Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know anything about the Archer School? And, the main differences, besides location, between Archer & Marlborough?

Not what you were looking for exactly, but, two things to research:

Marlborough is going through a scandal at the moment because about a year ago, a graduate of theirs blogged that while she was there, a teacher had been inappropriate with her and she complained to the school and "nothing happened." Anyways that set off a firestorm and the teacher is out, and the headmaster has just resigned as of a few months ago. I was thinking, this might be a good time to apply there, because it might not have as many applications thanks to this scandal, so you might have a shot of getting in, and the school of course will now have every employee under a microscope.

Archer has some sort of remodeling/neighborhood dispute going on; I'm not in that community but I've received a couple of flyers from the school assuring everyone that their remodel takes neighborhood interests to heart, and another from some locals who say this is not true.

OP, between the two, Archer is much more convenient to The Palisades.

And btw, Harvard-Westlake had a cheating scandal and a separate drug scandal, both a few years ago.

As an aside, OP, are you familiar with Rick Caruso's plan for the downtown of the Palisades area? He owns quite a bit of adjacent property on both sides of the business block of Swarthmore (the curved part on a map, the block north of Sunset.) It's going through a huge renovation. Locals are grumbly and worried about the increase of crime that will come with transient workers etc, and grumbling about the design of it all (but many, including myself, think it's going to be a good thing).

I know that every year the Archer School organizes and runs perhaps southern California's most prestigious literature and creative writing conference, "Literature and . . . ", for high school-aged writers. Participants have to submit their writing for evaluation and judging, before being selected and invited to present their works.

Does anyone know anything about the Archer School? And, the main differences, besides location, between Archer & Marlborough?

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in LA, and attended Westlake, before it became Harvard-Westlake. I disagree with PP; I would be VERY way of the celebrity ultra- wealthy, super materialistic culture at schools like HW and their ilk. Unless your family is in the entertainment industry and enjoys that milieu, it can be quite toxic socially. I think a school like Crossroads, which attracts much more earthy types, would be a better experience socially, while still being quite strong academically. I would NEVER want my own kids to have the experience I had going to Westlake, even though the education was phenomenal.

Think there just as many celeb types at Crossroads these days.

The CEO and Founder of Snapchat in Venice/Santa Monica is a Crossroads alum.

I second Palisades High School.

I grew up in LA, and attended Westlake, before it became Harvard-Westlake. I disagree with PP; I would be VERY way of the celebrity ultra- wealthy, super materialistic culture at schools like HW and their ilk. Unless your family is in the entertainment industry and enjoys that milieu, it can be quite toxic socially. I think a school like Crossroads, which attracts much more earthy types, would be a better experience socially, while still being quite strong academically. I would NEVER want my own kids to have the experience I had going to Westlake, even though the education was phenomenal.

For the Palisades, the Santa Monica area will be a decent commute for your kids - Crossroads is very good. Newroads was mixed 15 years ago, hopefully more established now. I'd call and go for a tour to see how it measures up. Windward is also excellent but would be a bit further for you. Westside Neighborhood School is also nice, but closer to the Marina, and I'm not sure they have their HS up & running yet - they planned to last I checked.

Chadwick, Brentwood and Harvard-Westlake are big names. If you're going for church schools, St Monica's is excellent and also in Santa Monica.

Lastly, Pali's publics should be quite good. Will you tour them first? When I was in high school, a lot of kids (both those in private & the top kids in public) took supplementary courses at Santa Monica College.

I went a private in LA with celebrity's kids and kids whose families were just crazy wealthy and the parents were too busy with their own lives. There were some bad influences, but the rich & neglected kids were much worse off than the celebrity kids and if you're going for a big name private, there will be rich but unloved kids. So I wouldn't take the celebrity factor too heavily. That's not the biggest threat, IME.

As many other posters suggested, for your age range, Brentwood is the one-stop shop (primary-12th) closest to the Palisades. And close and together will make all the difference in your quality of life in LA.

Brentwood is very comparable to Maret or Potomac, in that it is just outside the top tier (which I would say in LA is perhaps Harvard Westlake, west side, and Polytechnic, east side, for coed schools; and Marlborough and Loyola, central, for single-sex schools).

That said, Brentwood is almost the epitome of the affluent, beautiful-people, Los Angeles stereotype. Some of the city's very richest, most connected, industry-tied parents send their children there because it is relatively (keep in mind Sunset traffic, where it intersects the 405, yikes!) convenient to the Palisades, Santa Monica, Bel Air, Beverly Hills, And Westwood.

Original Poster--Thank you to those who offered real advice. I appreciate it.

The Palisades is a beautiful place to live, you are fortunate to have to make this particular move. I doubt that, once there, you will ever want to move back again.

Anonymous wrote:I want to move to la. Will you hire me?

It's a good move. What is your field?