The SF Chronicle has done some fantastic reporting on schools and has a whole section on data and insights to college that includes the path to college (e.g., high school).

With a 5th grader, my view would be towards ensuring that you are at a school that feeds into the best middle school for HS. In SF, Lowell is definitely your goal, although the acceptance rates to UC are better at Mission. Mission has the best Berkeley admission rates in the entire state. But Lowell sends a larger total number of students. (Lowell usually sends the most, or close to the most, in the state for Berkeley and UCLA.)

The other thing to consider if you are living in SF, is that your "attendance area" largely determines what elementary and middle schools you get in the "lottery." (Lowell is more of a true lottery and it won't matter where you live.) So, choose your housing carefully.

We ended up being very, very happy with our AA elementary school because it was a small school with a tight, inclusive community that was very supportive of academic achievement and kids with a variety of interest.

Unfortunately, we had to move to a different city for work and the kids now attend a school that is in a "better" suburban district but that is substantially worse for our kids (in particular). They've suffered socially (because they aren't into sports) and academically (because they are ignored as B+/A- students). I say this only to point out the hard lesson we learned, which is that whatever people tell you about what makes a good school, in my experience the thing to do is to really take the time to evaluate what your kid needs and then find the school and community that best aligns with that.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/california-college-admissions/

Anonymous wrote:‘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.

Funny we have lived on both coasts with kids and I thought their education was better in the west.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Private K-8 and then private High School is the route we took. Very happy with the education. The K-8s are generally San Francisco Day School, Presidio Hill, Friends, Kittredge, Children’s Day, Synergy and then some bus to Marin at MCDS. Then you have single sex - Cathedral, Town and Stuart Hall for boys. Hamlin, Burke’s and Convent for girls. There are also a handful of religious schools that are popular. High Schools - Lick Wilmerding, University, Urban, the Bay School, Drew, International, Convent/Stuart Hall, Saint Ingnacious and Sacred Heart in the City, then Branson and Marin Academy in Marin.

+1

This is the route we took too.

For K-8 co-eds, SF Day is the most selective followed by SF Friends, Children's Day and Live Oak. For single sex it's Hamlin, Burkes, Cathedral, Town.

For private high school, Urban, Lick-Wilmerding and UHS are most selective. Followed by Stuart Hall/Convent (single sex), Bay, and St. Ignacious.

SF Bay parents are very focused on education!

Same. SF high schools feel more competitive in terms of academics than DMV in my opinion!

For best private high schools:

San Francisco: Urban School, University High and either Bay or Lick are the top 3 academically. Very strong curriculum and college prep. Excellent college matriculations.

East Bay: College Prep, Head Royce

North Bay: Marin Academy, Branson

South Bay: Nueva, Menlo School

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

Reviving an old thread...Could you please elaborate or be more specific? Looking for info as my husband may have to transfer to San Francisco. We will have a daughter entering Grade 5 at the time.

There are plenty of solid schools in the city, both public and private. 5th grade is the last year of elementary school in SF, so if you want to do private you'll have to probably do public for 5th and promptly apply to privates for 6th. We've had or heard from friends/their kids having great experiences with the International School of SF, Gateway, AP Giannini, James Lick, and Marina.

I’d recommend private high school in San Francisco. The public schools in San Mateo and Santa Clara county are good for STEM but terrible for humanities, social sciences and art. The environment can be very toxic in different ways. The Palo Alto schools have high suicides rates. The cheating culture in Cupertino is on entirely different level than anything you’ve seen in the DMV.

Anonymous wrote:

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

Reviving an old thread...Could you please elaborate or be more specific? Looking for info as my husband may have to transfer to San Francisco. We will have a daughter entering Grade 5 at the time.

In the south SF Bay Area, look at Harker or Menlo College (which is a high school, despite the name).

For public schools, live in the Atherton, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, or Cupertino school districts. Caution - school district boundaries do not strictly follow the city/town boundaries.

Anonymous wrote: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.

Yes, but the problem is the state of CA education budget is in the toilet thanks to Prop 13.

I grew up in CA, went to public school both pre and post Prop 13.

I also used to live in an expensive part of the Bay Area when I had kids. I wasn't impressed with the public schools given the amount of property taxes I was paying, and the annual "donations" and bond measures to fund things like art and PE. They have zero gifted programs there.

As much as I crap on the school system here in the DC area, one thing they get right is the amount of special programs here.