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Hi, we moved here about 6 years ago from the Bay Area. Schools were a very important consideration for us. If we hadn't moved to SoCal we would have moved to Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga for the schools. In So CAl we considered 2 areas; La Jolla and Rancho Santa Fe. La Jolla because although it is in the San Diego Union School District it has a a stellar high school, La Jolla High, and an even better elementary where they not only differentiated between GATE but also had a program for really high achievers called Seminar. In the end we chose Rancho Santa Fe for it's K-8 school. The programs are exemplary, both my children will be in the RSF K-8 middle school. It is a combined campus (elementary and middle) with small class sizes of 16-20 per class. There are honors classes, my 7th grader is in Honors Algebra/Geometry, my 6th grader is in Algebra 1. Fabulous science programs with a new program being rolled out next year, an actual art lab, music, chorus, band, spanish, Columbia University Literacy programs, electives (6th and up) classes with drama, robotics, rocketry, journalism, web design, imovies, sculpture, etc. Additionally, students can join after the RSF teams for golf, lacrosse, soccer, track, cross country, tennis, volleyball, etc or be part of the student council. All within the confines of a student body of around 750. the school emphasizes character development as well as academic achievement. After RSF they will have 4 top notch high schools to choose from, Torrey Pines, La Costa Canyon, Canyon Crest Academy and San Dieguito Academy. Additionally, there are numerous fabulous private schools available, even in the North County, one new one is called Pacific Ridge. I've heard many good things about it from friends. Homes in the RSF School district range from 1.1 to 10+ million. Houses start in Elfin Forest, an equestrian community of 2+acre homes to large estates and ranches in Rancho Santa Fe. We chose the RSF Schools because we wanted more property with our home. There are also condominiums and small lot houses in the village of Rancho Santa Fe which are under the 1 million range.

All the other coastal (cooler) locations, Solana santa Fe Schools - Fairbanks Ranch, Hacienda, Crosby, Rancho Santa Fe Farms; Del Mar, Encinitas, are all great elementary districts. Make sure to check out where the kids end up going to middle school in between elementary and high school. Some may be over crowded. Likewise the public high schools are very large from 2500 to 4000 students; however, they are exemplary.

One interesting alternative is to go to the charter schools provided in Point Loma, such as, High Tech High and middle school, International School, etc. It has a fabulous teaching staff, Phd's, etc. - Mon May 19 2008, 19:47