Academy. You have to live in Fullerton to go there.

there is a small private school in orange that has phenomenal college placement records. I cannot remember the name it is ___________ for gifted children. The high school has a graduating class of about 8. Quite a few of the kids are children of foreign dignitaries or businesspersons. All grades (K-12) attend at the same building, but do not mix much.

[missionhome]

I would recommend Troy High School. The school is very respected and I believe was ranked in the top 40 in the nation, but it also functions as a traditional high school. The Troy Tech program is a magnet program though.

[bhcompy]

Plenty of great schools in orange county, and most advanced programs are run through the school.

Los Alamitos School District has very good programs and is a highly rated public district.
Mater Dei High School is a Catholic school in Santa Ana that does very well.
South OC has plenty of good schools and districts, but will have less diversity. Typically white, asian, and indian.

Basically, if you want to place your kid in an advanced program, send them to a good district, have them test in, and you'd good.

I came out of a private school, went to a public middle school in the area, did very well on entrance tests, and moved up in Math and Science.

As far as diversity, you'll find that there is diversity, but some schools still have problems.

Someone mentioned Orange County High School for the Arts(called "osha"), and that is a fine school. Used to be located within Los Alamitos High School, but was then formed as it's own near the Santa Ana courthouse. Arts/Acting related mostly.

Honestly, I would suggest the Los Alamitos District. 8th grade would put your child in one of two schools, Oak or Christa McAuliffe Middle School, and high school would put your child in Los Alamitos High School. Diverse, safe, less snooty than southern OC(since you mentioned adversity to the richer private school folks), very good advanced programs and electives, sports, etc. Los Alamitos, Rossmoor, and Seal Beach are mainly the cities that goto the distict(90720 and 90740 are the zip codes). Seal Beach is a classic beach community with nice housing and some newer developments inland. Los Alamitos has some housing, but most apartments. Rossmoor is an unincorporated area nestled between Los Al and Seal Beach filled mostly with ranch style homes and homes that have been remodeled since then.

[Coldjensens]

The private school is El Dorado school for gifted children. Very Diverse, kind of Bohemian. awesome results. Very expensive though.

[cobmw]

Our boy went to Emmerson/Eldorado for a couple of years - then we switched to homeschooling (a mistake). It is a good school. Considerable emphasis on art and music. Cost is about the same as any private school. Very small with about half student body from overseas.

So far as the public school system is CA is concerned you cannot escape a simple fact: even in the best, most costly, prettiest neighborhoods the schools that you will send your kids to will have 40-50 percent of the kids who do not reach proficiency in math and English. The only exception are those schools with large Asian populations where the Asian kids bring up the averages due to their stellar performance. CA schools are in a sorry state.

[anagrig]

The hostility of public schools towards charters is tremendous here in MA too. They feel threatened by the great academic results charter schools manage to achieve with the same or less amount of money spent per student.
Thanks for the advice.

[anagrig]

THANKS! I'll check the tuition.

[anagrig]

Thanks so much fro the advice. I have been contemplating Seal Beach. i guess i will like that!