annabanana1992 Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 Dh is in the interview process with Apple in Cupertino, CA. We have always lived on the East Coast and know nothing about that part of CA. Can anyone tell me about homeschooling in that area? We especially need help figuring out the housing. As best we can tell, we will need to move to half the square footage we have now for twice the money! What areas should we look to live in? Any information you can provide would really help! Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheBrink Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 Congrats on the job interview with Apple! Cupertino is very very expensive, but so is everything in that general area. I suggest going to realtor.com and doing a search of available homes to get an idea of what you're looking at for price and what to expect. I've never homeschooled in CA, so I can't help you with that part. Maybe another CA homeschooler will chime in. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinyhappypeople Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 I'm not in the Bay Area anymore, so I can't help you with where to live. But, homeschooling in California is easy. Either (a) register your home as a private school (takes about 10 minutes to fill out the form online and you're done) or (b) go through one of the publicly-funded homeschool charters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenneinCA Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 Hi Welcome to possibly living in CA! Homeschooling is pretty easy. You can either be part of a cover school, the popular one where you are looking is called Ocean Grove. Or you can file an R4 form with the state of CA and become your own very small private school. There are no testing/portfolio/other requirements if you go with the R4 but cover schools have their own requirements. The cover schools do give you money though. There are homeschool groups and park days and that kind of stuff. Many are religiously based. Some are not. Housing is hard. Prices are insane. I would strongly suggest you come out and look at commute times and houses before you make any decisions. As for cities you could live in Santa Clara, San Jose, Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Los Gatos, Los Altos... lots of places. It really depends on how much house you need, how close you want to be to his work and how much you can pay. My husband works in Mountain View and we are in Santa Clara. It was the compromise between house/commute time/rent that worked for us. I do know a lady whose husband works for Apple. I see her most weeks at Park Day. But she is on vacation for the next month or so and I won't see her. She lives in San Jose. I hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 ...and are still falling, but they are very high. I would recommend seeing if Apple has a relocation program that will tour you around, let you rent for a month or two (subsidized), and help you pick a neighborhood to look for a home in. Take a little time to figure out where you want to live before you buy. Homeschooling is so easy here. Join BAHFT ASAP and start signing up for field trip slots now--that way you will tour all over the place for very low prices and get to know other homeschoolers. AFAIK there is no large classical homeschooling group locally, but there are several really good eclectic groups, some of them Christian and some of them secular. I believe that there is one Muslim homeschooling group as well--let me know if you're interested and I will look for info on it (or the others, for that matter). There are lots of homeschooling ISP's, some charters with no fixed geography, and some linked to local public school districts with some on-site classes or field trips. The weather out here is Meditteranean--lots of rain during the winter and spring, and then virtual drought through the summer and til about November. You can pretty much count on good outdoor weather all summer long, so it is very easy to make plans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leah Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 I'm not in the Bay Area anymore, so I can't help you with where to live. But, homeschooling in California is easy. Either (a) register your home as a private school (takes about 10 minutes to fill out the form online and you're done) or (b) go through one of the publicly-funded homeschool charters. Just a note that you can also enroll with a private satellite school program (they are not government funded and they take care of the very small amount of school paperwork for you.) They can also be an excellent way to connect quickly with local homeschoolers. Here are a few local private ISP's, but there are more too. http://www.tka.org/overview/programs.html http://www.pioneerfamilyacademy.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 I'm not in the Bay Area anymore, so I can't help you with where to live. But, homeschooling in California is easy. Either (a) register your home as a private school (takes about 10 minutes to fill out the form online and you're done) or (b) go through one of the publicly-funded homeschool charters. Actually, it is this way: Enroll your dc in a private school, either by (1) filing your own affidavit or (2), enrolling your dc in another private school which has a program for homeschoolers (these are referred to as Private School Satellite Programs, or PSPs). Your dc would be private school students. Enroll in a government-funded charter school or Independent Study Program. Technically, your dc would be public school students, not homeschooled students, and would be subject to public school requirements, not private school requirements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruby Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 I agree. Housing prices are dropping and probably will for awhile. Rent for the first year and see where things are at. Congrats on California, sun and the easiest place to homeschool. :hurray:. We live way, way up north in Redding, but it's still sunny and easy to school. Ruby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 We loved Calif. :-) And our favorite part of the state is the S.F. Bay Area. The best home prices will be in San Jose, probably in the Blossom Valley area. Cupertino/Sunnyvale/Saratoga are all gonna be sticker-shockers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 You can either be part of a cover school, the popular one where you are looking is called Ocean Grove. Or you can file an R4 form with the state of CA and become your own very small private school. There are no testing/portfolio/other requirements if you go with the R4 but cover schools have their own requirements. The cover schools do give you money though. Ocean Grove is not a "cover school." It is a government-funded charter school, subject to public school statutes and requirements. California doesn't have "cover schools." Children must be enrolled in a public school or a private school, or tutored full time by a credentialed teacher. Charter schools are public schools; private schools are those established by one family, or a non-campus school which only enrolls hsed students, or campus-based schools which also enroll hsers. They all look alike on paper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annabanana1992 Posted August 12, 2009 Author Share Posted August 12, 2009 Thanks for the great information - renting is a great idea. Are there any older, more established areas to live in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenneinCA Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 There are older neighborhoods in every city. They are also likely the most expensive areas. I think you would really need to see the area to get a feel for how it fits together. Our neighborhood is established and older... so much older that the local events are the Senior Luncheon! There are very few kids here. We didn't figure that out until we had been here a while though. I sometimes wish we had ended up in a less established neighborhood with more younger folks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangermom Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 The whole South Bay was pretty small and rural until 25 years ago, but there are lovely older areas here and there. San Jose has a great spot full of 20's houses (Willow something-or-other), but all that sort of thing is hugely expensive AND for a while there people were buying the properties and building huge new houses on them. :( Cupertino has a great library. I used to work there sometimes. The whole area is very good, library-wise. It's a good place to live if you can take the traffic and house prices! We used to live in Campbell, which is a suburb of San Jose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amber in SJ Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 You are thinking of Willow Glen. It is charming there with old houses and big (relatively) lots. The prices are not as charming though. We live in South San Jose (not quite Blossom Valley) and the housing prices have been falling for some time now. At the risk of insulting someone else, stay away from East San Jose. It can be scary. Homeschooling in CA is relatively easy. You can file an on-line PSA (formerly called an R-4) here http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/ps/rq/ starting October 1st. Many local school districts offer ISPs A popular charter school that operates in this area is Ocean Grove. The requirements for K-8 are minimal. you can read all about it here: http://www.ogcs.org/ Here is a list of homeschool support groups in the area: http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/regional/CaliforniaBayArea.htm#Santa%20Clara You are looking at Santa Clara County. I highly recommend the All Ways Learning group. I hope any of this is useful to you. Welcome to California! Amber in SJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amber in SJ Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 And a little wave to Ruby from me :seeya: I grew up in Red Bluff and my parents are still there. My sister lives in Cottonwood at Lake California My Grammie lives in Redding! Amber in SJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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