chess in schools and clubs

A

arr164

New member
We are moving to Irvine and my kids are avid chess players. The choices for schools are overwhelming, does anyone know if there are any known schools that have chess clubs or chess community nearby? Kids are in 3d and 1st grade and are advanced with a rating of around 1000 as of now. This is a big part of their life and I would like to find them a good fit among elementary schools.
 
Not sure you can just choose any elementary school to go to because they are bound by where you live and only a few will accept out of boundary kids based on enrollment numbers.

But maybe you haven't decided where you are living yet? I would contact your preferred schools first and then branch out.

Not sure how many TI people have young kids who are avid chess players. My kids play but are no longer in elementary.
 
@irvinehomeowner Correct, we have not moved yet and that's why I am doing my research. Basically this is my main aspect for choosing schools. Of if not in schools, any out of school clubs? Doesn't have to be elementary, as ages get mixed up in chess. We used to spend our breaks in chess camps too so maybe there are some in the area. I wasn't able to find any online via google which is surprising! Chess is not popular in Irvine?
 
Based on LL's Yelp review, looks like most of them are closer to the 5 although not very good reviews for the Irvine ones.

I really wouldn't base my elementary school choice on chess program availability... because your kids will be actually going to *school* there and that experience is more important.

You should really figure out what hoods in Irvine you want to live in and then look at the schools tied to those hoods and see how the teachers/programs rate on review sites and then ask if there are chess programs. As you said, out of school chess clubs would probably serve you better as your kids can play a variety of opponents rather than just elementary grade kids.
 
Chess is like travel sports. Not school-based. Everyone lives everywhere. There's too many elementary schools here for any sort of consolidation as specific as chess. Chess does have its stereotypes and you may find a higher concentration of players at the APAAS schools. There's 5 or 6 of them in Irvine.
 
True, where are now we have a good out of school chess club and this is something I am in search of. While we do travel to tournaments outside of our town it is nice to have an established facility where kids of all ages can meet regularly for classes and quads. Sometimes it is on school premises and sometimes it is not. Also, nice to have a chess camp option. I am just puzzled why there is nothing like that in Irvine with such a demographics. There are Math facilities, sport facilities but nothing really for chess.

I am not necessarily choosing schools based on chess as usually chess is not funded by the school the same way soccer isn't. But if there was a club perhaps more kids would be involved or perhaps attracted to that school etc. That's fine, I will keep looking and expand the area of search! At this moment I really don't have any preference where to start living as we plan to rent for sometime and then we will see. And I did not find the schools to be drastically different either.
 
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