We are moving to L.A area and would like to find great kindergarten/elementary schools. We want to be sure we move to a good area where these can be found. Any ideas?
I've heard Burbank has some great schools.....what about Sherman Oaks?
Are there good websites for these things?
Thank You
Mamasource is such a GREAT way to find inspiration, help, friends, advice and everything else that you look for. I have been trying to find this information by myself but luckily I posted my request here and found so many great answers. And now I will look through all the answers and find the best kindergarten/school for us. Thank You, mamas
Hi -
San Marino and La Canada are supposed to be some of the best public school districts in the state. There is a website greatschools.com which will give you some information. Good luck!
Hello S.!
This is not really a reply to your request but I saw that you're a swedish/american family and so are we.
I just wanted to recommend the "swedish school in LA" it's an after hour school in Santa Monica, where kids from the ages of 1 year-15 years can practice and study swedish on Tuesday afternoons. It's a great place to meet other Swedish families and to keep up with the Swedish traditions like celebrating "lucia", "pask" and "midsummer"
Check out their website:
http://www.svenskaskolan.info/home
Me myself live in Venice Beach with my 2 1/2 year old daughter and my husband. I doubt the public school system is the best here, but there is one thing that is priceless for us and that is the cool breeze and biking distance to the ocean and I hope we can make this fit in with a good school in the future.
good luck with your move.
Gabriella
Jennifer C. is right about La Crescenta, however it is part of Glendale Unified School District, and not LAUSD. The schools here are the best, and have a high API score. Most of the schools here are California Distinguished Schools. Also, the community here is a wonderful place to raise kids! I grew up here, and still continue to live here, raising my own two kids here. I hope this helps you. Good luck, and welcome to California.
My son, who is now a sophomore in high school, went to Woodcrest Preschool in Sherman Oaks and Woodcrest Elementary (in Tarzana, by bus from the preschool) through the first grade and then Sherman Oaks Elementary School. They both were great. My daughter, who will not be going to elementary school for another 3 years, will be attending Kester Elementary in Sherman Oaks which is supposed to be a very good school as well.
Good day, S. ...
Moving to a new area can be a bit stressful for many reasons, especially when you're searching for a school district.
I'm a single mom with four daughters, including a set of twins and I've lived in the southern California area for 30+ years. I can highly recommend two "Blue Ribbon" school districts ...
1. Glendale Unified
2. La Canada Unified
I've had many years of experience with both districts and have been totally impressed with both. By the way, all four of my daughters have been 4.2 GPA students all through school.
You'll be in good hands with either choice!
Happy Parenting,
Hi S., Good luck with your search! I have two recommendations: Roscomare Road School, which is in Bel Air, but I believe its area also includes southern area of Sherman Oaks. Amazing program - it's like a private school. http://www.roscomareroad.com/index.html. Another great little school is Clover Avenue Elementary in West LA, near National & Sepulveda. Great teachers and administrators, and a nice environment: http://www.cloveraveschool.org/overview
Best of luck - T.
Greatschools.net is a great place to compare data and some that have parent reviews. Here is a link to the CA compare page then just choose Los Angeles:
http://www.greatschools.net/modperl/go/CA
Living in LA has lots of traffic :-) So if you could give what city you or your spouse will be working in, then advise can be more specific.
Burbank is not part of LA Unified School Distrit (LAUSD) and does seem to have better schools mostly, but be sure to check Great schools for the API and just because you have a Burbank address doesn't mean you will be in Burbank schools as there is some overlap of LAUSD with a Burbank adress.
http://www.greatschools.net/modperl/browse_school/ca/2387
Sherman Oaks is part of LAUSD and has a fantastic Elem with very hight API scores which are the big comparison out here :-) Any school with over an 800 api would be safe bet that they at least are teaching the kids what is required by the state. Another great area in LAUSD is La Cresenta area. My daughter went to Mt. View Elem in Tujunga - we are not zoned for the school, but enrolled in their Open Enrollment program as we live in a city that doesn't have very high API scores to say the least.
Once you get here there is tons more info on how to get into the Magnet Schools if you wish (applications are due around January for the following year).
Please let us know more info and I will gladly suggest some schools in that city that have great reps. Oh and for schools friendly to bilingual, I think that you will find LA a very good environment for that situation giving the melting pot that this city is :-)
Good luck!
Granada Hills has two great schools. My child just finished Kindergarten at Van Gogh Elementary which I can say is awesome and I heard El Oro Way Elementary is good too. You can look at greatschools.net, but really the best way is to see the school.
I think you can look at a website called greatschools.com
I don't know much about the Burbank school district, but I live in Studio City and I'm sending our daughter to Carpenter Ave., which is supposed to be ONE OF THE BEST in LAUSD. I've also heard good things about Colfax and Dixie Canyon (Sherman Oaks).
Good luck!
Hi S.,
The link Jennifer C gave is supposed to be a fantastic site. And it will all depend on where you or your husband work as to where you should move. We live on the "westside" and apparently the schools in Westwood are amazing. Though, I think pretty much all elementary schools in the Los Angeles School District (LASD) are pretty good, but with respect to everyone else reading this, the LASD stops being good around 5th grade. These are usually the schools that the funding gets cut and teachers get laid off and, unfortunately the schools suffer. So, although they are still decent, I doubt they would be useful to you with needing to nurture a bilingual child if you plan on a long stay here in America. My daughter is bilingual in French/English and goes to a private French school. Good Luck!
S. - greatschools.com is a good place for you to start. i myself grew up in la crescenta & attended mountain avenue elementary, rosemont jr high, and crescenta valley high school. these are part of the glendale unified school district and the elementary schools are part of the california distinguished schools (blue ribbon). for elementary schools, i would recommend mountain avenue, fremont elementary, and monte vista elementary. i still live in the area & my 11yr old son has attended fremont since 2nd grade (kindergarten & 1st grade at mountain ave). plus, the surrounding communities (la crescenta, montrose, la canada) are FANTASTIC places to raise children! good luck to you & your family, and.....WELCOME! 8^)
Check out South Pasadena. They're not part of LAUSD and I've heard they're amazing.
