Anonymous wrote:We left SF the summer before my eldest was about to enter K. It was a lottery and I read the K Files to understand what people were doing. The craziness was above my pay grade and sanity level. I recently listened to the Nice White Parents podcast and it took my back to that time. Glad to be out of that craziness, but still have friends with kids in public (1 goes to a charter, 1 goes to a Chinese immersion as a native speaker).

I'm 18:51 and we live like three or four blocks away from an elementary school. DD and I are white and Jewish. Had DD gone to the school near us, she'd have been the only white girl in her class if not the grade, and the only jewish kid in the entire school. I put down six other schools, and my two criteria were "no uniforms, only requires one bus/train, and DD wouldn't be the "only" of any demographic". She wound up at a great elementary school for six year that took almost an hour to get to. Great school, but ugh, so far.

Anonymous wrote:People with children don’t live in the city. That’s why there are so few schools.

+1 all the good schools are in the burbs

We left SF the summer before my eldest was about to enter K. It was a lottery and I read the K Files to understand what people were doing. The craziness was above my pay grade and sanity level. I recently listened to the Nice White Parents podcast and it took my back to that time. Glad to be out of that craziness, but still have friends with kids in public (1 goes to a charter, 1 goes to a Chinese immersion as a native speaker).

this article is older now but it explains some of it.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/21/us/san-francisco-children.html

it's very difficult to raise children in SF and the schools are a disaster. If you can afford private and can get your kid into a good one then it could be a great experience.

I agree with others who say that education is not valued there. I couldn't leave that city fast enough.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People with children don’t live in the city. That’s why there are so few schools.

there are over 50,000 students in SFUSD...

But they aren’t the “right” students!

Anonymous wrote:There are quite a few K-8 schools (Burke, Towne, Presidio Hill, etc). From there, probably 15-20% of kids go to boarding school. The others spread out amongst the six or seven high schools (University, Urban, St. Ignatius, etc) and some go to Lowell.

K-8 kids also head up north to Branson or MA for high school

Anonymous wrote:People with children don’t live in the city. That’s why there are so few schools.

There are more dogs in SF than people under 18

Education in west coast is valued. Particularly because of families of Asian descent. They tend to live in areas with amazing public schools. Look at the list of National Merit Scholars in CA. You can find them by high school and it is a one way of comparing public and private high schools and figuring out what cities have best public schools.

Anonymous wrote:People with children don’t live in the city. That’s why there are so few schools.

there are over 50,000 students in SFUSD...

I think one trouble in SF proper is that you have little control over what school you'll be assigned to. You can't just buy in a a good neighborhood, its a lottery system. Many suburbs have different systems that give parents more control.

There are lots of very educated people in the Bay area who care a lot about their children's education.

My DD is in public school in SF. She feels like there are tons of kids, but I notice it's a very Kevin Bacon situation - if she doesn't know a kid, she knows someone who knows them.

‘Education on the west coast just isn’t as valued as on the East’

That’s quite the statement there.

Some of the top public schools in the country are on the West Coast, and there are plenty of snobs, too. Not sure where you’re getting this impression.

There are quite a few K-8 schools (Burke, Towne, Presidio Hill, etc). From there, probably 15-20% of kids go to boarding school. The others spread out amongst the six or seven high schools (University, Urban, St. Ignatius, etc) and some go to Lowell.

People with children don’t live in the city. That’s why there are so few schools.

Could someone please just give me the DL? I've heard that public schools in most of CA are a crapshoot and SF is no different except for Lowell. My impression is that education on the west coast just isn't as impressive/valued overall but that could just be my DC snobbery bias. There definitely don't seem to be very many K-12 private schools. Do most well off kids go to a K-8 and then one of the private high schools? What are considered the best schools in the city for each age?