Preschools and Public Schools in Claremont? We Are Moving from the East Coast

Are you wondering which district is better? I would choose claremont. I don't know which is better for special needs-but, by law, they all need to provide them.

I grew up in Claremont and would LOVE to live there again if I could afford it. My nieces (age11) and nephew (age5) live there as well as several of our friends. Quite charming. Family oriented. Great education. The public schools are really good - and do have lots of help for kids that need a little more attention. However, it is also home to a couple of really great private schools as well:
Foothill Country Day School - http://www.foothillcds.org/
Western Christian School - http://www.westernchristian.org/claremont/
I hope you love it as much as we do - good luck!

Also - you mention being liberal - as far as public schools go - Sycamore is the most liberal of all of them - being a little more progressive, free spirited, etc. I know people who LOVE it, but have some VERY conservative friends who didn't and transferred to another school. I've always heard that Chaparral is the best with the highest scores. I went, and my nieces/nephew go to, Sumner - also a great school.

Preschool - it's been awhile since I paid for it, but seems like I paid $120+ for 3 full days at a Christian preschool.

I lived in Upland and in Claremont. Both my boys loved CUMNS, now called The Pre-School at Claremont United Methodist Church. It is on the corner of Indian Hill and Foothill Blvds. You cannot see it from the road, it is behind the red brick bank, one bldg over from the bank directly on the corner of IH and FH. I loved it. They are developmental in their approach and there was never any religion taught or mentioned.
Then there are also two popular Methodist Church pre-schools on Lake, in Upland. Both are south of Foothill Blvd. The first one, directly behind the mall is very inexpensive, but very popular so it fills up fast. Loved the director, but my son didn't like the school during our two visits, so I was happy to have him stay at CUMNS.
Both Upland and Claremont are excellent school districts, both with award winning schools. I would steer clear of Condit Elementary. We had a horrible experience there, with a very high pressure, un-sympathetic principal. That being said, after the trauma of 5 pages of homework a week, my son did finish kindergarden a fluent reader. But it was NOT worth the pain it put my family through. There is a much easier going school in the district, located across from the park in the old town area. But I think it all depends on your address - hurry up and register though - we were late to register and my son had to go to Condit - there was no space for him in his home school. Check out www.goodschools.com, I think it is.
For yourself, I loved the Mom to Mom group at Life Bible Fellowship Church, way up at the very top of Lake, in Upland. I miss so much the support and friendships I had there. The women there are just your age, and are all going through the same things you are, and are warm and welcoming and wonderful.
All the best to you!
And you know what - before the move - get rid of just about everything you can! Travel as light as possible and love California!! Visit the Santa Anita Botanical Gardens - they are just next to Fuller Seminary, which is just next to the pre-school, and watch out for the bunnies and the owls. Explore and enjoy!

We're from NY and we live in LA now so I understand your concerns about school... the system here is a little crazy. However, my cousins (also from NY) raised their kids in Claremont. They went to preschool at their Temple then went to the Claremont public schools. The elementary school was Chaparral - the lived down the block for that school between Foothill and the 210 Freeway. I don't know the other schools they went to but they did get a good education and they were happy with the schools. I also think Claremont is a nicer place to live than La Verne from what I can tell. Claremont is also a University town and there are probably lots of services that you can use from the University. Hope this helps.

I don't know about the La Verne or Claremont school district (we're in Charter Oak), but we have our son in a great preschool in Glendora (2 cities from La Verne). It's called Charter Oak Day School and it's very, very reasonably priced. He's been there since he was 10 weeks old (I went back to work) and when our twins arrive they will also attend. At 4, they start a sort of Pre-K schedule where they help them get ready for kindergarten. Our son will be in that class come September. The daycare is considered Christian but they don't preach at the kids and my son doesn't come home preaching to us. Good luck!

Claremont is a community very based in higher education and cultural activities because of the very well ranked Claremont colleges. We live in Irvine, where the public schools are still tops, and the University here has a good influence. For instance, the HS where we are (University) is one of the top 100 in the nation. I would say Claremont is probably very similar. If standardized test scores impress you, Claremont ranks pretty high. Go to http://school-ratings.com/cities/Claremont.html/ I don't know anything about LaVerne. I'm not sure it's easy nowadays to find a religiously run school with "just a little" religious instruction.

