What makes Poway School District so Desirable? (San Diego, Rancho Santa Fe: for sale, HOA fees)

[earlyretirement]

I have a question for all you local experts. I keep reading how Poway has excellent school districts. We have 2 young kids and planned on moving this Fall to either La Jolla or near Carmel Valley due to the great schools. But I'm reading a lot of older posts where people are mentioning Poway and the excellent schools.

Can you mention what makes them so great? Is it the high test scores, student to teacher ratio, condition of schools, great staff, etc? What makes them better than other schools in other good school districts?

It would be great to know as I don't know the San Diego area well and trying to do as much research as possible. We are looking for homes to purchase and we just noticed homes near Rancho Santa Fe which many are in the Poway School District. Some of them, the prices are really starting to come down and there are MANY houses for sale.

One thing we noticed is many of them sitting on the market long periods of time. Much longer than in other areas. It's most likely because almost all of them have high Mello Roos and monthly HOA fees. Combined some of them have $800 a month fees which most likely makes them more difficult to sell but some still seem worth looking at if the school district is that good.

I'd appreciate a bit of understanding on what makes Poway School District so desirable. Thanks in advance.

[NYSD1995]

Combination of:

- Relatively homogenous upper-middle class demographics (no bussing from poor areas)
- history of passing school bonds (less dependent on state funding)
- most schools are recently built

[shmoov_groovzsd]

HI earlyretirement, I posed a broader question a couple of weeks ago. You might find it somewhat insightful to read through the replies. I am sure there are quite a few experts here that can help with your question more specifically.
I am still baffled by this whole rating system etc.
School Rating/ District Explanation, Please?

[earlyretirement]

Great. Thanks so much for taking the time to answer. These forums are really helpful for those moving to a new area. This is helpful to know. Especially the part about "no bussing from poor areas". I have a friend that lives in La Jolla and she told me that even in La Jolla they bus in from poorer areas so this is good to know.

Thanks also Shmoov_groovzsd for reposting that link. I did a search but didn't see your post before. Thanks.

[HappyTrish]

I'm not sure what the true defining factor is, but Poway schools are fabulous! In my experience, the teachers and principals truly feel invested in each child and parents get involved. My son's elementary school has "lunch with dads" once a month and, on average, 70% of dads come to eat lunch with their kids. If you don't already know about this site, www.greatschools.com helps compare schools and districts with data such as teacher/student ratios, demographics, English as second language, etc.

LaJolla is hard to beat with the ocean so near, but Poway schools are hard to beat and a short drive to the ocean. Carmel Valley and Rancho Santa Fe will likely have HIGH HOAs and Mello Roos. Check out Rancho Bernardo and northern Poway and those added expenses will greatly decrease. If you are looking for an upscale area, look in Poway near the winery (Rancho Bernardo Winery) or some of the gated communities along Espola Rd.
I hope this helps!

[earlyretirement]

HappyTrish,

I hear the same thing over and over about Poway. If you had to name something negative about the school district would you have anything to list? "Lunch with dads" once a month sounds really great.

You're right about the high HOA fees and Mellos Roos fees in Carmel Valley and especially Rancho Santa Fe. We are seeing some great houses in those areas but some of them between the HOA and Mellos Roos have $900 a month fees just in those fees not counting property taxes. Still doable for us but not exactly excited about high HOA and Mello Roos fees.

We're excited to move to the area and looking every day on Realtor.com and Redfin for houses. Hopefully (for us anyway) prices fall a bit more. We have noticed lately prices are coming down and some owners are more motivated to sell. Some are selling much lower than their listing prices.

Thanks for the great information.

[oddstray]

Originally Posted by earlyretirement

...
I hear the same thing over and over about Poway. If you had to name something negative about the school district would you have anything to list? ....

Perhaps that it's more culturally homogeneous than the world beyond the PUSD? Maybe a bit too much sense of entitlement among the PUSD kids?

[futbol]

My kids attend PUSD schools. The teachers care. The parents care, and are involved.

PUSD schools have money.

Many of the parents are educated themselves.

There are not many discipline problems. Kids who are disruptive are sent to another school until they can correct their behavior.

[miyu]

From what I remember a long time ago they had good extracurricular (especially music) programs. It's still a public school though. Not super strong in the sciences or any of the academic decathlon type stuff. I always thought Torrey Pines was much stronger. Poway is an easy school and there are certainly some disruptive kids who go there but nothing like LAUSD.

[HappyTrish]

It's difficult to come up with a negative about PUSD. I guess it would be budget cuts, but that is true for all school districts. The nice thing about Poway schools is the parents pick up where the budget falls short. You do pay for buses in middle and high school if you use them. I'm not sure how that is in the other school districts.

I've never gotten the impression that the kids feel more entitled in PUSD. Some drive pretty nice cars, but that's true all over San Diego. Overall, I think that money is more understated in Poway and RB than other areas. It's not "in your face, out for show" even though many have high incomes.

When it comes to the high HOAs and Mello Roos, I'd rather put that $600-1000 each month into my mortagage for a bigger house with more land. Seriously look at Poway houses near Lomas Verde Estates (near winery, north of Espola Rd). Beautiful homes with larger lots. There are also great homes on golf courses in both Rancho Bernardo and Poway if that's something you would like.