Relocation to Orange County Family with children Schools (Laguna Niguel, San Clemente: house, neighborhood)

[myers1222]

We are relocating to Orange County by May 2017. Would love to hear from current families attending schools in the area for a private Catholic Education or at min Christian. Searching for a pulse on your school's academics, administration, safety, diversity, socio economic, white-caucasian ratio. We have never relocated and plan to choose schools first then neighborhood to live baed upon the areas closest to the schools.

Next year we would have 8th grader (with golf as a primary competitor sport), 5th grader with soccer/basketball/golf, and 1 daughter who loves volleyball. So we are looking for Elementary as well as High School. Would also like to know about drug issues in schools if any. and if there is a particular community/area most from your particular school would live so as to be surrounded by families from the same school we should choose. House is up to $2.5M budget.

also would love to know of a private golf club to join that is very children friendly where my son can play golf with other boys with similar interest safely. Or at least walking distance to a golf course for him from our neighborhood.

Thanks in advance. All advice welcomed.

[RosieSD]

My earlier post was removed by the moderators when this thread was moved, but just in case you aren't aware of it, the Diocese of Orange County has a searchable database of all of the Catholic schools in the County that you may find helpful. You can search by city or zip code and level of school, and also get a map showing where all of the schools are located in the County.

In addition, the site includes links to each school and has lots of other information (including videos of some schools) about parochial school options within the Diocese.

That will at least allow you to start thinking about parts of the county where you might like to live in relation to where Catholic schools are located.

Here is the link: Diocese of Orange Catholic Schools

Good luck with your move!

[2MovingForward]

Not sure what part of OC. But many great areas in south OC. Coto de caza, dove canyon, ladera Ranch are wonderful places. Great place to raise a family and great schools. Crystal cove and Newport coast as well are wonderful locations.

[2MovingForward]

There are golf courses in these areas as well. Jserra HS and Santa Margarita are the private schools catholic schools in the area.

[ajohnson161]

St. Margarets is the premier option for private schools in the area. It is very pricy, and very hard to get into, but it runs k-12 and has amazing facilities. It is not Catholic though, it is Episcopal. If your kids go to St. Margarets it opens up a large possibility of very nice, less pretentious, family friendly home locations in South OC. San Clemente, Dana Point, Laguna Niguel, even Laguna Beach. The best "golf club" in town imho is El Niguel which is located in Laguna Niguel. I have a friend who's son is in 6th grade at St. Margarets and also golfs at El Niguel, they cater to the kids very well. It is strictly about Golf there though. If you want a more all around "Country Club", Marbella is down the street from St. Margarets. The golf course is still very nice, though not as good as El Niguel, but they also have a great swimming facility and tennis. Overall OC can be so different depending on where you land, I personally would stay away from the "Newport" areas and dig a little deeper into Laguna Niguel, Dana Point, and San Clemente for a better family vibe. Fire away if you have any more questions... I have a great realtor as well if you need one. You can't go wrong in South OC, you will love living here.