One of the first big issues families address when relocating is schools. Thankfully, Santa Clarita has a great reputation for strong schools throughout the valley. In fact, schools in Santa Clarita have
an average ranking of 9/10, which is in the top 20% of California public schools.
Educational opportunities and specialized programs are readily available, with choices between public, private, and charter schools. Students can follow honors and special-education programs and arts and college-level courses for continuing and higher education.
Most children in the Valencia Stake are assigned to Newhall, Castaic, or Saugus elementary school districts. Sulphur Springs and Acton-Agua Dulce are in the Santa Clarita Stake.
The Newhall School District includes ten elementary schools and serves almost 6,000 students. Schools are assigned by home address. There is some flexibility in transferring between elementary schools (intradistrict transfer), but of course this can not be guaranteed. Usually these transfer deadlines are in February prior to the fall start date. One surprise for many out-of-state families is that there are no bus services available for the Newhall School District (or most schools in California). Parents often arrange for carpools.
The Newhall School District has an excellent introduction to music program called Music Makers which provides zero or low cost instruments and weekly classess at school for interested students. Recitals take place in December and May. Choir is also available. The schools also have enrichment for art and PE. Some schools have language immersion options.
Generally speaking, Peachland Ward kids go to Old Orchard, but there are also Pico Canyon, Meadows and Legacy Christian students.
Students from the NSD graduate to Hart High School and West Ranch. Youth at Hart generally attend early morning seminary (before high school starts) at the Peachland building and youth attending West Ranch generally attend early morning seminary at the McBean building. Seminary is a calling and is taught by adults from the stake.
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| Castaic School District |
At the north west end of Santa Clarita is the
Castaic Union School District, which separately serves the Castaic elementary and middle school (there is only one middle school).
At 9th grade (high school) Castaic students join the Hart School District, usually at Castaic High School or West Ranch High. The Castaic ward attends here. There is a separate early morning seminary class at Castaic High School which is attended by Castaic Ward youth.
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| Saugus School District |
At the north east end of Santa Clarita is the
Saugus Union School District which serves 15 elementary schools and around 10,000 students. These students generally feed to Valencia and Saugus high schools.
The Copper Hill ward generally attends Valencia High School. Early morning seminary youth attend at the Skycrest building.
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Middle and High school grades (7-12) feed into the high school district, called
William S. Hart Union High School District, more commonly known as Hart School District. The one exception is Castaic middle school.
The
William S. Hart Union High School District includes
18 campuses and serves over 20,000 students. These schools include Hart High School, West Ranch High School, Valencia High School, Golden Valley High School, Castaic High School, Canyon High School, and Saugus High School.
Academy of the Canyons is an accelerated learning program in cooperation with local community college The College of the Canyons. Bowman High School is an alternative high school. Learning Post Academy is an independent study program.
Junior High Schools include Arroyo Seco, La Mesa, Placerita, Rancho Pico, Rio Norte, and Sierra Vista.
Most students in the Peachland Ward go to Placerita Junior High and then Hart High School.
Each high school has its own particular strengths. West Ranch is the most academically competitive and Hart historically has a strong athletic legacy. Castaic is a newer school and that allows for more opportunities in sports, drama, and activities generally. All of the high schools have healthy band and music programs, thanks in large part to the elementary school preparation in Music Makers. Most high schools have great media training as well, particularly due to the proximity to LA: many parents are involved in the industry.
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There are many
private school options in and around Los Angeles, but in Santa Clarita most opt for
Legacy Christian Academy. Legacy Christian serves 429 children from K-8 and operates on conservative, traditional values and Bible principles and ethics. The school is not designed for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but students who attend there have a generally collegial experience in spite of religious orientation.
Some families use the c
harter school option iLead with facilities located in Castaic. There are limited spots available for some grades. Deadlines for application, including a mandatory campus tour, are in February prior to the fall start date.
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For post secondary education, Santa Clarita is home to
College of the Canyons a junior college which feeds to other California system universities (UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, etc). There are many fantastic opportunities to take low or no cost classes at COC and the high schools use their stadium for sports and graduations. COC provides many resources to SCV students and community.
Additionally, Santa Clarita is home to the premiere animation and arts college,
California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). Located across the street from the Valencia Stake Center (the McBean building), CalArts is internationally known as a feeder school for Disney, Dreamworks, Pixar, Marvel, Nickelodeon and more. Alumni include John Lasseter, Tim Burton, Brad Bird, J. G. Quintel, and many more. The downstream effect of this location is that many of our members are animators and creators themselves.
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