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Raising a family in US vs Irl

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  • 11-08-2014 5:29pm
    #1
    LeperKing
    Registered Users Posts: 451 ✭✭


    Hi All,

    I'm being offered a job transfer from Dublin to Folsom, CA.

    Has anyone got any feedback on their experiences raising children in the states. I know it's highly dependent on which district you choose to live.

    But how did you choose which option to go for, public/private etc? I'm concerned about elementary primarily, but feedback on high-school would be great as well.

    Thanks,
    LK.


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    #2
    iusedtoknow
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,698 ✭✭✭iusedtoknow


    A lot of my colleagues have made the move with their kids and have found it a challenge, but with the right support from the company you should be fine

    Public schools in CA are like most other places in the US, it depends on the district. The higher the level of home ownership/value of said homes, usually the better quality of school. For instance...in the bay area - Cupertino, Berkeley have the best public schools....Oakland and East Palo Alto the worst.

    There are a number of choices for private, usually religious - a friend sends her kids to the "Friends School" which is pretty liberal and run by the quakers with a christian ethos.
    There are also some charter schools up in the Sacramento/Folsom area which are independent from the school district but have to meet certain standards.

    Are your company giving any assistance on school fees or anything? That could make a huge difference


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    #3
    Gandhi
    Registered Users Posts: 976 ✭✭✭Gandhi


    greatschools.org is a good website to compare schools and school districts. Within a district, you will have cachement areas for the various schools. You need to be careful not to move into a good district, but in the cachement of one of its weaker schools. This is particularly important for elementary schools, as districts often have several small elementary schools feeding one or two middle/high schools. If you are buying or renting a house, call the school districts to confirm you are in the district and cachement area you believe you are in.

    Lots of weaker districts do have good charter schools, as already mentioned, but getting into these can be tough. There are lotteries, long waiting lists, and if you don't get in you are stuck with the local school that you were trying to get away from. Private schools are another option. The Friends (Quaker) schools are very good, but cost about $20,000 a year in our area. I imagine they are even pricier in California. The Catholic schools are more like $4,000-$5,000 a year, but are not as good. The church also seems to be closing a lot of them down. If your financial situation changes, you again could be stuck with a weak local school.

    We were living in Philly when we started having kids. One option was to stay in Philly, and try to navigate our kids to the small number of really fantastic charter, magnet and private schools that were in a sea of absolutely terrible neighbourhood public schools. We decided to move out to a suburban district that had just one elementary and one high school that were both really good.


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