Private Schools in LA

[Anonymous]

St. Matthews

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I lived in LA for many years, and there are definitely some public and private gems. If you want to go the independent school route and live on the Westside, I would vote for Crossroads (if your child is more arty and free spirited) and Brentwood. The head of the lower school at Brentwood is fantastic, and very down to earth. I also found Harvard Westlake a little more snotty. And about the friends of celebrities--they are going to be everywhere, it is LA!! That is like saying you are avoiding a DC school because of all the kids of Administration officials--you would rule out pretty much every school in NW, public and private.

This is definitely not true. LA has many more mirco-cultures than DC because it is a much bigger city. Plus, being a politician is much different than being entertainment industry uber rich . There is way more uber rich in LA than DC, housing prices reflect this. Not uncommon for homes to sell for $10 million, 15 million or 20 million on the west side of LA, this price point is barely seen in DC. The political cuture is also much different than the entertainment culture which is extremely appearance conscious. West side independents tend to be more celebrity driven than other schools. If I were to return to LA, I'd go catholic or public and my kids are in independent schools now.

If we could live on either the Westside, or east of the city, in a place like San Marino, Pasadena, or LaCanada, which would you suggest? Would the east side private schools have the same wealth and celebrity drivers?

I think Pasadena is more down to earth, no personal knowledge of the others. Where are you and dh commuting to? I actually like the Westside, I'd just be wary of the independent schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I lived in LA for many years, and there are definitely some public and private gems. If you want to go the independent school route and live on the Westside, I would vote for Crossroads (if your child is more arty and free spirited) and Brentwood. The head of the lower school at Brentwood is fantastic, and very down to earth. I also found Harvard Westlake a little more snotty. And about the friends of celebrities--they are going to be everywhere, it is LA!! That is like saying you are avoiding a DC school because of all the kids of Administration officials--you would rule out pretty much every school in NW, public and private.

This is definitely not true. LA has many more mirco-cultures than DC because it is a much bigger city. Plus, being a politician is much different than being entertainment industry uber rich . There is way more uber rich in LA than DC, housing prices reflect this. Not uncommon for homes to sell for $10 million, 15 million or 20 million on the west side of LA, this price point is barely seen in DC. The political cuture is also much different than the entertainment culture which is extremely appearance conscious. West side independents tend to be more celebrity driven than other schools. If I were to return to LA, I'd go catholic or public and my kids are in independent schools now.

If we could live on either the Westside, or east of the city, in a place like San Marino, Pasadena, or LaCanada, which would you suggest? Would the east side private schools have the same wealth and celebrity drivers?

Former Palisades resident here. It is a safe generalization to say that the Westside is more entertainment focused. JPL (Jet Propulsion Labs) is in La Canada area so you get more of the science types and much less celebrity.

BTW you get more for your money inland. My brother bought in Altadena (in the foothills above Pasadena) at the same time as we bought in the Palisades. He paid exactly 1/2 as much and got the same size house but with a huge lawn and a pool--and a view. Since home prices are high, it's important to think about when those property tax bills come in. My SIL kept trying to get us to move there so kept showing me Altadena houses for sale. I remember one beautiful, beautiful--dream house, really, Spanish, palm trees, orange trees, pool--and it would be easy for us to have bought it after selling our Westside house. The downside is the air quality is not as good as on the Westside. My DH has severe asthma, and we had tried Pasadena years before and he had to use his inhaler there in the summer, so we decided to stay west by the ocean. (But my SIL insists that Altadena is above the smog; she may be right)

Also as an fyi, the weather is different in these areas. Check out Sunset Magazine's zones (there are 24 or so zones). Right by the ocean, you get a lot of fog (in the Palisades on the beach side of Sunset Blvd, and the Palisades/Santa Monica in general). So it can be cold and foggy. Just a little ways inland it can be bright and sunny. A little more, and it can be hot/cold, like in Altadena/Pasadena/La Canada. But these are relative terms; the heat is dry heat and same with the cold; it's nothing like east coast weather.

