My husband and I are currently house hunting in the Willow Glen area. We love the area but have some concerns about the schools. The house that we are currently considering feeds into Schallenberger Elementary. Does anyone have any kids that currently attend this school, and if so what are your thoughts about it?
I have a 17 month old and we live across the street from Schallenberger. Our neighbor has a 6 year old and had concerns about the public schools. I just talked to her last weekend about the school and her thoughts. She was very happy with her daughters first year there.
She said it's a great school and was very happy with the principle.
Hi A.,
Your question is a good one. Not only is important for your family, it will also be an important resale factor for you. I do not have children attending this school, so I am unable to give an emotional response to it -- how it feels is important when you step onto the campus. However, if you are looking for historical and statistical data, you can copy and paste this: http://www.sjusd.org/school/schallenberger/info/
If it is the API (Academic Performance Index), that concerns you: Open the site, scroll down to 'School Accountability Report Card' and click on 'Full Report'. If you want to skip a lot of detail about the school's teachers and ratios, etc., scroll to page 13 for the API results.
This is a fairly highly rated school. Not the best. But, it is certainly doing very well for the area.
Should you decide you will not be buying this home and the same question comes up when considering another, please note this is information your Realtor could/should be providing. Don't feel guilty for asking for it. It's part of our job and responsibility to ensure all of your concerns are addressed. (And, if your Realtor is unwilling or unable to help, of course, you are welcome to ask me...) :)
Happy home hunting, A.! Isn't it fun?!
K.
Referral Realty
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Are you considering private school? If so, St. Christopher's is excellent. It is on Booksin and Curtner. My family and I have been involved there for many, many years. My brother and I went there and we plan to send my son there as well. Great place!
try "GreatSchools.net" they rate each school and other parents put comments about the school. lots of great information.
good luck,
T.
Have lived in Willow Glen for 15 years, My kids have gone to WG elementary, WG middle and now my son is entering the high school. We have enjoyed our school experience here for the most part. It is a real community. I have had friends who have had their kids in Schallenberger and have never heard anything bad about it. My son also has alot of friends from Middle School that went there and the parents all seem to like it. Good Luck!
My daughter just finished kindergarten at Schallenberger, and we love it. We know several parents of upper grades who love it too. The teachers are great and there are enrichment programs like singing from a music teacher, etc. Private vendors are onsite to offer enrichment like drawing, chess, MadScience or Spanish after school.
I have a joke with the Girl Scout leader that that school just doesn't know how to market it's self. It just says "We have AR reader and AR math" but doesn't really sit down with preschool parents and explain what that is. I have met parents who expressed they were worried about the ESL kids slowing the rest of the class down, even with the 20 to 1 ratio. Well, the English language development kids are pulled out for about an hour a day to get the help they need. And the top 8 readers were pulled out of my daughter's classroom for private writing lessons for an hour on Wednesdays. They learned to write a paragraph (yes, even in kindergarten). (Two of the youngest of the class were in there, as well as one of the ELD kids, so there is no easy prediction for reading levels!)
So while some people feel public schools only teach to the middle, the writing class was an example of differenated instruction for higher performers.
For math enrichment, I have gotten involved with
http://epgy.stanford.edu/district/
The kindergarten teachers can't promise that there will be frog eggs and tadpoles in every classroom, every spring (to teach how things change and grow for science) ;-)
but when they find a match between parent support and an opportunity, they go for it!
I heard that Schallenberger is a great school but my son goes to Willow Glen Elementary and we love it. I think Schallenberger is ranked a little highter than WG though. Look up Great Schools.com and look in the San Jose Unified School district and it will give you great information on the schools as well as the testing and the demographic make-up, ethnicity breakdown etc. Also, there is a great Day Care/Learning Pre-school near there called KinderCare and they pick up kids from Schallenberger and drop them off as well. Good Luck!
