Where to rent long-term for good schools?
Hello! Even though I'm early in my first pregnancy, I'm looking to move from into a 2 bedroom and I really want to lock down a good k-12 school district (long term planning). Where do you suggest we look for rentals? Berkeley and Alameda districts I've heard are very good. What about Oakland neighborhoods? The headache of charters scare me!
Thanks in advance!
Jan 11, 2020
Parent Replies
You can use www.greatschools.org and of course BPN archives as a starting point to research schools. Broadly speaking Albany, Piedmont, Castro Valley, Orinda, Lafayette, Moraga, Alamo, and Danville are often sited as having good public school systems as well as Berkeley and Alameda, in the East Bay. In Oakland, Tech is considered the strongest high school and Edna Brewer and Claremont are the middle schools that are always considered up-and-coming. I'll leave it to another to list their favorite Oakland elementary schools.
Sorry to state the obvious, but if your objective is to stay for 18+ years in one school district, your best bet is to buy or you run the risk of getting priced out of your rental.
Yes. Berkeley and Alameda are no brainers. In Oakland, I think two areas offer the best K - 12 OUSD experience. Well, it's really two parts of the same area (Rockridge).1) The hills area and some parts of upper broadway zoned for Hilcrest (K-8) which then feeds into either Oakland Tech or Skyline. Oakland Tech is considered the best high school in Oakland but Skyline is also beloved. Rentals are hard to come by in this area and most of them are larger single family homes. Lower Rockridge area that is zone for Chabot Elementary School (K-5) or Peralta Elementary (K-5) which then feeds into Claremont Middle School and then Oakland Tech High. This area offers more rental options. On paper, Edna Brewer is ranked higher than Claremont Middle School, but Claremont is smaller and the community is strong. Both areas are some of the most expensive areas to rent. Piedmont, obviously, has stellar public schools, and does offer a small number of rental options. We currently live in an area that offers good elementary and high school. We personally plan to do private middle school unless our child chooses to and gets into Oakland School for the Arts, public magnet arts school in Oakland.