Best Schools in Orange County, CA

Hello L.
I live in Irvine - and I know that the Irvine Unified school district is rated high in the nation's list. Plus Irvine has been ranked the safest city.
Just a bit of info to help you.
Best of luck.
L.

we live in Irvine and it is considered one of the best public schools. Especially the high schools.

go to www.greatschools.net
I've heard bad things about san juan capo schools, although it may only be regarding their special ed program, because I need that dept also.

Los Alamitos - Seal Beach, Los Alamitos, Rossmoor are the neighborhoods. Northern Orange County by Long Beach.

My kids go to school in the Los Alamitos Unified school district. It's a great district!! But definitely the most far north in all of O.C. The high school has an award winning music program, and their athletic teams are great too. Academically, many of the elementary schools are leaders in test scores, national blue ribbon schools and California distinguished schools. Check out their web site:
www.losal.org

Hi L.,

The number 1 ranked school district in the State is Irvine followed 2nd by Fountain Valley. I'm a Real Estate agent so I have to know these things. That being said, the best advice is to choose an area that you like then have a RE agent get you information on the schools in the are. There are many, many good schools all over Orange County. If you would like specific information on a particular school just let me know and I'll be happy to get it for you.

L. L

Check out http://www.greatschools.net and enter the city where you are interested in living.

...some schools in Fullerton, Brea, Placentia, Yorba Linda, Irvine, Saddleback school district, Tustin

good luck!

S.

I am sure you will get plenty of comments with people's direct experience on this front, but one great resource is www.greatschools.net. The website allows you to compare schools within x miles of a particular zip code, and you can see academic records, teachers profiles, student demographics, etc. all of it combined can help paint a decent picture of the schools in the area.

Good luck!
E.

We are in the Ocean View School District in Huntington Beach and there are several really good schools in this district. There are also many good schools in the Huntington Beach School District and the Fountain Valley school district. Hope this helps.

L.,
You need to visit schools in the areas in which you are interested. Test scores and API's are what everyone talks about, but they can also be misleading. If you want your children to be happy and successful, look for a school that is welcoming to family visits and gives you a welcome feeling when you walk onto the campus.
Good Luck with your search.

We live in Irvine and one of the main reasons my husband and I chose this area is because of the school district and it seems very family friendly. My daughter will be entering kindergarten this coming school year and are looking forward to it.

The Placentia Yorba Linda school district is amoung the best in OC. Cities served are Yorba Linda, Placentia and Anaheim from Lake View and La Palma Ave

L.
Both of the responses are right. Try those sites, those are ones I recommend to my clients moving into an area. I live in Orange County and the best school systems I've come across are the Orange District if you are in the Villa Park or Canyon High Schools areas, The Brea/Yorba Linda Districts, the Irvine Districts, the Fullerton District if you are in the Sunny Hills HS area and the Tustin Districts. The biggest challenge is finding a home in the right area so you are in the right school for you children. Let me know if you need any help, I'm a realtor and work in OC. Good luck. ###-###-####
N.

I worked and lived in Irvine for many years. It is a great neighborhood and has great schools. Since Irvine was too much of a commute for my husband... we moved to Los Alamitos/Rossmoor area. Los Al Unified elementary schools compete in API scores with Irvine. They have interchanged top 1st and 2nd place for highest API scores in years past.

If you are looking for more cultural diversity, I'd say Irvine has more diversity than Los Al/Rossmoor area. It is also one city away from the beach. Los Al is even closer to the beach and a smaller community. We love Los Al so far.

Irvine's best. And, with the overbuilding, they've got some great deals on new R.E. I've also heard that Countrywide has a 20% downpayment assistance for first time home buyers.

I did a lot of research and we live in Anaheim Hills. I've been pleasantly pleased with the teachers in comparison to where we used to live. The neighborhood Jr. High is a charter school and has some excellent programs you don't see at the typical public schools.

Fullerton - Troy & Sunny Hills areas are also very good. We tried to buy there but pricing skyrocketed.

Some parts of Fountain Valley & H.B., but you'll have to research the individual elementary schools. You'll notice that some of the older communities and the neighborhood elementaries vary dramatically.

Good luck!

greatschools.net is very helpful.

Hi L.-
Tustin Unified, specifically those schools in Tustin Ranch have the some of the highest test score of all of California. These elementary schools include: Tustin Memorial, Hicks Canyon, Ladera, and Peters Canyon. The community is very child friendly, with great parks. The schools, which include Beckman High School, are blue ribbon/ and schools of distinction with in the state.
Hope this helps-
L.

I actually grew up in Orange county and attended the Tustin School District, I enjoyed it, but I think Irvine is rated best for education. Good luck! Check out the schools accountability report on the www.cde.ca.gov this is the California Department of Education site and click on testing and accountability. This will give you information for the school or districts demographics,test scores, students enrolled, teacher qualifications. Its basically a report card for the district or school. I would also look into South Orange County Schools.

Go to greatschools.net.