School choices
Our Community Has Many School Choices
The term “school choice” means many things, depending who you ask. Generally, school choice refers to the educational alternatives available to parents who do not wish to send their children to the local district public school to which they have been assigned.
In America’s system of residentially assigned district schooling, those who have the financial means exercise school choice by purchasing homes in districts that have high-performing schools. School choice programs break the link between housing and access to a quality education with the goal of expanding educational opportunity to all children, especially the most disadvantaged. School choice programs are intended to benefit children from low-income families and students with special needs. The ZIP Code-based public education system has kept low-income kids out of quality schools, and studies have shown it also has contributed to socioeconomic segregation in public schools for decades.
There is no consensus among teachers, researchers or politicians about school choice. Some are passionately for it. Some are vehemently against it.
In our community, there are four basic choices:
Traditional Districts – Los Altos School District (LASD – K to 8) and Mountain View Los Altos (MVLA – 9 to 12) – Approximately 61% of the families residing in the LASD boundaries select this option. They attend one of the 7 neighborhood elementary schools, one of the 2 middle schools and one of the 2 Mountain View Los Altos high schools. Admission standards are very simple, proof of residency-based, proof of age and medical immunizations. Admission is available upon request, available to all who wish to attend, and generally close physical proximity to most residents. Academic test scores are among the best in both the bay area and the state. The ethnicity, race and economic circumstances of the students match the local neighborhood. Enrollments exceed the original building specifications and portables are used to need student needs. The school is free, although a totally optional, annual fund-raising campaign at both LASD and MVLA generates an average contribution is below $1,000 per student.
District-Wide Charter School – Bullis Charter School (BCS – K to 8) – Approximately 13% of the families residing in the LASD boundaries select this option. Students generally commute to one of 2 campuses. The school has a formal and early admission deadline (~10 months before the school year begins) and one third of the applicants come from outside the district. Comparable to LASD, academic test scores are among the best in both the bay area and the state. The ethnicity, race and economic circumstances of the students do not reflect the district, with overweighting of Asians and two races, underweighting of Hispanics, whites and economically disadvantaged students. The campuses are composed of modern portable buildings. The school is free, although a strongly encouraged, annual fund-raising campaign generates an average contribution is approximately $5,000 per student.
Private schools - Approximately 26% of the families residing in the LASD boundaries select this option. Inside the LASD boundaries, there are 13 private schools, 6 with no religious classification and 7 with a religious classification. In the communities immediately surrounding the LASD boundaries, there are 47 more private school, 36 without a religious classification and 11 with a religious classification. In addition to the 60 either in the LASD boundaries or in the adjacent communities, there are and additional 130 private schools in Santa Clara County. Academic test scores are not available on the California Department of Education data bases. The admission process, residency, ethnicity, race, economic circumstances and religious policies are the decision of each individual private school. Tuition varies by school; the average is approximately $24,000 per year.
Home Schooling - Parents choose to educate their children at home instead of sending them to a public or private school.
Private school enrollment data is available online from the California Department of Education at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/si/ps/. Below are tables with the sixty private schools sorted by school district, by zip code and by religious classification.
