New to Temecula/Murrieta

My oldest went to La Petite Academy in Temecula ###-###-####). They have a terrific preschool program. My 3 year old will start now.

He then changed to Hillcrest Academy in Temecula ###-###-####) which is a private school (practically next door to La Petite).

If you need more info please send me an email: ____@____.com

my son is on the waiting list for Anne Sullivan and Murrieta Ranch Schools. I have heard excellent things about both schools from several mothers through Stroller Strides. They both offer different things but are worth checking out.
as far as good locations to move, your options are wide open! we live in harveston which I LOVE because its close to the mall, Trader Joes and the 15 and the 215. theres a pool and a splash park for the kids and my son loves feeding the ducks at the lake. prices are pretty good right now so youre ina good situation...
god luck witht he move and welcome to the area!

Welcome! I know you will love it here...we moved here almost 7 years ago and are so happy we did. Both of my kids go to Cole Canyon Elementary, (4th grade and 2nd grade this year)which is actually the reason we chose this neighborhood. We have been thrilled with the teachers and the school scores very well. We are off of Calle Del Oso Oro or coming from the 15 freeway you would take the Clinton Keith exit. Good luck in your search and maybe we will be neighbors! :)

Dear M.:

I have lived in the Temecula/Murrieta area since 1987 and raised both of my children here. Are you looking for a private school? ABC preschool is probably the best in the area. I know the owner and she has won many awards for what she does. As far a school goes, if you want a good private school, my kids both graduated from Linfield Christian School and they have K through 12. Rancho Community is great too. The public schools are better in some areas than others. A Temecula zip code will appreciate more in the future, although Murrieta has nice residential neigborhoods. A newer area that is really affordable is Winchester/French Valley. Are you looking for a track home? What price range? I have great friends that are Real Estate agents, one in particular that is not pushy and would be a great help to you. Her name is Carol Brown with Tarbell and her number is ###-###-####. One thing that you want to think about is that if you plan on staying here for many years, you want to make sure that you are in an area that has a good high school as some are definately better than others. I know it seems a long time away, but it comes very quickly! If you let me know more details, I can help more specifically. Hope this helps, C.

M. -

Welcome to the area. You've got some great advice on homes and the schools in our area already, so I'll give you my input on the hospitals.

I have twin 10 month old boys, and I was on bed rest at Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for women in San Diego for a LONG time! My stay was AWESOME and my very, very high-risk delivery and complications with my babies was perfect. I developed some amazing relationships with several nurses whom I still keep in contact with. Many of my nurse friends actually commute from the Inland Empire. The entire Sharp Health Care System is GREAT, and they pay much more than the horrible hospitals in our area. Even after my children were born my experience with our two local places haven't been good, so I still choose to drive to San Diego for all of our appointments. It's really not a bad drive... takes about 45 minutes to an hour and 15 depending on traffic. Check out the website for Sharp Healthcare System... you'll be impressed! (:

Good Luck, E.

Hello M.,
Congrats on nursing school. I dont know much yet about the schools in the area since my son is only 2. But I will chime in about the hospitals. I think they are horrible up here. I drive to Poway for healthcare. It is part of San Diego county and takes about 45-50 mins on the busiest of mornings, probally 10 min less if your house is close to the freeway since ours is not. I am 9 months pregnant with my second child and I am driving down to Poway for delivery. I have heard a whole lot of bad things about the hospitals up here.

I recently tried out Inland Valley for myself. I was dehydrated with a stomach flu. My experience was horrible. The ER nurses were very unprofessional and talked loudly about patients private medical informations in the hallway. They even yelled down the hall to one other that the lady the other one was with "may have scabbies." Also, they were telling me they couldnt find a heartbeat at 24 weeks. Between 3 nurse, including one RN fron labor an delivery they never did. I kept telling them that the baby was kicking there doppler and you could see my stomach jumping. They gave me the pity look, like "this poor lady thinks her baby is kicking and she lost it." they ordered an U/S and the heartbeat came on instantly. The tech just lasughed about how often he was called in because the nurse couldnt do there jobs properly.

I am also in the nursing career path, and I doubt that future employers would want to see that you have worked for a hospital with that sort of reputation for any lenght of time.
Good Luck,
H.

Hi M.,
Welcome (soon) to the area. Lucky for you, Murrieta and Temecula school districts have the best API scores around. The #1 ranked elementary school in Murrieta is Cole Canyon Elem, located in a neighborhood called Copper Canyon--beautiful homes and now is the time to buy over there--they look out on the plateau and are really walking distance from the Elem, Middle and High School. The middle school, Thompson, is also the highest ranked in the district. As far as Temecula, I'm not sure of the top ranked school(s), but really, in both districts you can't go wrong with schools--they all have very high APIs. In Temecula you may want to look at a community called "Harveston". It is a lake community and has Ysabel Barnett Elem built into it--also over 800 API scores.

Good luck and again, all the Murrieta and Temec schools are high scoring, so you just need to make sure your child is with the right teacher.

Anya

Hi M.,
I grew up in Temecula, but have been living in Murrieta for about 7 years. Temecula is very nice but I feel it has gotten very congested with traffic. Murrieta is still growing and has great schoools. They are building a huge, new 3 story high school and there is a great pre-school called Murrieta Ranch. They have a great program and have livestock on the property.
When looking at houses, I would always ask about the school district. You can't go wrong with the Temecula/Murrieta school districts.

As for hospitals, there is Inland Valley in Wildomar and Rancho Springs in Murrieta ( off Murrieta Hot Springs/Hancock). They are building a huge new building for maternity and possibly other departments. I would check that out, it would be close to you and way less of a drive.
Good luck on your house hunting and graduating from nursing school !!

