So you move to San Francisco, you get out-bid on your first home, then again on your second, and finally you get the home of your dreams, a TIC that just won the condo conversion lottery. You’re excited about the neighborhood, you’ve seen the school down the street, and Wham! Reality hits. Your child might not get in to that school. Fear not! The bad news…there is competition for the “most desired” schools. The good news…if you do your research, you’ll find there are many, many great public schools in San Francisco a short distance from that dream home you just picked up.
Last Friday, March 16th, the SFUSD mailed to all applicants, notification of their child’s school of assignment (lottery results). There were many families thrilled their child got accepted into a school of their choice, and many families were utterly disappointed that they did not get so much as one of their seven choices. Hey, look on the bright side… college applications will be a walk in the park.
–Details, details, details [San Francisco Unified School District Website]
-chart pulled from SFUSD website
one though on that one.
most parents are – wrongly – considering the test scores of the schools. Anybody who has been in the real estate world recently KNOWS for a fact that a few blocks area’s value depends only on today – and that whatever happend there 4 years ago has little impact to it.
so now, the same people are comparing test scores of a class FOUR years ahead of their own precious one?
what does matter is the realestate trend of the block of the school (likelyhood of drugs, break-ins etc), the activity around such as condo conversion, red hot market etc.
Remember, your child does get some points IF your first choice is indeed your local attendance school.
give a try – and visit ALL schools that are geographically appropriate. Not all schools are equal, but most underachiving schools are loaded with money for infrastructure and staff, and some have had new and unscored-yet programs and classes, that are true gems.
(for the sake of an example, drive by Dianne Feinstein school on Vincente and 25th during school hours and ask yourself why you would refuse to apply to that school just because it’s so new that it’s still unrated?)
Sophie,
Thanks for the comments. There are many, many great schools in this city. You just have to do your research. Now tell all your parent friends about our blog, and invite them over here for an online discussion with you.
alex