mummyinusa

Hello!

My husband's job is transferring him to Mountain View, office is near the Caltrain at the end of March. We were looking at the Pleasanton area but now my husband has said he'd like us to try to be near the office as he'll probably be working in the office at least a few times a week and doesn't want a super long commute.

I've been looking at Mountain View, Los Altos and Palo Alto on craigslist, zillow and trulia, looking for good schools as my son is in Kinder (we are in Dallas at the moment, in a great school, big house!).

Mountain View seems more affordable (well not that much but a little!). My worry about Mountain View is that since my son will be starting school in April (when we move) I imagine all the better schools in the area are full and he'll have to go to one of the lower rated ones....Don't really want to pay a lot of rent to be the school zone of a great school and then not get into it. Anyone have any experience of this? Wondering if I should widen the net to Cupertino and other areas. My children are bilingual, husband is South American so a bilingual school would be a huge advantage and save us money on after school Spanish classes.

I'd also like an area with walkable parks, shops and restaurants, we have missed that living in Texas and looking forward to a more cosmopolitan lifestyle. Any advice would be great, thanks!

N1cky

At primary level, there are no bad schools in Palo Alto (as long as you're not talking about East Palo Alto), or Los Altos. Mountain View, has a couple of poorer rated primary schools, however these are the catchment areas for the poorer neighborhoods, and I think quite a few of the kids speak Spanish as a first language and struggle with English. Castro Primary has a dual-immersion program for Spanish/English which sounds like it would fit very well, you can apply for this program where-ever you live in MV, and will get a place if there is an opening.

All the middle and high schools are good.

We moved into MV mid-year, 4 years ago, and we weren't placed in our local school, but they had room at the highest rated primary, so that's where my daughter went. There are lots of people in the area who move in and out, so places are always opening up at various schools.

Personally, I'd stay away from Cupertino, unless your kid is a math genius and wants to spend all his time doing that. It really is a tiger mum area, and doesn't offer the walkable areas it sounds like you are looking for,

Palo Alto, Los Altos and Mountain View, all have great walkable downtown areas full of restaurants and shops (Palo Alto has the most).

As a bilingual family I'm sure you'll find you fit in very well in any of these areas, it really is multi-cultural, with people from all areas of the world living here.

I'll be happy to help if you have any questions on the area. It really is a great place to live (although very expensive), I'm sure you'll enjoy it here.

hungryhorace

That would explain the high number of Far Easterners in Cupertino, heh. FWIW, it would scare the life out of me if - when we had kids - that it would go to a school with a high Spanish speaking population. It's like sending them to a school in England where the majority don't speak English at home. No?

Sally Redux

Absolutely terrifying. What can OP be thinking.

hungryhorace

The family is half Spanish speaking already it seems, so in that situation I can understand it.

mummyinusa

We are a bilingual house, and lived in Spain till my oldest was 3, would rather the kids go to a bilingual school but would prefer a good one...A lot of the school districts I find unfortunately the bilingual programs are in the lower rated schools as they draw on the hispanic population which is usually poorer.

However you'd be amazed at how much children without any prior knowledge of a language can pick up in a immersion setting, they really are like sponges when young, wish I'd had an opportunity like that! From what I've read it's actually very competitive to get your kids in the bilingual programs of some school districts where all the schools are 9 or 10s on great schools (such as Palo Alto). A second language is a distinct advantage nowadays, actually hoping to get the kids learning Chinese or Japanese too once we get there!

I'd read a bit about Cupertino schools and it does worry me there being so many tiger moms as I'm definitely not one and my son is no maths genius! Also hoping to make friends with other mum's and not sure I'd have much in common with them.

Thanks so much for the feedback N1cky, my husband is wanting to cycle to work if we aren't too far away. My son is in Kindergarten and my daughter only 2. We are thinking of getting an apartment for the first year for us to find our feet and see how we like it there. My husband's job also has a big bonus and we have no idea how much of that he will actually get paid, if its a lot then we'll be able to afford a bigger place there but don't want to overstretch ourselves financially until we know.

N1cky

One of the things I love most about living here is the diversity, in my daughters last year of elementary there were 33 nationalities in the graduating classes, many of which were bilingual. The immersion school seems to be quite good, and my daughter is taking Spanish in Middle School, which strangely language isn't an option offered in a few of the private schools in the area, at middle school.

The other thing to be aware of is the school boundaries are currently being redrawn, and hopefully one if not two elementary schools being added. Our local one was closed a couple of years ago, and Google now run it as a nursery facility. So where-ever you choose to live, in the next year or so, won't necessarily be the school your kids will attend in 2 years time.

Where to draw the line? | News | Mountain View Online |

Lots of people cycle around here, the Stevens Creek Trail is a great bike route that can get you around, and (potentially) keep you off the main roads for some of the journey. If he's working near Caltrain, he would be able to use the trail part of the way if you lived on the side of Central Expressway. There is also a dedicated bike lane on that road, where as El Camino, the other main road, doesn't have a bike lane, plenty of people still use it though.

There is a distinct shortage of housing in the area, be prepared to fight to get a place. There are lots of mum and kid groups, and tons of parks where people just meet up. The library is also fantastic, and has lots of events going on, and the city itself has wine and craft festivals, tree lighting with real snow...

N1cky

You constantly spout drivel don't you?

hungryhorace

You're the one wishing your kids to experience 'diversity'. I would wish for my kids to attend a similar school to which I did; private, and with same socio-economic background. You can keep your love of 'diversity' (another word for 'poor' or 'underprivileged' in my experience), thanks.

N1cky

I live in the most expensive place to live in the USA, hardly poor or underprivileged here.

It's people like you who keep racism alive and well.

BunnyGirl

Why?

hungryhorace

Regardless of wealth, I wouldn't want my kids educated in a school where a majority spoke Spanish. Call it racism if you wish, I could not care less.

Noorah101

But why?

Rene

hungryhorace

It's simple. People from Spanish speaking backgrounds are usually from poorer, less educated families, who would be a hindrance to fellow English speaking kids.

Similarily, ask parents in England how they would feel if their kids had to go to a mainly Urdu speaking school. You'd get a similar reaction.

Noorah101

Thanks for explaining. I guess I have to disagree. I went to school in Tucson Arizona, which has a very high Hispanic and Spanish speaking population, and it was in no way a hindrance to my own education.

Rene