Abby Reinke Elementary School (in Paseo del Sol) and Tony Tobin (in Morgan Hill) are the top two elementary schools in Temecula based on rankings, although there are really no bad schools in either town. Both of these schools are located in South Temecula, which is nice should you decide to commute to San Diego since it would save you 10-15 minutes on your commute. It is also the least crowded part of the town, vs. the Harveston area which is off of Winchester Road in North Temecula and is very congested. There are many great preschools in the area, both in Temecula and Murrieta. We plan to use either Sonshine or Trinity Lutheran and I have friends who are using Murrieta Ranch, which has a great reputation. Good luck with decision! There are many great homes for sale in both towns currently.

I have my 2 little ones in ABC Childcare Center located on Solana Drive in Temecula and I love it. They care for children from 3 weeks through preschool. They also have another location in Harveston (kind of on the Murrieta/ Temecula border). They do have a website, so check it out. I have also heard the new elementary school on the very south end of Temecula, Tony Tobin is excellent and one of the best here. My sons will be going there when they are in kindergarten. I have also heard great things about St. Jeanne de Lestonnac School, but have only driven by.. hope that helps.. good luck

Hi, and welcome. I live in a different city so I won't attempt to recommend particular neighborhoods. However, there are at least two excellent preschools in Murrieta. My daughter attended Anne Sullivan Nursery School for a year and we loved it. Actually, it's just outside Murrieta, in an unincorporated area called Wildomar. They have a large plot of land, the kids tend a garden, the teachers prepare very healthy meals and snacks for the kids, (often using items from the school's garden), they have a beautiful, spacious outdoor play area that's shaded by huge trees, the staff are very kind and gentle and the whole place has a sense of serenity about it despite the fact it's full of kids! Loved it, loved it, loved it. The drawbacks are that it's expensive( we paid $374/month and that was two school years ago) and it's all year, so you're paying to send them in the summer, too, which for me was more than I wanted to do, but for one year we said OK. They do have the options of going five days or only two (we did the latter but the cost was still $374/month.) I think they only had all-day programs, no half-days, but I may not be remembering this correctly. ... The other very good school is Murrieta Ranch. They keep all kinds of animals on campus, that is my biggest memory of visiting there. I can't remember what else I loved about that school, because my daughter ended up at Anne Sullivan instead, but I have several friends who have each sent several children through Murrieta Ranch and they all rave about it. IMPORTANT: There is huge demand for both these schools. You can find their web sites via Google. I strongly recommend calling them and getting on their waiting lists ASAP. (My daughter was on both schools' waiting lists about 18 months before getting into Anne Sullivan, so for her first year of preschool I had to send her to another school that I didn't like nearly as much.) Seriously, putting them on the waiting list 2 years in advance is not too soon! Good luck.

HI M.,

My kids are the same age as yours - 1 starts pre-school tomorrow and 1 starts kindergarten wednesday (gateway and cornerstone) - both are christian schools and private) - not sure if you're looking for public or private. To us, it's well worth the investment.

If you can afford it, i highly recommend these 2 schools. The schools mentioned on here are all great too - i have heard NUMEROUS great things about Cole canyon...but you have to live in that area to attend. We live in wildomar (lake elsinore school system). Which is why we chose private schools. We are also very close to inland valley hospital (i'm sure they're looking for nurses) or rancho springs medical center (murrieta). There are numerous homes in the area for sale - they are just 2 years old and over 3000 sq. ft. have your realtor check smith ranch/clinton keith area. LOTS of foreclosures - you could grab a great home for a great price now! if you need a realtor, let me know. i have many friends in real estate.

Finally, welcome to the area (we moved here 8 yrs. ago from the midwest) so if you need any info., just call or write me. We love it out here and i'm sure you will too. It's very family oriented community - great place to raise children.

A.
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____@____.com
www.angelaschocolate.com

I'm a realtor in Murrieta/Temecula and can help you find a home in a good area. Rancho Springs Hospital and Inland Valley Hospital are both in Murrieta, so they would not be far. I cannot say how they are as employers, as I've never worked for them before. With regard to pre-schools, I've heard good things about this home preschool/daycare called "The Farm", in Temecula. Supposedly, the kids get to learn to feed goats and chickens and stuff and love it. They also have a regular pre-school curriculum. Send me an e-mail at ____@____.com and I can send you a list of foreclosures. Most have been recarpeted and repainted and look great inside. I can send you the ones in good areas with good schools.

M.,

We live in Wildomar, just north of Murrieta. Will you guys be visiting first to find your home or are you picking one over the internet or? I highly recommend visiting and checking out the areas. Tons and tons of homes for sale - everywhere!

My son goes to preschool and my daughter goes to Kindergarten, they both attend Anne Sullivan in Wildomar. I can't say enough good things about the school (we are on our 3rd year) but there is a wait list. Back when my daughter was entering preschool they told me the wait would be a year, we only waited 3 mos. So, don't be turned off if a school you are interested has a long wait list, get on it anyway. I don't have any information on public schools around here since I'm not there yet.

I haven't heard anything great about our hospitals but I haven't heard anything bad in a while. I think Inland Empire regional off of Clinton Keith in Wildomar/Murrieta has or is expanding? The other hospital is Rancho off of Murrieta Hot Springs. I'm not sure what is in Temecula. San Diego would be a haul, I'm sure many out here do it but with the gas prices and traffic on the 15 starting in Escondido, I don't know if it would be worth it - unless you work nights?

Best wishes on your move next month. I'm sure you'll get a lot of good tips from some Mom's here - hopefully some nurses will respond.
M.