If I could choose, I'd go for the La Canada area or some areas of Pasadena or San Marino, or the Altadena area by the mountains. Glendale looks like it's totally happening now but I don't know if it's only business or residential. btw I grew up by the Pacific Ocean and am a beach girl, so that's saying something. I just think it's a little more family-friendly over there.

[Anonymous]

There's a little gem in Culver City called Turning Point School. It's PK-8 and feeds to most of the high schools mentioned on here. There's Westridge that's a girls' school in Pasadena. Buckley is a good school.

[Anonymous]

OP -- are you locked into the Palisades? Do you care about this whole celebrity culture thing everyone is talking about? I grew up in L.A. and it's definitely true in some parts of L.A. (including the Palisades) are overwhelmed by the celeb culture. Many people in L.A. cares a ton about how they look, what they wear, cars they drive, etc., but it's worse in some parts of the city. If you want to avoid that (and aren't committed to Palisades), you could think about the South Bay (Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes), and Chadwick is a good private school option. If you're committed to the Palisades, I'd focus on Brentwood.

[Anonymous]

OP--Yes, focused on Palisades area, open to surrounding neighborhoods. Would love to live in Palos Verdes, but not a good commute to spouse's job north of Brentwood. Not into celebrity craziness, but recognize it will be present. Secure enough emotionally and financially to not get too wrapped up. Thanks for all informative posts. Looking at The Village School for younger kids, Archer, and Brentwood.

[Anonymous]

You will love LA, I am here for a temporary, work-related reason, and cannot wait to return to Southern California - I am counting the frigid days!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP--Yes, focused on Palisades area, open to surrounding neighborhoods. Would love to live in Palos Verdes, but not a good commute to spouse's job north of Brentwood. Not into celebrity craziness, but recognize it will be present. Secure enough emotionally and financially to not get too wrapped up. Thanks for all informative posts. Looking at The Village School for younger kids, Archer, and Brentwood.

Former Pali resident here. Check the school vaccination rates. The Palisadian Post (one of the local newspapers) did a great story on them, as did the LA Times. Village School has a low vax rate. It's also very fancy--the teachers there dress fancier every day than I do when I'm going out at night on a special occasion. That said, seems like a nice school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, find the school with the highest vaccination rates, so you know the other parents aren't idiots:

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/09/wealthy-la-schools-vaccination-rates-are-as-low-as-south-sudans/380252/

+100

[Anonymous]

Are you going short term or long term? If short term then try to have all three at the same school for emotional security.

[Anonymous]

can anyone speak to the differences between HarvardWestlake and Flintridge Prep besides size? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I'd take a serious look at the publics before deciding.

I grew up in SoCal further south in OC. Depending on where you live, some of the publics are actually stronger than the privates and have a better track record of getting kids into top colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:can anyone speak to the differences between HarvardWestlake and Flintridge Prep besides size? Thanks.

Yes. Both nice schools. Good, strong faculty at both. Flintridge Prep smaller, perhaps a "warmer" feel, maybe a bit lower stress. It is not as competitive to get into as Harvard-Westlake or the Polytechnic School in Pasadena, so the cohort of top strongest hard-charging students will be a lot bigger at Harvard-Westlake (that could be a plus or a minus). Flintridge has a very casual feel -- it's in a residential neighborhood, it's got its admissions office in a cute bungalow, the kids eat outside in a courtyard.

If you are a DC person, a loose analogy might be that Harvard-Westlake is Sidwell and Flintridge Prep is Maret.

[Anonymous]

Thanks 11:41.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:can anyone speak to the differences between HarvardWestlake and Flintridge Prep besides size? Thanks.

You should consider Polytechnic School in Pasadena. It bridges those two schools in that it draws the top students, has the academic rigor, and college matriculation stats of, or even better than, Harvard Westlake, but has the intimate size (between 98-110 students in a high school class) of Flintridge Prep. Poly is more like Sidwell, I suppose, if you are looking for a local comparison, and I agree that Flintridge Prep is more like Maret, or perhaps the Potomac School (but with much more diversity, it is L.A. after all).