Sidwell/GDS/NCS* vs LA Private Schools

[Anonymous]

Having almost made the move to the LA area and gone through the admissions process I can share my two cents. The area is extremely spread out and the traffic is far worse than DC. Driving on the freeways was like being in hell-I never thought 495 was so beautiful. Be aware that many of the admissions deadlines can be in December, much earlier than privates around the DC area.
Brentwood-toured both the upper and lower schools. Very difficult to get in, will only look at applications for K and 6th as previous poster stated. Sixth grade is VERY tough because LA area elementary ends at 5th and everyone is trying to get their child into a new school. Many have been in public, but wouldn't want to send their child to public for middle.
Marlborough-had a positive experience, great admissions office. Girls are bused in from all over. Loyola Marymount-9-12, girls, Catholic, beautiful grounds, right next to UCLA and a golf course, facilities are dreadfully old and outdated. There's more to a school than facilities, but these classrooms were dark and dreary.
A lot of schools in Palisades that go to 6th or 8th. Very nice area if you are looking to live there.

[Anonymous]

Harvard Westlake is one of the best schools in the country and is always ranked higher than Sidwell or NCS. It is the real deal and the only choice you should make. Honestly, with all due respect, you will have a very hard time getting in there. It truly is a Harvard Feeder unlike GDS.

[Anonymous]

A thing to note OP, is Pasadena is not LA. Its a 45 mins drive inland but a lot more relaxed and laid back. And a lot hotter, maybe 10-15 degrees most of the year which can get challenging if you have a heat wave.

In South Pasadena the public schools are some of the highest ranking in the whole greater Los Angeles area. There is a very high Asian population there and its credited with making these schools great. If you're not Asian this is the one place where your child will be very much in the minority. And the parent population is generally younger in Pasadena.

In Santa Monica or Los Angeles, Pacific Palisades, the parent population is late 30s+ for having kids so many parents of school age children in their 40s and 50s. But in Pasadena the parents are a lot younger, starting in their 20s and early 30s.

I don't know if this matters but it was something we observed while living there over the years.

I would go back in a heart beat.

[Anonymous]

I currently live in LA and wish I could move back to DC! Actually, I live in Orange County after having lived in LA. Irvine has incredible public schools, though they are a bit of a pressure cooker.

Harvard-Westlake is a fantastic school full of horribly entitled kids. I would have LOVED to have been a student there, but talking to the kids scares me a little. They are so out of touch with reality. Crossroads is more artsy but still insane wealth and privilege. Drugs are a problem at every school where the kids have money to buy them.

Agree with the posters who like Pasadena. However, consider yourself warned about the traffic. It's fine for me to drive to LA on the weekend, however, a 40 mile trip will take 3 hours if you try to do it in the commute hours. Also, a 10 mile trip may take an hour. Make sure you drive to the school/bus before committing.

[Anonymous]

If you are considering Pasadena (which I LOVE) look at Mayfield school for HS. It's catholic, but not overly so.

https://www.mayfieldsenior.org/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A thing to note OP, is Pasadena is not LA[i]. Its a 45 mins drive inland but a lot more relaxed and laid back. And a lot hotter, maybe 10-15 degrees most of the year which can get challenging if you have a heat wave.

In South Pasadena the public schools are some of the highest ranking in the whole greater Los Angeles area. There is a very high Asian population there and its credited with making these schools great. If you're not Asian this is the one place where your child will be very much in the minority. And the parent population is generally younger in Pasadena.

In Santa Monica or Los Angeles, Pacific Palisades, the parent population is late 30s+ for having kids so many parents of school age children in their 40s and 50s. But in Pasadena the parents are a lot younger, starting in their 20s and early 30s.

I don't know if this matters but it was something we observed while living there over the years.

I would go back in a heart beat.

Pasadena is actually a 15 (no traffic) to 25 minute (rush-hour traffic) drive to Downtown Los Angeles (DLA). It is straight shot from the Orange Grove Boulevard on-ramp to the 110. That is why so many attorneys, doctors, financial, commercial real estate, and entertainment people who work in DLA, live in Pasadena. I would liken the commute as one from Rosslyn or the GW Parkway-accessible part of Arlington to Downtown DC.

Both South Pasadena (population 26,000) and San Marino have excellent public schools (rated all 9s and 10s). San Marino and Pasadena itself have some of the most beautiful houses and neighborhoods anywhere in the U.S. There are many Asian families in all of the San Gabriel Valley, and more in San Marino (because it is smaller, pop. 13,300), than in Pasadena or South Pasadena. But those areas are all very diverse, and there is really no one "majority" in any area. Finally, Pasadena (pop. 139,000) is it's own small city, with a huge cross-section of any demographic, and access to everything you will need. I do not know why the poster thinks of it as a particularly "young" city, as I think of it as an "older" person's town, but it is really young, old, and everyone in between.

[Anonymous]

Cousins at Marlborough. They are doing well.

[Anonymous]

OP, what area of LA would you or your husband be working?

[Anonymous]

OP

We'll be in the San Fernando Valley. I saw this list but it's hard to get a good vibe on a paragraph. I'm looking for forums, that would be helpful.

http://www.lamag.com/features-hidden/best-high-schools-2008-private/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP

We'll be in the San Fernando Valley. I saw this list but it's hard to get a good vibe on a paragraph. I'm looking for forums, that would be helpful.

http://www.lamag.com/features-hidden/best-high-schools-2008-private/

This is a forum my friends in LA still use (ex LA person who recommended Brentwood and Le Lycee, above), Peach head: http://www.peachheadfamilies.com

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All are good. Top tier of LA schools. Where would you be moving? Those schools are geographically far from each other, so one may appeal to you more if it's close to your home. I'm not an expert on any of them (my kids are younger), but I think Crossroads has a reputation as being a bit more hippy/progressive (like GDS) but w/ more entitled kids. I really like Marlborough -- it is all girls, very academic and athletic (more like NCS?), and Harvard Westlake is also very good...not sure what to compare this one too. Different than Sidwell, somehow. Really depends on where you live, which one you can get into, and what you like the feel of better (can you do tours?).

Crossroads is kind of a safety because of how difficult it is to get into HW and Marlborough.

HW (high school) and Malborough are in Studio City and we're looking at that area.

Crossroads is a safety? You realize it's a solid enough school to have broken from the pack and stopped offering APs about 10 years ago and still had exceptional applicant pool and college admissions? Current senior admin came from Sidwell and, I believe, NCS. Crossroads is on par with the other two as far as selectivity, just a different type of atmosphere ...