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I was hoping to get some input from anyone up in the Bay Area. We are contemplating a move to the Bay Area from southern cal. I have a 6 and 8 year old. We finally found a school that works for us and finally a year wth no sleepness night over school not working for the kids. we are in a very small school with an acceleraterated condensed curriculum with flexible age grouping and teachers with their masters in gifted education. I am sick thinking about going through the school process all over agagin. the Bay Area is so vast and I am feeling overwhelmed at where to start. My husband works between the city and the east bay and we haven't identified an area to live yet. we are sort of working that around schools. I would love some input from anyone in the area. Either by private message or post!!!!! thanks so much

I don't have any really good insight for you but wanted to say welcome to the area

We are just outside the east bay but have settled on using CAVA as it didn't seem our local school was really going to be able to work with my 6 yr old.

What area is your husband working in? That may help with any suggestions of areas or schools. I know that there is a good charter school in Livermore (east bay) but don't know it's status on gifted education or even accelerating curriculum.

thanks!

my husband splits his time between Dublin and San Fran. I don't think Livermore is that far? But my daughter definitely needs acceleration and my son has such asynchrony that traditional school might be an issue.

Dublin is very close to Livermore.

We're in Mountain House which is east of Livermore.
Livermore, Dublin, and Pleasanton are all in basically the same area.

San Ramon is really close as well and I've heard good things about the schools there so it might be worth checking that area out as well.

The charter school in Tracy is supposed to be good but has a long waiting list so I assume the one in Livermore may be similar on a long waiting list.

San Ramon and Pleasanton have great schools and correspondingly high home prices/ lease. Dublin is nice to live in IMHO but I'm not certain about the schools. It would help to know what range you're looking at.

Mountain House, Tracy and some areas in Livermore are much more affordable but the commute to SF might soon become tiring not to mention wear/tear on vehicle, gas prices etc.

Cupertino and Palo Alto are other great areas for schools but again, you're looking at more expensive home prices. A friend rents a modest sized home in Cupertino for $3500 and another friend for $4000-ish. Sunnyvale is popular and less expensive, and I am not too sure about schools...you'd have to do a bit of research. With immigration of local and foreign computer professionals there are many apartment communities in San Jose, Santa Clara, Milpitas, Sunnyvale, Cupertino etc that may be more affordable. Good ones are about $2300/mth for a 2-room. Community pools, clubhouses etc are included.

I personally favor Fremont for its convenient location. Again, not certain about schools but we homeschool so schools are not an issue for us. Berkeley area is another good bet but I'm not certain about home prices.

Do narrow down a locale if you can and hopefully I'll be able to suggest more options.

I heard interesting things from friends of friends a while ago about a gifted school in Oakland, I think. When I googled, I found this school, which looks like it might have been the one I heard about. That was a few years ago, so I don't know what it's like currently. http://www.baywoodlearningcenter.org/