HELP! Been offered relocation to Carlsbad

[jselby]

Another private school near Carlsbad is the Waldorf School. In the lower years, i.e., k-2, a Waldorf education is very similar to Montessori but the public schools there also have a good reputation depending on what it is you are looking for in a school. These reputations are built on API scores which means that they have students who can take standardized tests really well. A Waldorf education is very "hands on" and the child is quite revered...very similar to Montessori. I'm pretty sure Waldorf has a website. The rest about Carlsbad is pretty much covered by other posts. Good luck!

[mark311]

Since you're from Saratoga, you would probably like Carlsbad or Encinitas, but Del Mar has a more "Saratoga" feel to it. It has a small upper class mall by the beach and a little strip along Pacific Coast Highway that could be compared to that street in Saratoga with "La Fondue" (can't remember the name of the street).
Unfortunately, Del Mar is a lot of old money. You'll find more younger families in Carlsbad or Encinitas in my opinion. La Jolla is too far of a commute back to Carlsbad in my opinion as you won't be gaining that much over Del Mar. Stop by Pizza Port in Carlsbad on Carlsbad Village Drive near the beach as that is where a lot of the younger crowd tends to go. Del Mar is also very close to Rancho Santa Fe which is one of the highest income communities in the entire nation. I went to High School in Carlsbad and it was great, but if I could afford it, I would choose Del Mar as it just seemed to be one step above the other areas in the North County Coastal area. Plus you are a bit closer to the nightlife of San Diego and downtown.

[magnumforc]

Originally Posted by Calihappy

I live in Saratoga, just outside of San Jose. I've been offered relocation to Carlsbad and have no idea what it's like. I've been to San Diego and really liked it, but that's the city and from what I understand, carlsbad is the outside of it.

I am a young, married, urban professional with a 3 year old in Montessori. We like a fun nightlife, restaurants and a younger crowd (late 20's). Is there anything there to do? Are there good private schools? Privacy?

I would appreciate any input.

Thanks!!!

Carlsbad is a great place to live and work. I've been here over 20 years and watched it grow. Good schools, very low crime rates and close to the beach with cool summers and temperate winters make it the best of San Diego County.

Cost of housing is still climbing, versus the rest of the county where proces have stabilized or are falling a bit. Recent press states Encinitas and Carlsbad are the only two places where house prices continue to grow in the county.

Traffic is becoming a nightmare. South I-5 is bad all day long anymore, from about 6 AM right through 7 PM weekdays and all through mid day Saturday. Northbound is bad from about 2 PM through 7 PM weekdays and not usually bad on weekends. Commute time from Palomar Airport Road in Carlsbad south on I-5 to Santa Fe Drive in Encinitas can be as short as 10 minutes or as long as 45 minutes depending on the time and the day, so you can never know except to allow lots of time to get anywhere.

Beaches are excellent, crowded on weekends but less so during the week, and all wide open except for the locals during the non-summer and holiday seasons. Lots of excellent cafes and restaurants in town and the periphery, some good night life if you ask a local.

Lots of local attractions in San Diego, in addition to Legoland for the littler folks here in carlsbad.

All in all, a great place to be.

[CalGrown]

Hi......this reply comes quite a bit later than your original post, but I have some insights which might be helpful. I live in Carlsbad and have 3 kids in school. I am older than you are, but find fun things to do in the Village and Downtown Encinitas. But the crowd is definitely not as young as you would find downtown SD (which is fine by me!). My oldest 2 kids went to Encinitas Country Day for a couple of years (pre-school thru 1st grade).....at the time, it was loosely based on Montessori principles. They have expanded up thru 12th grade and opened a new campus. However, my youngest daughter (7 yrs) went 3 yrs to pre-school at Bethlehem Day Care (the day-care is a full-day program, whereas the pre-school is a half-day schedule). She absolutely LOVED it there!! Even now, in 2nd grade, she asks about once a month to go back and visit her "old school". I think that says a lot about a place! You asked about private schools......there are a number of them in the C-bad/Encinitas area, both parochial and not. My 3 kids are in parochial school in Encinitas. If you plan to keep your son (and any future kids) in private school thru high school, then I think Carlsbad is a great community. The public grammar schools all have great ratings, but the one HS has many shortcomings (a 2nd one is being built). If you don't want to move again until after your kids are thru HS, and plan to send them to public school, then I would choose an area of Encinitas/La Costa that is served by the San Dieguito Unified HS District (the grade schools are either Carlsbad or Encinitas Unified......it's confusing). Also, if you move to Carlsbad and want your kids to go to Carlsbad schools, be sure to check the district boundary lines, as some parts of the city are served by San Marcos Unified.