michellewall

My husband is considering a job in Mountain View (which would be an internal company transfer from the UK). We would be moving with 3 kids, 2 of which will be in elementary school. Can anybody provide some good advice on areas, easily commutable, to Mountain View please? I'm assuming it would be best to stay somewhere south bay rather than commute from further out? We would be looking for a sense of community, we love the outdoors and obviously good schools would be our main priority. Areas we are considering are Palo Alto, Los Altos and Cupertino, but everyone tells me it's really expensive. Are there areas close enough which might be on par with these areas but yet not that expensive?

Thanks in advance!

N1cky

Mountain View, Palo Alto, Los Altos, are all lovely places, they all have nice little main streets full of restaurants and little shops. They are lovely and clean, with nice libraries, lovely parks with playgrounds... And the schools are very good in each location. Unless you want your kids to be pushed extremely hard in school, especially in math, I would stay away from Cupertino (it's not a nice place in the sense of what I described above anyway).

We live in Mountain View, and love it here, people are friendly and it's very multi-cultural. Our daughter did 2 years in an elementary here, and has just moved up to middle school this time, and we are all very happy with the school and education she is receiving. All the area's are expensive to live in, MV is slightly cheaper than the other two though, but by no means cheap.

Sunnyvale is the next city across and is slightly cheaper, but the schools aren't as good. Los Gatos is also very nice with good schools, but again expensive.

The school your kids attend will be determined on the exact address you live at. However, if you move part way through the year, you may be placed in a different school in your school district, if the local school is already full.

Check out Greatschools.com for reviews and results of schools and Zillow to see what catchment area houses fall in.

We've lived here 3 years now, and know the area pretty well. Let me know if I can help with any questions on the area.

michellewall

Thank you, that's very helpful. I've taken a look at the greatschools website and have already listed a couple of schools with good API results (they all seem to be rated as a 10 so seem pretty decent around those areas). We will most likely move mid-way through an academic year so I might start contacting some schools directly to find out what their availability would be like and whether or not we stand a chance of getting in! If we start at the beginning of an academic year, how does the school application process work (is it also through the local school district or directly with the school, for instance)? Many thanks

N1cky

Unfortunately, the schools, and even the school district won't give you that information until you are ready to enroll. We had a signed lease on a house, and they wouldn't/couldn't tell me what school my daughter would be attending until we had completed all the paperwork... I did that on a Wednesday, for her to start school the following Monday. I was told what school she would attend at 3pm on the Friday.

They do have to give you a place within the school district though, so although you would like to be at the local school, if you are in PA, LA or MV all the elementary schools score highly, so it's not really an issue academically.

If you enroll for the start of a new school year, you will have to provide proof of residency and complete all the forms by mid-March. You then get to enroll online in March, and receive notification of the school they will attend in June.

michellewall

Thanks!

TimNiceBut

Define "close enough". A lot of people I know who work in silly valley commute for 1-1.5h each way because of the cost of living. The East Bay is cheaper (by local Bay Area standards) but I'm not sure how good the schools are over there. A lot depends on how much you are willing to pay for housing compared to commuting time.

michellewall

"Close enough" without having a daily nightmare of 1.5-2 hours commuting (an hour would be ok). I guess my husband would like to drive to work rather than struggle with hours of public transport or heavy traffic from far away (at one point I was thinking of Santa Cruz, for instance, but was advised against it) . I know there are car pools and things like that to also consider. I have some friends who live in the east bay area and they seemed to indicate that the commute would be too long from that side. I asked about Berkeley and surrounds but lots of threads posted online suggested unless you car pool it, it could be quite stressful.

michellewall

When does an academic year start in CA (for public schools) - is it end August/beginning September?

If we were to start school mid-way through an academic year, would we contact the schools directly regarding admission (once we have a permanent postal code) or would we do the application through the school district?

Thanks

N1cky

My daughters school went back August 12the this year. You would contact the school district direct.

penguinsix

The academic year is generally August/September through May/June.

Once you arrive and have not only a post code but an exact street address you can take a look at the school district's website for that area for the exact specifics of the admission process. As to how it works and who to contact, it will vary by district and school so there is no general answer that applies in each and every circumstance.

This is our general primer on schools in the USA:
http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Educat...s_in_school%3F


California has a variant of what is known as "school choice" meaning you don't necessarily have to go to the school in your neighborhood. While residency in the cachement area of a school is still a priority, they also have both intra-district transfers (generally a school in your town, but not necessarily your neighborhood) and inter-district transfers (schools in other towns). It's a bit complicated but can be done. As you can imagine, there is a run on some places as parents what them in (or out) of certain schools.

A bit more on that process here:
http://www.schoolwisepress.com/smart/browse/hein3.html

michellewall

Thanks everyone for your help so far. Much appreciated.

michellewall

For those of you local to South Bay and specifically areas around MV, Palo Alto, Los Altos, Los Gatos etc, are there any elementary schools which "stand out above the rest"? I have done a lot of research on the greatschools website (and read reviews from parents) and most schools in these areas score very highly, which indicates that academically I may not have any problems. However, I was just wondering that, when we start looking for homes to rent, if we should try and get within the boundaries of any specific schools (or avoid any for that matter). That's assuming we can afford to live in these areas to begin with but right now I'm focusing on an easy commute to Mountain View for my husband before I start hunting further afield. I wouldn't know where to start!!

N1cky

Renting a house itself is a huge challenge in the area. For a good place you will be competing with as many as 20 different people. The chances of you getting to pick the exact area you will live in are few and far between.

Clare8781

We moved to San Jose from the UK a year ago and rent a house in Almaden Valley. All of the schools are excellent in this area (9 or 10) - though you should still expect that if your children move in to the grade for their age within a public school, they will be covering some old ground because of the earlier starting age in the UK. My husband commutes to Sunnyvale and it is a one hour drive each way. Rents are a little cheaper in Almaden than the other areas you mentioned (which was the attraction for us) but you should be prepared to pay $3500 plus per month if you want a 3 bedroom or more in a good school district.

Good luck with it all!

Zez

We moved to the Bay Area 7 weeks ago and are still settling in. Mountain view was originally where we planned to be but when I visited the areas I could afford were too urban for me (too near el canino real) so we ended up in Foster City. It's about half an hour from Mountain View, great schools, quieter and (I think) prettier, but then I'm a country bumpkin at heart. I also loved Los Gatos. Palo Alto is lovely but crazy expensive.

School starts end august here. Schools wouldn't tell us what their availability was like until the day we wanted to register the kids (and they would have to start the next day). For a mid year entry I'd say choose an area where all (or many) if the schools in that district are acceptable to you. If you rent a house mid year in the catchment if the most desirable "10" school you could find that it's full as everyone else wanted it and you may simple be sent where there are places! Housing premium with no benefit to you!

My kids have ended up in their correct school years. Maths is ridiculously easy apart from the "mad minute" drills, but writing and reading is about on par with what they were doing at home. All in all I'm glad they have stayed "age appropriate"... The method of teaching here is completely different to at home and I think, as many others have said, that they would have found it a real shock had I advanced them. I work in schools in the UK and am volunteering 4 mornings a week here. I'm shocked at how different the approach is.

Good luck with it all