taradem

Anyone have any experience? My husband got laid off last week and is being interviewed for a job in Irvine so we would have to move down. I have 2 children with IEPs and being very familiar with our States poor funding for public schools and specifically special education I wondered if anyone could enlighten me to the good, the bad and the ugly school districts in the surrounding areas? My research tells me that everything is rosy in high performing schools in Irvine but I need the real intel for the kiddos who may not fit into the perfect cookie cutter mould. Any insights very much appreciated xxx

Michael

I can't vouch for Irvin Unified School District but it is a rich school district similar to the Palo Alto or Cupertino school districts in the bay area. Rich school districts get very little money from the federal and state governments (usually the minimum of less than 10% of the cost) and typically the rich school districts have very good special education programs.

AmerLisa

I hope that Orange County schools are still good. When I lived there (although a very long time ago) they were excellent for special ed needs. I don't know what your children's needs are, but sincerely hope they are met.

Havnfun

Irvine schools are highly competitive due to the Asian influence there. Depending on which part of Irvine your husband will be working in you might want to look at Aliso Viejo. My nephew who is on an IEP attended elementary school and middle school in Aliso Viejo up until last month when they moved to Hawaii.

Also, Aliso Viejo would be less expensive for housing. Will you be looking to rent or purchase a home?

taradem

We will be buying so house prices are an issue for us, as is the timing as just from looking myself it seems like almost all the inventory is short sale. I think we need to select an area for schools first so at least we have them registered for fall and then rent if we have to. Special ed kids and change are not the best partners!

Havnfun

Good luck with the move, I hope it is not too stressful!

Which website are you looking at property on? I just checked the listings in Irvine and out of 161 listings only 5 were short sales. Also, depending on your price range be aware that in Orange County right now the listing price is not the price the properties are selling for. I listed a small condo in Laguna Niguel last week and we had 6 offers and they were all above the asking price, some as much as $35,000!

taradem

Trulia, ziprealty ... I think it's the same here for multiple offers as the inventory is so low - at least I hope so! My research on special ed is leading me towards saddleback valley school district and Capistrano although I am worried that is a little big and my experience of big districts and special ed is not good.

Havnfun

Saddleback Unified is smaller than Capistrano. My son attended Capistrano Valley High School in Mission Viejo for his last 2 years of high school so I don't have much experience with the schools here. I do know that Saddleback has a special ed school in Mission Viejo but I am not sure what grade level it is.

I live in Mission Viejo and work in the surrounding commmunities so let me know if I can help in any way