Customer Reviews

Los Angeles Guide to Private Schools

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

To be fair, accurately covering every private school in Los Angeles is a tall order, since they change drastically year by year, and sometimes month to month, depending on the students, shifting faculty, and erratic funds. But, that said, Ms. Goldman's guide was disappointing in its clear bias toward the well-known, prestigious L.A. school like Harvard/Westlake, Curtis, Marlboro, Loyola, etc. I must say that the smaller, alternative schools don't get much of a fair shake in this edition. I'm a grandparent, raising a teenage granddaughter with many problems (which we needn't go into here), and, smart and lovely and talented as she is, she just isn't going to get into Harvard-Westlake at the moment. Nor do I make enough money to send her to Campbell Hall. This is a good book if you happen to be a Spielberg, and your kid is a straight A student; but it's limited on information for those of us looking for feasible alternatives. Plus, I need to know REAL issues: what's the social situation at some of these places? What kind of substances are floating around? How much smoke is in the bathroom? I may be asking a lot, but the truth of the matter is, academics, faculty-to-student ratio, and course offerings are just a small part of school. We need somebody to give us the real scoop.

When this book was released in 1998, it was a very helpful resource that made the navagation of the L.A. private school morass less complex and far less stressful. My problem with the book today lies simply in the fact that it has not been updated in five years and much of the information about the schools in the book is quite outdated. Whether it be enrollment figures, tuition costs, or even the very culture of many of the schools themselves, much has changed in Los Angeles private schools since this book was published just as much has changed in Los Angeles. A new edition reflecting these many changes is long overdue and hopefully forthcoming.

This book lists many of the well known private schools in the LA area, however it omits many others. Even when describing the schools selected, more information is given about the better known schools. The information in this book is also very out of date. I suggest getting this book from a library.

I was hoping that this book would be a guide for finding a private school for my child. Instead, it was grossly inadequit and listed only a small number of L.A. schools, (usually the most expensive)omitting many of the Montessori and preschools. It went into great detail about the schools that it listed, but I would have prefered to have more choices.

This book seemed great at first but the more involved i got in my search for the right school the more i realized how outdated and limited it is. Many phone numbers and alot of the information is old and it barely scratches the surface of all the schools out there.

The decision to send your child to private school is only the beginning as we learn in this fairly comprehensive guide to private schools in--very spread out--Los Angeles and environs. While, granted, not every private school currently existing in the LA area is included, the book does cover a wide geographic area, from Santa Monica up to the Valley, over to Claremont and back down to Long Beach. Different types, religious and otherwise, are included.

I enjoyed reading about the history of the schools and their essential philosophies that guide their curriculums. LA is too big and there are too many schools of varying types to not begin your search with the aid of this book. I recommend it.

This book lists many of the well known private schools in the LA area, however it omits many others. Even when describing the schools selected, more information is given about the better known schools. The information in this book is also very out of date. I suggest getting this book from a library.

The greater metropolitan Los Angeles area is absolutely immense, and parents are faced by a daunting and dizzying array of choices when it comes to public and private grade-school and high-school education. Believe it or not, the Los Angeles Unified School District is the second largest in the nation, but when it comes to PRIVATE schools, Los Angeles has more than any other city in America!

This volume is very helpful when it comes to evaluating the local private school scene, and has a 3-5 page report on every school that responded to the author's request for imformation. As the reviewer below notes, it does NOT cover pre-schools. It does, however, amply cover all of the better-known institutions in the city, including information about history, admissions, scholarship, academics, social life, traditions -- the works!

This book is an excellent place to begin your search for a Los Angeles private school, but also provides information about choosing one of the better public schools. The author is informative and articulate without sounding preachy or elitist, which in itself is a great accomplishment.

Recommended!