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Moving to San Jose
Suff76 November 12, 2011
Hello. My wife, 5 year old son and I are planning on moving to San Jose some time over the summer of 2012. Although my son will be in Elementary School over the next couple of years,we are interested in finding out about good School Districts in San Jose. Does anyone have any thought and or suggestions??
Thank You!!
sjbirdy December 27, 2011
An area that you may want to consider is the Cambrian area of San Jose. We have been living here for about 10 years. Our son went to Elementary school here and is currently in Middle school.
The Union School District is truly a 'Diamond in the Rough' in my opinion. Pretty much all the schools have a 900+ API score which is quite comparable to the schools in Cupertino, however the house prices are extremely affordable. I assume the rents are affordable too.
What I have liked a lot about the schools in this district is that there is no unnecessary pressure on children and with the variety of activities both in and out of school, the kids can enjoy their childhood while getting a top notch education.75489
thibaud January 7, 2012
Agree with sjbirdy and would single out Noddin Elementary in the Union School District. Strong principal, many good teachers, high API scores, grouping by ability for Language Arts, and affordable housing. Many international families with parents working in technology have moved into the neighborhood in the last 5 years, which keeps pushing the API scores higher.
Also a beautiful neighborhood close to the mountains with many fine parks, not far from both Los Gatos downtown (5 mins) and beaches (30 mins). All in all, the highest API-to-real estate price ratio you'll find in the Bay Area.75705
mkrhodes January 21, 2012
San Jose is a really big place! There are a lot of good and bad choices. I grew up in the Union School District attending Guadeloupe Elementary in Almaden Valley (900 + API). I live in the Evergreen SD and was so unhappy with my son's 800ish school (Cedar Grove) that I transferred him to an Oak Grove SD program called Indigo (@ Frost). It's tough at 5 to even know what your child's needs will be beyond a reasonable good elementary school. I really changed my view of what school should be doing for my son after a few years at a traditional school. Now he is back at the local HS (Evergreen Valley). It turns out that we had picked a good location as far as a high scoring HS, which is useful. I would definitely question SDs where ESL is a big issue, unless that is helpful for you. ESL uses up a lot of resources & there are so little to go around these days. (Franklin McKinley & Alum Rock both have big ESL populations). There are also good charter & private schools around so you have some fall back for any grade. You should post a question when you have it narrowed down. Good luck!76108
runner636 February 6, 2012
My husband and I are in the same situation. I have had trouble even getting my daughter on the lottery for some charter schools because she isn't currently a california resident (even though my husband already accepted a job offer there to start summer of 2012). I was able to get her in the rocketship lottery and I believe Cornerstone will let her in soon too. I noticed a poster earlier recommending Cornerstone; caps2010, are you familiar with it? What have you heard about it or what is your experience with it? I think it is a fairly new school, so I am having a hard time finding many reviews of it.76437
rspamom31 May 19, 2012
I highly recommend checking out one of the Rocketship Schools. Go to these websites below and call one of the schools in the area and they will be happy to give you a tour and meeting with you and answer any questions that you may have. I'm a proud Rocketship School parent!
www.rsed.org
rocketshipdp-charters-ca.schoolloop.com
vimeo.com/30557533
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