Making the Grade

Elementary Schools:

Carlsbad Unified

Number of schools: 9 elementary, 3 middle, 1 high school, 1 alternative, 1 small
Top schools: Kelly Elementary, enrollment 662, API base score 932;
Pacific Rim, enrollment 839, API base score 908

The district’s student enrollment for September is projected to be 10,601——a 0.5 percent increase over last year. Poinsettia Elementary, the new $16.2 million campus, will open this fall and relieve overcrowding at Kelly and Aviara Oaks elementary schools. In east Carlsbad, Poinsettia Elementary will serve students in kindergarten through fifth grade from Bressi Ranch, La Costa Greens, Cantamar and surrounding communities.

Del Mar Union
Number of schools: 8 elementary
Top schools: Ashley Falls Elementary (grades K-6), enrollment 551, API base score 956;
Sage Canyon Elementary School (grades K-6), enrollment 769, API base score 965;
Carmel Del Mar Elementary (grades K-6), enrollment 491, API base score 913;
Del Mar Heights Elementary (grades K-6), enrollment 462, API base score 946;
Sycamore Ridge (grades K-6), enrollment 380, API base score 921;
Torrey Hills (grades K-6), enrollment 784, API base score 950

The Del Mar Union School District, serving Del Mar, Del Mar Heights and part of Carmel Valley, has grown from two to seven schools since 1992. About 3,800 students are served. The new Ocean Air School is scheduled for completion in the fall. Del Mar Union has the highest district API base score in the county (939).

Encinitas Union
Number of schools: 9 elementary
Top schools: El Camino Creek Elementary (grades K-6), enrollment 911, API base score 939;
Flora Vista Elementary (grades K-6), enrollment 519, API base score 937;
La Costa Heights Elementary (grades K-6), enrollment 617, API base score 905;
Mission Estancia Elementary (grades K-6), enrollment 570, API base score 924;
Olivenhain Pioneer Elementary (grades K-6), enrollment 722, API base score 937

One of five elementary school districts that feeds into the San Dieguito Union High School District, Encinitas Union serves 5,647 students in Carlsbad, La Costa and Encinitas neighborhoods. All of its schools have been recognized as California Distinguished Schools, and La Costa Heights School and Olivenhain Pioneer have been recognized as National Blue Ribbon Schools. Mission Estancia was recently selected to apply for one of the 2007 National Blue Ribbon Schools recognitions.

Poway Unified

Number of schools: 23 elementary, 6 middle, 4 high schools, 1 continuation
Top schools: Adobe Bluffs Elementary, enrollment 711, API base score 911;
Chaparral Elementary, enrollment 802, API base score 923;
Creekside Elementary, enrollment 785, API base score 959;
Deer Canyon Elementary, enrollment 580, API base score 945;
Los Peñasquitos Elementary, enrollment 574, API base score 905;
Painted Rock Elementary, enrollment 607, API base score 920;
Park Village Elementary, enrollment 805; API base score 938;
Rolling Hills Elementary, enrollment 390; API base score 913;
Shoal Creek Elementary, enrollment 653, API base score 903;
Turtleback Elementary, enrollment 549, API base score 904

The third-largest school district in the county, Poway Unified serves more than 32,000 students. All-time highs in API and AYP were achieved in 2006. Monterey Ridge Elementary, the newest school in the district, opened in August 2006. Two more elementary schools and a high school are planned to open by 2010.

Rancho Santa Fe
Number of schools: 1 elementary, 1 middle
Top school: R. Roger Rowe School (grades K-6), enrollment 621, API base score 944

Rancho Santa Fe School District began with a single schoolhouse in 1905 and today educates 831 students, kindergarten through eighth grade. Rowe Middle School is a top performer and included in our middle school section. The district recently posted a parent survey that addressed overcrowding and the need for another school.

San Diego Unified Eugene Brucker Education Center,
Number of schools: 114 elementary, 23 middle, 27 high schools, 34 charter, 18 alternative
Top schools: Benchley Weinberger Elementary, enrollment 550, API base score 906;
Bird Rock Elementary, enrollment 473, API base score 941;
Curie Elementary, enrollment 591, API base score 921;
Dingeman Elementary, enrollment 842, API base score 932;
Hearst Elementary, enrollment 410, API base 920;
Jerabek Elementary (year-round), enrollment 832, API base score 921;
La Jolla Elementary, enrollment 522, API base score 912;
Ellen Browning Scripps Elementary, enrollment 539, API base score 924;
Sunset View Elementary (grades K-4), enrollment 398, API base score 901;
Torrey Pines Elementary, enrollment 395, API base score 919

The second-largest district in California and eighth-largest urban district in the United States, San Diego Unified School District serves 132,482 students. The diverse student population represents more than 15 ethnic groups and more than 60 languages and dialects. Laura Rodriguez Elementary School, Florence Griffith Joyner Elementary and Thurgood Marshall Middle School will open this year. Lincoln High and Burbank Elementary were recently rebuilt and will reopen this month.


Solana Beach

Number of schools: 6 elementary
Top schools: Carmel Creek (grades K-4), enrollment 673, API base score 954;
Solana Highlands (grades K-4), enrollment 730, API base score 948;
Solana Pacific (grades 5 and 6), enrollment 472, API base score 952;
Solana Santa Fe Elementary (grades K-6), enrollment 457, API base score 939

The district currently serves about 2,700 students at six elementary schools. Pacific Highlands Ranch, a seventh school, is in the planning stages. All of the eligible schools are California Distinguished Schools and exceed the 800 API achievement target.

