How Portola High compares to Uni or NHS

irvine1

New member
Hello,

PHS isn't in all the rankings yet so hard to assess what to expect there. So looking for feedback on its academic rigor vis-a-vis Uni / NHS and any anecdotal evidences.

We are in GP right now. My daughter is in middle school. Middle school in GP K-8 schools is okay but isn't as good as Jeffery Trail or Sierra Vista. We suspect that PHS will be in the same boat. So, question we are grapping with - is it worth moving out of GP for better HS? If so, which one would you consider as top HS (Uni or NHS), which offers better top college prospects (everything else being equal)?

Various rankings give different perspectives using number of criteria but I would rather trust the feedback from local community like this. Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
 
Is your kid going to be any smarter by going to a ?better? school? Highly unlikely. If you want your kid to do better in school that is something already within your control.

 
Some parents want their kids to go to the highest ranked high school.
Worthy goal.
It worked for Neiman


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Once upon a time, there was a poster whose daughter had a shot at the Ivies in the Irvine schools. I don?t remember who the poster was, but recall the posts talking about gauntlet of prep year in, year out, summer after summer.

Well worth finding and reading, IMHO, for parents considering the move to the hyper-competitive high schools.  The schools are great, but Charon wants his coin.
 
Yes you should definitely move and get into either Uni or NHS. Portola High is feeder for Cal States. You need Uni or NHS to have a shot at the Ivies.

irvine1 said:
Hello,

PHS isn't in all the rankings yet so hard to assess what to expect there. So looking for feedback on its academic rigor vis-a-vis Uni / NHS and any anecdotal evidences.

We are in GP right now. My daughter is in middle school. Middle school in GP K-8 schools is okay but isn't as good as Jeffery Trail or Sierra Vista. We suspect that PHS will be in the same boat. So, question we are grapping with - is it worth moving out of GP for better HS? If so, which one would you consider as top HS (Uni or NHS), which offers better top college prospects (everything else being equal)?

Various rankings give different perspectives using number of criteria but I would rather trust the feedback from local community like this. Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
 
I think it?s always interesting when parents think that throwing their kids in the top tier school will set their kids up for success. While that may be true, what I think is more important is teaching your kid grit. By teaching your kid grit, they will most likely succeed in any situation thrown at them because they are gritty.

So what if they don?t get straight As? So what if they aren?t taking all AP classes in their senior year? Not doing well in school does not mean one will not be successful post grad. That?s why I find it funny how some parents insist on throwing their kids in private school as if it?s needed in order for their kid to be set up for ?success?.
 
I think the ultra competitiveness @ Irvine schools will teach more grit than say a lower ranked school.
So Jr can learn to cope with the high academic pressure of trying to graduate top 10 @ Uni high.

With less work one can probably get top 5 in Anaheim HS, but then they are missing out on that stressful fight to the top.  The stress & pressure to do well in school @ IUSD is a feature, not a bug.
 
There are probably some things that can be taught/refined. Not sure grit can be taught/learned. Similar to intelligence, you probably have it or you don?t. I?m sure there are some things that can be refined by being in a more competitive environment, perhaps that is good enough to start paving the way. 

The parents can push the kids all the way through high school/college, however, once the kid gets into the real world and starts working and making their own money. That is where the self drive/motivation is needed.
 
What defines "success?"

a) An Ivy grad who works at an office making $50k a year.

b) A High School dropout rapper making $500k a year.

Who do you guys see more successful here?


 
Thanks everyone for your responses. I certainly appreciate all the perspectives. I am not naive to believe and expect any particular school to make all the difference. Its true for not just high school but also for colleges, including ivies (i am myself an ivy grad). From whichever dimension we want to measure success, we all have seen extraordinary successes and failures from all sorts of schools/colleges. Life is a long marathon and any single thing can't define the entire course. Having said that, bit by bit each thing can contribute to increase one's odd. As parents we can assess and enable paths, as practically possible. But only kids have to run on those. Everything else being equal, "better" school or college should increase the odds. That's all I am trying to assess. I welcome more thoughts and comments. Once again thank you all.
 
I know some parents moving out of Irvine to go to "less competitive" schools which they think will give their kids an advantage when applying to top rated universities.  It's much easier to be top 1% at a HS in a Saddleback Valley or Capistrano district than IUSD.
 
zubs said:
I think the ultra competitiveness @ Irvine schools will teach more grit than say a lower ranked school.
So Jr can learn to cope with the high academic pressure of trying to graduate top 10 @ Uni high.

With less work one can probably get top 5 in Anaheim HS, but then they are missing out on that stressful fight to the top.  The stress & pressure to do well in school @ IUSD is a feature, not a bug.
Being in a top school is great if you have the opportunity to go to one. I do think there needs to be an understanding of what to expect in school though. As a kid, school gives you the foundation academically. It teaches you how to do 1+1 = 2, literature skills, science, history, etc. What it does not teach is how life is after schooling. Like how do you handle a difficult colleague? How to influence others and weigh out pros/cons in escalating issues? How do you handle dealing with being fired/laid off with no pay? Understanding taxes? (I'm not considering accounting/finance majors here) how does one handle failures? Do they get back up or do they succumb to it? List goes on...

From my social circle, a good amount of people run into roadblocks in #adulting because all of this is not taught in school to them. They were the ones getting good grades too. So it then really comes down to how much pressure should a parent put into a kid when it comes to schooling right? I've known people that hated school and ended up doing very well after schooling because they know getting As and bragging about taking all AP classes means nothing after you graduate. Who cares if you're a valedictorian? Point is, you need school, but expecting school to be the biggest factor that ones kid will do well in life would be a naive mindset I feel. I would argue education is important, but it is not as big of a factor as the typical parent thinks.
 
