What are some areas in Silicon Valley that have a good public high school (850+) but not so good elementary and middle? We plan on using private schools for educating our kids early on and then use public high schools.

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Question on Quora:

What are some areas in Silicon Valley that have a good public high school (850+) but not so good elementary and middle? We plan on using private schools for educating our kids early on and then use public high schools.

Robert Lei, REALTOR, E-PRO at Century 21 M&M and Associates

Hi, Yes, I know the perfect spot within Silicon Valley for you if you want excellent high school but do not need excellent elementary. One part of Sunnyvale has just this scenario. To see what region I’m talking about, go to this link: Silicon Valley School Districts . Scroll down and click on “Sunnyvale Elementary”. Look for the light-blue region along the western edge of Sunnyvale bordering Mountain View that says “Vargas Elementary”. This is the part of Sunnyvale that has an excellent public high school (Homestead High School API=873) but not as good elementary (Vargas Elementary API=776). Usually, elementary schools have higher API and the API gets worse as you move from elementary to middle to high school. However, this pocket of Sunnyvale is an exception because Vargas Elementary is joined by the two star elementary schools Cherry Chase Elementary (API = 952) and Cumberland Elementary (API = 947) when they reach high school at Homestead High.

Note: The API scores I’ve reported above are the 3-year average of the last 3 recorded years of the Academic Performance Index (API) from the California Department of Education website.

I’m guessing you are asking for “not so good” elementary because you are hoping to get the good high school without paying such a high price for the house as you would be forced to pay if you bid on houses that had all 3 schools — elementary, middle, and high school — all highly ranked. If so, you are correct that the prices of these homes aren’t quite as high as the homes that are in the Cherry Chase Elementary and Cumberland Elementary attendance areas.

Sunnyvale Somerset of Sunnyvale by Summerhill Homes in Cumberland, Sunnyvale Middle, Homestead High School District

Somerset of Sunnyvale

"Somerset of Sunnyvale" is a cluster of Single-Family Homes built by Summerhill Homes in Cumberland Elementary, Sunnyvale Middle, and Homestead High School district in the mid 1990s. These homes are a good combination of being relatively new, yet built early enough that they have decent-sized lots and are located in a good neighborhood just south of Washington Park. To get to this community from Washington Park, walk south on Pescadero Terrace or Sunset Ave. The other streets in this community are Markham Terrace, Kearney Terrace, Redondo Terrace, and Pismo Terrace.

Schools

The schools for this community are all highly rated:
Cumberland Elementary
Sunnyvale Middle
Homestead High

Price Trend

The most common models and their price trend are as follows:

Large: 1644 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms
4/16/11 $1,007,900 <-- The recent price this spring was nearly back up to spring 2008 value
9/1/08 $1,000,000
6/28/08 $998,888
5/7/08 $1,009,161

Medium: 1568 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms
5/4/11 $952,000 <-- In less than a year, the price has gone up $30,000
7/30/10 $922,000

Small: 1354 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms
4/15/09 $815,000 <-- April 2009 was the BOTTOM of the recent downturn
5/2/08 $948,000

Sometimes statistics that are too general, such lumping the entire city of Sunnyvale, don't tell the price trend accurately because the median and average price for an entire city might simply describe a change in the mixture of sales between northern and souther Sunnyvale. However, since I am comparing EXACT same model homes in the same complex, my data above gives an accurate picture of the price trend. The bottom of this downturn was in April 2009 and ever since then the price trend has been gradually upward in the Cumberland Elementary/Sunnyvale Middle/Homstead High neighborhoods. Talk to me if you'd like me to analyze your particular neighborhood.

To see other posts is this blog:

Go to SiliconValleyHouses blogspot

94086 Education Level:

"Somerset of Sunnyvale" by Summerhill Homes in Cumberland Elementary, Sunnyvale Middle, and Homestead High School District

"Somerset of Sunnyvale" is a cluster of Single-Family Homes built by Summerhill Homes in Cumberland Elementary, Sunnyvale Middle, and Homestead High School district in the mid 1990s. These homes are a good combination of being relatively new, yet built early enough that they have decent-sized lots and are located in a good neighborhood just south of Washington Park. To get to this community from Washington Park, walk south on Pescadero Terrace or Sunset Ave. The other streets in this community are Markham Terrace, Kearney Terrace, Redondo Terrace, and Pismo Terrace.

The schools for this community are all highly rated:
Cumberland Elementary
Sunnyvale Middle
Homestead High

The most common models and their price trend are as follows:

Large: 1644 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms
4/16/11 $1,007,900 <-- The recent price this spring was nearly back up to spring 2008 value
9/1/08 $1,000,000
6/28/08 $998,888
5/7/08 $1,009,161

Medium: 1568 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms
5/4/11 $952,000 <-- In less than a year, the price has gone up $30,000
7/30/10 $922,000

Small: 1354 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms
4/15/09 $815,000 <-- April 2009 was the BOTTOM of the recent downturn
5/2/08 $948,000

Sometimes statistics that are too general, such lumping the entire city of Sunnyvale, don't tell the price trend accurately because the median and average price for an entire city might simply describe a change in the mixture of sales between northern and souther Sunnyvale. However, since I am comparing EXACT same model homes in the same complex, my data above gives an accurate picture of the price trend. The bottom of this downturn was in April 2009 and ever since then the price trend has been gradually upward in the Cumberland Elementary/Sunnyvale Middle/Homstead High neighborhoods. Talk to me if you'd like me to analyze your particular neighborhood.