Middle Schools
Poway Unified
Mesa Verde Middle School (grades 6-8), enrollment 1,390, API base score 901
Rancho Santa Fe
R. Roger Rowe Middle School (grades 7 and 8), enrollment 171, API base score 921

San Dieguito Union High
710 Encinitas Boulevard, Encinitas
760-753-6491
Superintendent: Peggy Lynch, Ed.D.
Number of schools: 4 middle, 3 high schools, 1 alternative, 1 continuation, 1 small
Top schools:

Carmel Valley Middle (grades 7 and 8), enrollment 1,352, API base score 939;
Earl Warren Middle (grades 7 and 8), enrollment 570, API base score 905

The San Dieguito Union High School District enrolls about 12,000 students in Encinitas, Solana Beach and Del Mar and also serves unincorporated neighboring areas such as La Costa, Olivenhain, Rancho Santa Fe, Fairbanks Ranch and Carmel Valley. Students from those districts matriculate through the district’s middle and high schools, with the exception of those from the Rancho Santa Fe School District, who begin as freshmen.

Short sale from seller's side

Short sale is a method of disposing of your home without having the lender foreclose on you. Is an arrangement with your lender whereby they will allow you to sell the property for less than the amount of the current mortgage.

Let's take this example: you bought the house last year for $500,000, and foolishly took advantage of the mortgage broker's sales pitch and obtained a 100 percent loan. Now, the house will probably only sell for $475,000, and you lost your job and cannot afford to continue with the monthly mortgage payments.

Why would a lender permit this? First, you should understand that not all lenders will allow a short sale. Their decision depends on a number of factors: where is your house? how much loss will the lender suffer? What is the possibility that a speculator/investor will buy at a foreclosure sale?

Lenders have their own requirements, so I can only provide general information; The sellers will have to consult the specific lender to determine what they need in order to move forward with the short sale process.

The first step is to contact your financial and legal advisors. Do not contact the lender until you fully understand the potential risks involved. Under Federal law, when a debt is forgiven, it can be treated as ordinary income on which tax must be paid. Thus, if your lender allows you to sell the property to $475, less a 2 percent commission, you will pay off your $500,000 mortgage and have a deficit of almost $35,000. According to many tax professionals, you will have to pay income tax on this amount even though you did not actually receive the money.

Furthermore, you want to make absolutely sure that even should the lender approve the short sale, you will not be obligated to make up this difference, which is called a deficiency. Unfortunately, most lenders will not put their agreement in writing, so your legal advisors will have to satisfy themselves -- and you -- on this matter.

In fact, many lenders have been known to use this "forgiveness of debt" issue as a way of dissuading their borrowers from pursuing the short sale approach.

After you are satisfied that you understand the concept and are prepared to move forward, you should contact your lender. Go up the corporate ladder as high as you can and talk with the manager of the short sale department. Typically, the lender has a "loss remediation" department that handles these matters.

If you have authorized your attorney or your real estate agent to act on your behalf, the lender will need a letter of authorization from you. The Privacy Laws enacted after 9-11 prohibit lenders from discussing personal and financial information with a stranger without such written authorization. This letter will include your name, property address and loan number.

You (or your agent) should then prepare a comprehensive letter explaining why you are requesting the short sale. Emphasize -- but not as a "sob story" -- your hardship. It would also help if you include a market analysis which will show what houses in your area are currently selling for. And finally, spell out your request in detail: what price are you asking the lender to approve, what percent commission will the real estate agent be allowed to accept, and what closing costs will be associated with the settlement. Keep in mind that in many jurisdictions, there is a recordation and transfer tax which is typically split between buyer and seller.

Your proposal should be as specific as possible. You don't want to learn at settlement that you still have to come up with a lot of cash, because your lender did not authorize certain out-of-pocket expenses.

You should also request from your lender the amount of your outstanding balance. The lender has a legal obligation to provide this to you on request, and the burden is on the lender to provide an accurate accounting. Review this carefully to make sure that there are no charges which have been erroneously added. If you have missed some payments, you will be assessed late fees. When you present your proposal to the lender, try to get these charges deleted from the amount of the outstanding mortgage balance.

Your proposal should also include your financial situation. Keep in mind that many loans in the past few years were what are called "no-doc" -- in other words, the lender made the decision to fund your loan based on the value of the property and not on your financial status. In your case, since you lost your job, include proof with your letter.

The more documentation you can provide the lender, the faster the decision will be. However, currently lenders are swamped with these requests, since you are not the only one facing a possible foreclosure.

Thus, the earlier you can start the process, the better chance you have of getting it approved.

But the lender's approval to proceed with a short sale does not end the process. When you or your real estate agent find a prospective purchaser, the contract must state that it is contingent on lender's approval. You have to send the contract to the lender, and it would help if you would include an accounting of all expenses which you will have to pay at settlement, and a final number that the lender will receive when settlement takes place.

In fact, if you can have a HUD-1 settlement statement prepared, this would be helpful and would expedite the process. Your lender will then review the documentation, and may reject certain expenses. For example, if the contract provides that you will give your buyer XX dollars for "closing costs" -- or that you will pay some items which are traditionally the buyer's obligation (such as title search and survey) -- the lender may not allow such payments.

You want to go into the settlement knowing exactly all of the terms and conditions on which your lender will accept the short sale, including whether or not you will have to come up with money at the settlement table.

You are in financial trouble. If you have already missed some payments, your lender may already have reported this information to the credit reporting companies. You should try to convince the lender not to report any more delinquencies, but unfortunately, that's in your lender's sole discretion.

The short sale process works, but is complicated, time-consuming and uncertain. If you can start now -- before you are actually in default -- you will be ahead of the game.