Relocating to Silicon Valley- need an area with good public schools (San Jose: neighborhood, school district)

[SportyandMisty]

GreatSchools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community


At the end of the day, few things we do as parents effect our children as much as the choice of school. With minor exception, the schools we choose for our children determine the universe from which our children will select their friends & peers, which in turn will have an impact on how they see themselves relative to society at large including what they want to be when they grow up.

One strategy some people take is to live in a (relatively) more affordable home which may mean living in a (relatively) worse school district and then send their children to private school. Sometimes logistics of before-school and after-school care & programs dictate what works for you.

Check out The Harker School.

[mstnghu2]

Originally Posted by neutrino78x

Wait, 95122 is actually downtown. I lived there for a year and loved it, very safe and exciting. It's more for young people though or at least those with a young person mentality. nit sure if it had good schools. Agree about east San Jose.

95122 is actually an East Side zip code, not downtown. I used to go to high school in that part of town and wouldn't recommend anywhere to live in that entire zip code. You can find some good ethnic places to eat, but that's it. You might be thinking of 95112, which is a downtown zip code. 95122 is one of the overall highest crime zip codes in all of SJ and it's just a rundown and dumpy area of the city.

[californiamommyof2]

Thanks again for all of the advice! The areas that tend to be a little more run down always seem to have the absolute best ethnic food for whatever reason.

SportyandMisty, I'm very, very interested in the Harker school. Is this a private school? The website doesn't provide much information about cost.

Also, I keep seeing articles about silicon valley and problems with prostitution and drugs. I'm somewhat libertarian in that regard, where I think these things could be better regulated if legal, but at the same time wouldn't want to live in an area where this was present. When I look up the crime rates of this and my alternative- San Francisco- SF's crime statistics are much higher, but when I go on CNN...

I guess what I am wondering is if any of you feel like the crime is going up or down in the area? Is this something that is becoming more prevalent?

[jk88cal]

Harker is an expensive private school that has strict admissions policy. Both kids and parents have to be interviewed.

The tuition is on the website:
The Harker School: Tuition and Financial Aid

Preschool Full Day: $23,900 / Half Day: $16,900
Kindergarten $29,800
1-5 $29,800
6-8 $37,600
9-12 $40,500

[sonarrat]

Originally Posted by californiamommyof2

Thanks again for all of the advice! The areas that tend to be a little more run down always seem to have the absolute best ethnic food for whatever reason.

SportyandMisty, I'm very, very interested in the Harker school. Is this a private school? The website doesn't provide much information about cost.

Also, I keep seeing articles about silicon valley and problems with prostitution and drugs. I'm somewhat libertarian in that regard, where I think these things could be better regulated if legal, but at the same time wouldn't want to live in an area where this was present. When I look up the crime rates of this and my alternative- San Francisco- SF's crime statistics are much higher, but when I go on CNN...

I guess what I am wondering is if any of you feel like the crime is going up or down in the area? Is this something that is becoming more prevalent?

There are some problems that have been bubbling for a while and seem to be reaching a flash point.. mainly homelessness and panhandling. You will see them on every single major street corner in the city, no matter how nice the neighborhood, and homeless encampments have grown to epidemic levels. Another one is fireworks, which surprisingly enough, have been related with gang activity in recent years. If you're wondering why you hear them year round in some areas, that is why.

[Wintermomma]

Originally Posted by sonarrat

There are some problems that have been bubbling for a while and seem to be reaching a flash point.. mainly homelessness and panhandling. You will see them on every single major street corner in the city, no matter how nice the neighborhood, and homeless encampments have grown to epidemic levels. Another one is fireworks, which surprisingly enough, have been related with gang activity in recent years. If you're wondering why you hear them year round in some areas, that is why.

And graffiti - everywhere! The lazy gang-style and the more elaborate (which baffles me as to how they can be there undetected for long enough to complete it). Like sonarrat said about the panhandlers, it doesn't matter how nice the neighbrhood is, though the worse areas have more. Every major corner and off-ramp in SJ seem to have a guy with a sign.

I had no idea fireworks had to do with gangs - what is that about?

I keep hoping we will get more, dedicated, police officers to sweep this sludge away. The cost of housing is skyrocketing, so naturally there is a new influx of taxes - where is it going? I think SJ is just too geographically big and they ought to dice it up and make city boundaries (and school districts) that make sense, then better serve the SJ citizens and the others in this random fingers of SJ get better served by their new and smaller cities.

Sorry to OP for the ranting tangent.

[Local123]

This is crazy. San Jose is not a slummy gang infested city. I don't know where you are all hanging out but my neighborhood looks quite lovely.

[sonarrat]

Originally Posted by Local123

This is crazy. San Jose is not a slummy gang infested city. I don't know where you are all hanging out but my neighborhood looks quite lovely.

I agree, most of the neighborhoods in the city look pretty nice. Even the crummy neighborhoods off Alum Rock and King are pretty, and have willow trees and the like. And the best areas of San Jose are up there with places like Sausalito or Piedmont - very pleasant to live in, terrific weather, upscale and safe with great schools. They are also less expensive than the above, though still not cheap.

It's just as difficult to paint all of San Jose with a broad brush as it is to paint all of Oakland or San Francisco. There are a lot of shades in the spectrum. However, there are certain problems that you will encounter in almost any part of San Jose, that you will rarely if ever see in the neighboring towns because overall, they are better policed and managed. Same with San Francisco.. there are problems that cross the entire city that you will never encounter in Daly City or San Bruno.

[WillowGlenMom]

We were in a similar school predicament last year. Our son is also a few years above grade level in several academic areas. He had previously attended a public charter school for gifted kids in another state. We found the Harker School and could not be happier! Of course, it is very expensive! If you have any specific questions about Harker, feel free to send me a message.

Also, I am from a small town on the east coast and now live in Willow Glen (a neighborhood in San Jose). Willow Glen is a wonderful place to live. We have a very walkable downtown and many family-oriented activities. I have lived in many urban and rural places throughout the U.S. and feel the people in Willow Glen are the friendliest I have encountered. Many of our neighbors have lived in the area for decades. With that said, living in California, in general, you will see more homeless people, graffiti, and really nice houses next to neglected homes than in many other areas of the country. I see this in San Jose, but also in the very affluent areas (such as Los Gatos). Also, the weather in San Jose is just incredible...at least to an east coaster :-) Good luck!

[Wintermomma]

Originally Posted by Local123

This is crazy. San Jose is not a slummy gang infested city. I don't know where you are all hanging out but my neighborhood looks quite lovely.

As does mine, but then venture out...or even it comes to me. Recently my neighborhood park is getting tagged and the police reported it is gang tagging. Again, I love my neighborhood, it is nice, with nice people, but the sludge oozes everywhere, seemingly unchecked. I don't live in one of the 'high rent' (read Cupertino/Willow Glen schools) areas of SJ, but it is far from an inexpensive area.

I drove on the 87 N to the 280 W this weekend, which is not rare for me. Graffiti, HUGE AMOUNTS is all over and over and over. Today I drove the reverse route...again all over the place. It makes me wonder if the CHP ever even reports it to CalTrans or they just wait for interested citizens to do it. And while I often make the effort to do so on city streets, speeding down the highway it is not possible unless I am a passenger. I don't know where you are from, but where I am huge amounts of graffiti = slummy. The few are ruining it for the many here and trying to take over and it steams me to no end.