Here is my tale of 2 friends who both live in Irvine:

One used to live in an older neighborhood but decided to move to a newer one that had the "better" schools.

The other stayed in their older neighborhood even though their schools were "not as good".

Fast forward 10+ years later, both of them have their oldest applying to colleges. For the sake of a fair comparison, let's just take the UC schools both their kids applied to. The one who went to the better schools only got into one UC they applied to, the other got into 4 of the 6 they applied to.

Now of course there are probably cases where it's the opposite or some variation of... but as everyone else is saying... it's not just the school... there are many other factors and just like where you decide to live, you should go beyond "reputation" to find the right school for you.

Good luck and welcome to Talk Irvine.
 
irvine1 said:
Thanks everyone for your responses. I certainly appreciate all the perspectives. I am not naive to believe and expect any particular school to make all the difference. Its true for not just high school but also for colleges, including ivies (i am myself an ivy grad). From whichever dimension we want to measure success, we all have seen extraordinary successes and failures from all sorts of schools/colleges. Life is a long marathon and any single thing can't define the entire course. Having said that, bit by bit each thing can contribute to increase one's odd. As parents we can assess and enable paths, as practically possible. But only kids have to run on those. Everything else being equal, "better" school or college should increase the odds. That's all I am trying to assess. I welcome more thoughts and comments. Once again thank you all.

Thanks for your honest opinion. I think the first thing I would do is ask your daughter. Let her think about it for awhile. Maybe you guys already did. Changing schools will change her friends also so that's something to consider too.

I personally don't think it's worth to move out of GP for a better HS. I think it's worth to move out of GP for all other reasons like avoiding MR taxes and risking your life living on top of a former superfund site.
 
sleepy5136 said:
zubs said:
I think the ultra competitiveness @ Irvine schools will teach more grit than say a lower ranked school.
So Jr can learn to cope with the high academic pressure of trying to graduate top 10 @ Uni high.

With less work one can probably get top 5 in Anaheim HS, but then they are missing out on that stressful fight to the top.  The stress & pressure to do well in school @ IUSD is a feature, not a bug.
Being in a top school is great if you have the opportunity to go to one. I do think there needs to be an understanding of what to expect in school though. As a kid, school gives you the foundation academically. It teaches you how to do 1+1 = 2, literature skills, science, history, etc. What it does not teach is how life is after schooling. Like how do you handle a difficult colleague? How to influence others and weigh out pros/cons in escalating issues? How do you handle dealing with being fired/laid off with no pay? Understanding taxes? (I'm not considering accounting/finance majors here) how does one handle failures? Do they get back up or do they succumb to it? List goes on...

From my social circle, a good amount of people run into roadblocks in #adulting because all of this is not taught in school to them. They were the ones getting good grades too. So it then really comes down to how much pressure should a parent put into a kid when it comes to schooling right? I've known people that hated school and ended up doing very well after schooling because they know getting As and bragging about taking all AP classes means nothing after you graduate. Who cares if you're a valedictorian? Point is, you need school, but expecting school to be the biggest factor that ones kid will do well in life would be a naive mindset I feel. I would argue education is important, but it is not as big of a factor as the typical parent thinks.

Parents try to send their kid to a better school so they can boast to their friends.  :D
 
Hi there! I'm in Woodbury (so we are also zoned to PHS--at least for now) but my kids are only in elementary school (so take this with a grain of salt). However, I've seen parents asking this question on NextDoor and I've never seen any negative comments from parents of current PHS students.

Anecdotally, I've also chatted with a staff member at the IUSD administration office, and she said that even though PHS was not their home school, she opted to send her son there because she was loving the innovative approach they take.

I do strongly suspect that PHS will continue to climb in the rankings. Good luck in whatever you decide!
 
I am a parent of a recent IUSD grad, with 2 more still in various schools within IUSD.
Based on my experience, there is not so much difference between 5 high schools in our district.  Besides, if you really like high school not in your residential boundary, you can always apply for interdistrict transfer in January of 8th grade and the chances are very good to get into school of your choice.
My daughter, who is currently a sophomore at Uni has quite a few friends who live in NHS or WHS boundaries, but chose to go to Uni. 
Each high school has some strengths and weaknesses and it's important to learn about it now.  Is your child into robotics?  Uni does not have a good club for robotics, so you may look elsewhere.  However, Uni has a good debate team and good science program.  Learn about each school and choose one not based on rankings, but on good fit.
The same goes for selecting college, by the way.
 
A realtor friend told me there seems to be a trend that many families are looking to move to Portola Springs so their kids can attend Portola high. Uni High principal is now the principal in Portola high and many seniors were accepted to highly ranked schools as well as Ivies this school year. The expectation is PHS is new but will eventually be the #1 ranked high school in Irvine.  The principal brought with him a team and the focus is more on tech. Long story short... if your kids are more tech inclined perhaps Portola or Uni high, if more liberal arts inclined, I would opt for NHS.
 
They're all top schools that will likely have little impact on whether students get accepted into college. I know teachers at Portola and NHS that I had as a student (I went to IHS) or worked with briefly as a teacher at NHS. They all collaborate together on the newest and best practices and I've never seen people so passionate about their work.  All I can say is that your children are blessed with the best.
 
https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/202...school-seniors-headed-to-harvard-in-the-fall/

Save yourself a stack of cash. Harvard accepted three students from Santa Ana High School last year.  Ivies are now changing their admission strategy to seek many more ?poster children? based on the new Forbes ranking criteria that placed Cal at the top. All ivies slipped in the 2021 new methodology ranking. The school to keep track of is OCHSA. My daughter never made the Ivy. I am still very proud of her for being financially and emotionally independent and living a happy life far from where she grew up.
 
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