Hello Everyone ~ I may be moving to the Los Angeles area for the 2007 - 2008 school year and I was wondering if anyone could answer the following questions: 1. What are some good school districts around that area? 2. What is the general salary? 3. Is there any place that I should stay away from? 4. Where are some places that I should look around for apartments? Any other information that you can think of would be appreciated as well. Thanks. Katie www.kyrene.org/staff/kjensen
I wouldn't teach in Compton or East L.A. I think the pay varies - most probably you would start @ $45, 000.
Part 2 - Manhattan Beach Unified School District is a very small very good district. http://www.manhattan.k12.ca.us/ That's where I grew up and I check on it now and then and it's still near the top. Los Alamitos Unified has an excellent reputation also. Rossmoor is the place to live if you want to attend Los Alamitos SD schools. It's a very nice neighborhood. http://www.losalusd.k12.ca.us/. The city of Cerritos has some excellent schools found in the ABCUSD. (Artesia, Bellflower, Cerritos) http://www.abcusd.k12.ca.us/index.jsp?rn=6410. Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District also has an excellent reputation. http://www.pvpusd.k12.ca.us/district/index.htm If you have buckets of money --Manhattan Beach and Palos Verdes would most likely be the two most expensive districts in which to live, followed closely by Los Alamitos/Rossmoor. The cheapest district (housing wise) is probably Cerritos and I'd guess the houses are selling in the high 6's now. But that could be a low guess. I believe Cerritos and Whitney are the top two high schools in the Cerritos District, but they have a large Asian demographic.
There are as many districts in the LA area as there are people. I have been with Compton unified for 6 years. Where you teach will depend on your preference - Glendale, Burbank, and the valley districts are all good. LA unified is a huge monster that I do not want to deal with, but some people like the big machine. Most of the pay is similar - around $40k-$45k to start with a credential. Apartments in metro LA/Hollywood will be around $1000 - $1200 for a 1 bedroom, and this will decrease as you move out of the more popular areas. You can live pretty cheaply in LA (provided you dont buy a house). What are your preferences - city or beach, grit or suburbs, etc. good luck, dave
Thank you for all your help and comments. This information will give me a good place to start my research on what I'm looking for. Thanks again. KJ
Las Virgenes is probably one of the best districts in the area (at least for the students). Now you have me thinking - you could live near the beach, have a short commute, clean air, etc. I used to live in the malibu canyon area - the weather was always perfect, everything is newer, plenty of parking. I should work out there.... dave b
