Lick Wilmerding is the best, as once accepted students pay on a sliding scale ranging from $500 a year to over $30,000 depending on ability to pay. In other words, if accepted, ability to pay is not a barrier to entrance thanks to a terrific endowment. University is another good school, but consider who your peer group will be in pac heights. St. Ignatius is great for a bigger, respected parochial based education, if that is what you are seeking. Lowell is great academically, and public.

Thu Sep 13 2007, 10:09

Hi J R,

According to the DRE, Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 defines steering as such: "Steering is the illegal practice of directing members of minorities to or away from certain neighborhoods on the basis of their race, creed, color, religion, national origin or sex, thereby denying or limiting free choice of housing."

I would never participate in steering, and I don't believe that offering my opinion of the best schools in SF is steering in any way, shape or form. The way I read Lloyd's question, he was asking for opinions. He
did not request statistics, or ask on which website he could find the information. Trulia is a valuable resource for Real Estate Pros, as well as buyers and sellers. It is an excellent source of information (and opinions) as no one of us could possibly know everything there is to know about every area.

Mon Aug 20 2007, 20:17

I am an SF native and have gone to elementary, and both junior high and high school here in San Francisco. My answer to "the best" is based on the following crieria, hardest to get into, meaning these schools require high GPA's and high test scores to get into them, reputation in SF, as well as my personal connections, which friends of mine attended these schools and where these people are today, and how successful they have become. Please keep in mind that these are all private schools (they all have websites, so you can get additional info there). Lowell High Scholl is considered the best public school in the City. For private schools the following three are considered the best, when asking almost any local San Francisco resident:
1.University High School
2.Lick Wilmerding
3. International High School (a.k.a French American)

Hope this helps!

Mon Aug 20 2007, 09:07

Yvonne wrote:
BTW to Jr. - Simply giving prospective homebuyers an opinion on the "best" high schools would not fall under the defintion of steering --- which is an illegal real estate practice through which real estate professionals encourage people to look for homes in areas where residents generally share the same racial or ethnic profile, or to not look for homes in areas where the residents do not share your same racial or ethnic profile, essentially encouraging racial segregation.
Fortunately, this Trulia website is open to review of all persons from all races and protected classes who ALL can take advantage of the information included regarding the best schools for their children.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi Yvonne, IMO it is best to be "the source of the source", and not the source. If the client/customer finds out for themselves, it is much more powerful and accurate than our "opinion". I would give the client/customer a handout with all the school information for the area.

In another thread regarding commission there were agents who were wary about discussing the subject for obvious reasons. Indeed, telling a customer especially where the best schools are is not going to set will with a client seller, and can open us up to liability. As I live in an area that is frequently bad mouthed as having bad schools, even though my children and my neighbor's children have done as well as children from the neighboring school district, I would rather be "the source of the source". Besides, don't you feel more assured when YOU learn something yourself rather than when someone you don't know very well tells you their opinion?

Mon Aug 20 2007, 06:32

BTW to Jr. - Simply giving prospective homebuyers an opinion on the "best" high schools would not fall under the defintion of steering --- which is an illegal real estate practice through which real estate professionals encourage people to look for homes in areas where residents generally share the same racial or ethnic profile, or to not look for homes in areas where the residents do not share your same racial or ethnic profile, essentially encouraging racial segregation.
Fortunately, this Trulia website is open to review of all persons from all races and protected classes who ALL can take advantage of the information included regarding the best schools for their children.

Mon Aug 20 2007, 01:42

"Best" is subjective, but from what I have heard, Lowell, Lincoln & Washington in the city of SF have good reputations for academic excellence. Check them each out on Wikipedia.

Also, for another point of view, check out Newsweek's article rating of America's Top High Schools.
"In this survey, public high schools are ranked according to a ratio devised by Jay Mathews: the number of Advanced Placement, Intl. Baccalaureate and/or Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school in 2006 divided by the number of graduating seniors. All of the schools on the list have an index of at least 1.000; they are in the top 5 percent of public schools measured this way. Not incorporated with the study are magnet schools ..." (NOTE: Lowell is included in this survey in 2006/2007), "...or any school that accepts over 50% of its students via a placement test or other type of admission criterion. The study effectively demonstrates the public schools with greatest opportunity for all students to challenge themselves with college level courses. However, critics argue that this ranking system does a disservice by not taking into consideration the actual performance of the student exams, but merely the quantity of exams taken. "
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12532678/site/newsweek/ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18754326/site/newsweek/ - Read More about the Ranking Criteria


Here are the SF schools that ranked in this study:
Lowell #60 (2007) #26 (2006)
School of the Arts #347 (2007) #279 (2005)
George Washington #316 (2006) #455 (2005) #481 (2003)
No info for 2004. Other Bay Area schools also ranked, but these are the ones in the city of SF.
Hope this helps.

Mon Aug 20 2007, 01:22

Isn't this also an area which we should not be discussing as it could be construed as "steering"?

Sun Aug 19 2007, 16:20

I would support Sheila's answer and strongly recommend St. Ignatius.

Sun Aug 19 2007, 13:02

St. Ignatius college prep is excellent, and has a great reputation. Dave attended St. Ignatius, and Bay Area natives in-the-know are always impressed by that. Lowell is a great public high school with high
standards. I know you wanted 3 names, but these are the best public and private high schools.

Sun Aug 19 2007, 08:17