Shaton Toji

Oh, lucky you! I LOVE Claremont. I lived there before kids so I don't know the schools well, but I would be so happy to move back there.

I just moved states and I think the best thing I did was after they were sure the company was offering my husband the job I came with him to explore neighborhoods and schools, then a month later I came back with the kids and my mother to seriously look at houses and let the kids get a sense of where they were going to be. It was really important because the place I thought my daughter would go to school ended up being not a good match and we could see that immediately by having her visit the school for the day.

There is a nice nursery school on the Claremont Colleges but I think it maybe for students and professors. If you find you do want tot go private check out The Webb School, excellent, but intense as it it gets older college-prep school.

You got great advice already, call upon these women who are in the area, they will help you network. Also, call a potential church or synagogue, or campus representative, and ask them to match you with someone to give you a tour of the area and their insights. Why are you moving? Maybe there is someone within the organization leading to the move, another staff member or a spouse who can help. The more people you talk with and the more time you spend checking places out, the clearer you will be in your priorities in the moving process.

(By the way my kids go to a Friends School too, so I do speak our language.)

I am on the other end of a cross country move and I feel your excitement and challenges and I wish you luck. Knowing that Claremont is such a great town should help ease the stress and concerns of the move.

Good luck!

My kids go to a school in Claremont called the The Childrens School. It is part of the Claremont McKenna College. It is a private school. My son who is now 6 has gone since he was 3 & loves it. My daughter is now 3, has been going since 2 & she loves it. The preschool class is especially good I believe. The only drawback is that it only goes until 3rd grade. Here is the website if you would ike to check it out. http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/childrensschool/

Hope this helps,
M.

Hi and welcome to the neighborhood! (well, soon anyhow.) My husband and his three sisters all went to Sycamore School in Claremont, and I am hoping that my boy (now 20 months) gets to go there, too. It's kinda a 'hippy' school, but hey, we are kinda 'hippy' people, that works well for us. :) We also have some friends whose kids go to Oakmont in Claremont and they are really happy with it there. We currently have our boy in daycare/preschool at the Claremont UCC childcare program. It is in a beautiful church, but the daycare itself is non-denominational, and I LOVE the program. I really can't say enough good things about the way they treat my boy. Not only do they truly love him (and all their kids), but they are educational and basically kick butt. I've heard really great things about the Methodist church daycare and the Temple Beth Israel daycare as well.

Claremont is going to be more expensive than La Verne on probably all counts. In my opinion, it's a nicer community, but La Verne has a lot of charm and is also really lovely. Send me a private message when you get into town if you want a tour guide. :)

Best of luck. Moving is a stressful thing, especially to another coast. It's really welcoming here, and you will find your groove.

Wow! big move for you guys. What I can tell you is that you can't go wrong with the schools either in Claremont or La Verne. My son attends Kindergarten to one of the schools in Claremont (Condit Elememtary) and we are happy with the school. One of his classmates meets the reading specialist every week. So yes, they have a reading specialist for Kindergarten students. Mountain View Elementary has a preschool. I have a friend who is very happy with the preschool. His daughter loves it. My son went to a Private preschool in Upland, First Presbyterian. They had wonderful activities for the kids and they focus on teaching the kids the basics: letters, numbers, shapes etc. I would visit the Claremont Unified School District online and check the school's websites. Good luck on your move.

I hope this link works...
http://www.greatschools.org/search/search.page?search_typ...
You can play around with the settings. I like the town (it's 10 mins from me), I go shopping there a lot. But i'm sorry I don't have school aged kids to give you REAL feedback.
Try the site and do a tour when you move here. Good luck with the move! =)

Claremont is a wonderful town and has great public schools, better than La Verne although it is the next town over. I have a whole bunch of cousins with kids that live in Claremont, it too can be very pricey. I worked in La Verne all through high school and college, it's OK but Claremont seems more family/education oriented.