Moving to Inland Empire...Need suggestions on areas and schools (Long Beach: appointed, for sale)

[randidavis]

Hello...Hoping someone can provide me with some information on the inland empire area. Will be working in Rancho Cucamonga. Have a 6th and 8th grader and would like to buy a home. Somewhat familiar with the area from living there about 12 years ago but I know much has changed. Looking for a decent area to buy that has decent schools. Looked on the Great Schools website and was greatly disappointed with the test scores and the ratings of pretty much all public schools and noticed in the comments of parents the major concern was the security and fighting in the schools. Coming from Houston, TX where my children are in advanced and accelerated classes within the public school system, I would like to keep them in the same atmosphere but without the fighting that seems to occur at the schools i have looked at. The areas (looking on Realtor.com) that I can afford to even buy a house are in the Moreno Valley, Victorville and Applevalley areas. But the schools are somewhat questionable.... If anyone out there is a Realtor and has some knowledge about the area and the schools that would be a plus. Also a little concerned about the commute so any info regarding that would also be helpful. Thanks a lot for any help or guidance you can provide.

[dweej]

If you give us your target budget, commute time, and home size we could probably give you some better advice. Also, remember that there is one upside to the the CA RE market over the TX market, and that's the lower property taxes, so you might be able to budget just a little more for home price....

[randidavis]

Our target budget for a home is in the $250,000 range. Would like to keep the commute under 1 hour. We are planning our move for June 09. Thanks....

[bhcompy]

not so sure about the RC area, but one thing to keep in mind is that unlike most of the nation, the school year here typically starts after labor day and ends in mid june

[unbe]

im considering of moving to the Inland Empire from OC too, as i was searching on reviews or location of which area is good/decent/safe, i stumble on a website called

America's Promise Alliance - 100 Best (http://www.americaspromise.org/APAMiniNF.aspx?id=8426 - broken link)

Fontana is named as 1 of the good ones.

But I also know that Rancho is a great city to live in. It is one of the best ones. I don't know about the school district though. I'm not planning on moving there (RC) because it would be a far commute for me. I was looking into Corona, Chino, & Chino Hills. You may want to try looking up their districts. GOOD LUCK.

[mom2cheer]

I would say move to Apple Valley, nice prices on homes about 40 minutes to Rancho and then send your kids to Encore in Hesperia. First year charter school. Offers dancing, singing, band, chior, rock band, acting, and the classes are small. No fights here kids are safe. Offers exstended hours for parents who work down the hill. Offers tutoring for students who need it and. Even has Saturday school for kids who don't have anything to do on weekends. You can find information on school at Encorehighschool.com Grades are 7th through 12th. Low class ratio and great teaching staff. Apple Valley is a great neighborhood and really friendly. I live here and I work in Long Beach and the school and the home make my 2 hour drive worth every thing.

[randidavis]

Thank you very much mom2cheer. I had thought about apple valley and had actually looked at some homes on realtor.com. I will contact the school after the holiday to get more information. Are there any schools in the area that are similar for my 6th grader?? Again, thanks very much....

[Melissa91762]

Before my son began 1st grade I went to the school district websites. For instance I think Rancho has several school districts. So I just googled "Rancho Cucamonga Unifed School District." I was able to get a map of the school boundires. It was time consuming, but I checked each school's website. I was able to find API scores, the number of students attending the school. The percentage of students by race/ethnicity & several other things. Then I moved to the area I could afford with the best possible school. Recently I was looking at condo's for sale in the Creekside area of Ontario. I looked at the schools website for that district (Mountain View). They seem so have some great schools. Good luck.

[ccritter]

I grew up in Apple Valley, and my parents and siblings still live there. I loved it. My dad works for the public school system (teaching 8th grade science), and I think it's really good (though I must admit I don't know any different). They have a GATE program that gives specail classes for gifted students. I've been in science clubs in middle and high school that take us too cool places like Catalina island, Sea World, and the Long Beach aquarium. Prices are dropping fast there- they just went through a huge building boom where prices skyrocketted, but now they're falling like crazy. They have a lot of community sports- I attended a few baseball and soccer games with friends, and my sisters and I were enrolled in gymnastics for a little while. We lived right on the edge of town, and our favorite activity was hiking in the granite mountains behind our house. The freeway (I-15) is pretty close. Watch out for bad traffic, especially on the north side of town. Anything else you want to know?

[jasmine22]

i'd check out the eastvale part of corona. 92880. quick commute up the 71 to RC.