It is an issue that has slowly been unraveling in San Carlos over the past few years. In years past, many San Carlos residents who were assigned to Sequoia High School have freely transfered to Carlmont High School through intra-district transfers. With Carlmont nearing or at capacity many San Carlos residents who are assigned to Sequoia may not be allowed to transfer to Carlmont. Over the past 18 months many San Carlos residents have been caught off-guard by these new restrictions.
Looking strictly at a price per square foot basis, White Oaks and Howard Park, two of the highest priced areas of San Carlos, have homes that are assigned to Sequoia. The northwest part of San Carlos has many homes that are assigned to Carlmont. Many home buyers in San Carlos are now taking a closer look at the assigned high school of prospective homes. Having held many open houses over the last few months I can tell you that the frequency with which potential buyers are asking about the designated high school has increased dramatically. Some have even gone so far as to say that they would only consider a home that is already assigned to Carlmont.
The next logical question is to examine whether the disparity between Sequoia and Carlmont is justified. Going entirely by the APIs of 699 for Sequoia and 800 for Carlmont, there would appear to be some justification for a price differential. However, going by APIs alone is a mistake. There is much more to consider including facilities, teachers, administration, PTA, students, activities, focus, etc. The debate over the differences between Sequoia and Carlmont and whether the preference for Carlmont is justified is an entirely different topic. For many buyers considering purchasing a $1,000,000+ home, they want hard statistics to justify their purchase. So whether it is fair or not, APIs are king for many buyers.
Whether those homes that are assigned to Carlmont are able to close the gap on the prices in White Oaks and Howard Park remains to be seen. I think there will be a narrowing of the price differentials, the question is, to what degree.
6 Comments
Bob, where can you find information on which areas/streets in San Carlos are assigned to which high school?
Please click on the link below which will take you to the Sequoia Union High School District boundary page. You can type in any address and the assigned school will pop up.
http://www.seq.org/component/option,com_suhsdboundary/Itemid,58/
I live in San Carlos and have 2 high school age boys. One is a junior at Serra HS and the other is a freshman at Summit Charter HS in Redwood City. Therefore I have no first hand knowledge or bias. Almost all my kids friends go to either Carlmont or Sequoia. I have had many many discussions with their parents and them…and I have no doubt about where I would send my kids if I had a choice of these two schools. It would be Sequoia. Numbers do not tell the story here. Sequoia has a percentage of it’s population that do not test well, with many among them not interested in going to college. This brings down the test scores. If you look at the leadership and programs offered at each school, and more importantly talk to parents who have kids that have gone to both schools lately, I think you will be surprised at what you find.
If you are considering sending your child to public school in the district, I do suggest you take a look at Summit Prep Charter High School. It is the number #1 rated public high school in the county and you have never even heard of it. Summit Prep earned the highest marks for a high school in San Mateo County with an API of 841 and a 10 statewide ranking”
DRobinson – Is Summit Prep a school any San Carlos resident can attend or do you have to test into it? When I was reviewing the latest API scores I did notice how well Summit scored and was curious about it. If anyone can go there from San Carlos, I would think that would be a huge selling point as the score (841) is higher then Burlingame High (813) and Carlmont (800).
I am focusing on API score because that is what I got out of Bob’s post. My impression was not that he thought those of us who already live here aren’t happy with the schools. It is not a debate about which school a current resident should choose. Instead, I think what he is saying is that people who are buying a house may choose a different area/city to live in based on API scores or they might not be willing to pay a premium to live in an area with a low scoring high school. I’ve never been convinced that Palo Alto is worth the premium one pays to live there, but people seem to be willing to pay high $ per sq foot because of the schools. I doubt people with small kids who are looking for a house are really going to take the time to tour Sequoia to see how wonderful it is. For lack of a better way to make a judgement, people use API scores and that is why they can sometimes determine real estate values.
Summit Preparatory Charter High School is a public school in the Sequoia Union High School District. Preference is for those who live in the district, but anyone can apply to attend. You do not have to test in…you simply apply and hope that your child’s name is picked out of the hat for 1 of the 100 slots per grade. I believe they had over 250 applicants last year.
If you want more information on Summit, or would like to just chat about it, please feel free to e-mail at dan@danrobinsonhomes.com.
My comments regarding Sequoia and Carlmont were just meant to alert those buyers that are reading this blog to the fact that despite the lower API score, Sequoia is actually a very good, and sometimes preferable choice as a high school for San Carlos Residents. I would hate to see someone not buy an otherwise great house because it was within the Sequoia HS boundaries.
Thanks for the info Dan. It is interesting that I haven’t heard much about Summit in the community. It sounds like a great option!