Sandra Horton

I don't know why it should be so tough to change curriculums, schools, countries 2 years before graduation. It frustrates me! A clever person won't be less clever or experienced from it. It really shouldn't count against anybody. Whether someone knows abit more of American History vs British. It's history non the less as long as some info has been retained in the memory. My boys aren't overly academic. Do all kids go straight to Uni? Don't some just take up a job instead for a few years to find themselves? Here in Dubai most students have tutors to achieve their top marks and I really would hate for my boys to pay hideous fees if they are not seriously commuted to a certain career path. Unfortunately, we are expats living in Dubai. Our children will have to pay foreign student fees even in the UK I'm sure. I really hope our visas will come through within the next two months, otherwise I guess we will be stuck in Dubai. SF sounds just as elitist as it is here?! Thank you again for the really meaty info. Its given me a lot to think about.

Sandra Horton

I'll have to ask hubby about our visa status. As you can see, I don't know much about it. I'm just trying to find out about schools.

petitefrancaise

Yes, it's frustrating but on the one hand at least it's all in English!

Pulaski

Valid points, but the US education system is "different", not least because there are no end-of-course assessments/exams. When your son joins his year may have already completed, and been assessed on, say, geometry, American literature, and chemistry, and moved on to calculus, Shakespeare, and biology. So how are half-completed courses in maths, English, and chemistry to be evaluated and incorporated into a US-style high school diploma. As PF already told you above, the overwhelmingly likelihood is that they aren't.

Sandra Horton

😂

Sandra Horton

Good point Pulaski! I'm Swedish so trying my best to get with both the systems. Praying that whatever school will let my son do 2 years and that he will be able to catch up with what needs to be done to get enough points.

Sandra Horton

So to get my head clear...if we moved to Mill Valley then hopefully our boys would be given a place in one of their schools or do kids get tested first and rejected if their results aren't good enough?

Pulaski

They will be accepted, because schools are assigned based on your home address, and it makes not a scrap of difference whether they are potential PhD material or have the intellect of a goldfish, they will be accepted, .... then put through the sausage machine and given a GPA rating based on whatever imperfect information is available. Being assigned any sort or passing diploma will be difficult without certain key study areas.

Sandra Horton

Thanks Puluski. You have painted a pretty clear picture for me 😀. I shall discuss this all with hubby tomorrow. It's one of those points in one's life that will be thought back on whether it was or was not the right decision. Did we cock up our sons future? Aargh! I'm off to sleep now. Night Night and again, thank you all for educating me on this subject.

petitefrancaise

It can be done. We did it but try to check out how accommodating the school will be about giving gpa credit for previous out of district studies. Ask them.
Request the full curriculum for each subject that your son is currently studying at his current school. You may be able to avoid testing if the US can see that he has completed the required areas of study. Ask the US school what information they require. They may ask you to go through an independant assessment company.
Bring all school test results from his current school for the last 2 or 3 years.

My school district is a PITA. Others are much more accommodating. Just ask.

Sandra Horton

Thank You petitefrancaise!!!

Wibblypig

Hi Sandra,

Make a list of questions and call/email the school district you will be living in. Although with school your children go to will be determined by the catchment area, many catchment areas are over subscribed, especially the top schools. Unless you are there during the registration period (which is happening now where we live in Northern California), you may not get into the exact school in the are and be given an alternative one in the school district. It's probably a slim chance for high school, but there is that chance. The choice for electives/subjects will also be limited as those are being chosen now. My daughter is going into 11th grade in August and has already submitted her request for courses. My other daughter is going into 9th grade and chooses hers in the next couple of weeks.
We moved from Florida to California last July. We were not allowed to register at the school until we had proof of residency. They did however let us register as soon as we had the rental contract. A lot of the classes were full, so we spent a long time going backwards and forwards with the school trying to get my daughter into classes. Until the day before she started there was no math class available for her, it was certainly nerve-wracking. Most of her classes she has been with kids 2 years her senior, partly because she was so far ahead of her peers here.
There are requirements to graduate from school and also minimum requirements to get into CA state college/university called 'A-G requirements', they are pretty similar (for our high school anyway). See here.
Personally, I am not sure I would move my child again during high school and our move was within the US.
If you haven't received your visa's yet, assuming you are one of the few who gets H1B/H4 visas, your husband won't be able to start work until the earliest of October 1st. The visa does allow you to move over 10 days prior to that, but it's still a few weeks into the school year.
Good luck and keep in touch, hopefully we will be able to get together for a cuppa when you are over here and settled

Sandra Horton

Thank You Wibblypig! Can you tell me any areas that you would recommend for public Highschool? Are you happy living in SF? Do your teenagers find it fun? Do they have lots of things to do and places to hang out? We were there this summer for 3.5 weeks. Stayed in Mill Valley, Marin County. I really liked this area. We did find SF cold though. But maybe more pleasant that the East Coast Humidity. We are making a choice this week between SF and New York. I think SF wins for lifestyle. School situation sounds tough though.

Sandra Horton

Oh and the prices of rent. Buying seems totally unafforable!!! How is the rental market? Do you usually get to keep the same house or do landlords tend to kick you out after a year or increase rent?

Wibblypig

I actually live inland near to Sacramento, so I can't help exactly with the area you are looking at. We really do love where we are. We have the beach 1.5 hours one way and the mountains even closer on the other side. Will your husband be working in Mill Valley? if not make sure you take into account the commute to work as traffic can be a nightmare, especially around SF. SF has it's own micro climate, so the weather can vary tremendously one day to the next. It can be very windy too. Where we are inland we have temperatures over 100F in the summer, yet in SF it can be 70F, wet and windy. You don't have to go far to get better weather.
For our first year here my husband worked in Manhattan. Without a doubt IMO SF/CA is much nicer, especially with a family. Both are just as expensive though, but the weather is much nicer on this side
My kids love it here, but then they loved Florida and England too. It will be harder moving a teen and getting them settled, especially in school. We made them help with the decision and do the research etc.. I am sure my daughters would be happy to answer any questions, if your kids have any. There are several websites which review schools, but take them with a pinch of salt. GreatSchools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community and www.niche.com . Also try City-Data.com - Stats about all US cities - real estate, relocation info, crime, house prices, cost of living, races, home value estimator, recent sales, income, photos, schools, maps, weather, neighborhoods, and more .
As for rent, the more desirable the area and the better the schools the more the rent and cost of houses are. Where we are the rental and housing market is quick. As soon as a house becomes available it is gone within in matter of hours/days. Rentals seem to pop up all the time, probably more so closer to SF. As for renting long term, its probably the same as anywhere. I rarely hear of people being kicked out after a year, although it can happen. Lots of people rent, mainly as buying a house is so expensive, especially in the Bay area.