Much better school (singular) – as in “high school”. Elementary and middle schools in SEH and Stonebridge are tied.
San Elijo Hills climate beats Stonebridge by a wide margin. $800k house in SEH comes with an ocean view. There are two houses listed under $900k in Stonebridge right now, they both back up against Stonebridge Parkway. Third cheapest is listed for 975.
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I agree elementary and middle are tied, but they then feed into San Marcos High, which is significantly worse. I guess if you are planning on private school or home schooling after 8th grade, you could say the schools are the same.
and I would not be looking at asking price when you are looking at Stonebridge homes, most new home prices there are negotiable. of course SEH is going to be cheaper, but then again you are 92078 instead of 92131. [/quote]
San Marcos High has been steadily improving. Last 2008 API reads were 773 for San Marcos High and 827 for Mount Carmel High. So, there is a gap, but it’s nowhere as big as it used to be.
It is also instructive to compare subscores by ethnic groups. Non-hispanic white score in San Marcos High is 848, in Mount Carmel High it’s 839. There’s no good reason to think that a random white kid would do better in Mount Carmel High than in San Marcos High.
Bottom line, 800k pays for a high-end premium house in San Elijo Hills or for an economy house in Stonebridge, with all that entails.
