Moving to Palo Alto (area) - info on public schools?

A friend is likely being transferred for a job from NYC to Palo Alto. She doesn't know anything about the area and wants to know where to begin to figure out the best neighborhoods to live and for schooling, etc. She has a kindergartener and is looking a public school.

If anyone has any experiences with the Palo Alto (or surrounding cities) school district, or has resources on how to figure it out please pass along. Also, any general resources for parent groups, to find housing or anything else that might be useful?

Thank you in advance.

Parent Replies

New responses are no longer being accepted.

Palo Alto Weekly online.   Their website is paloaltoonline.com   Should be generally useful.

There is a Parents' Club of Palo Alto and Menlo Park, which is a great resource to learn more about the area from current moms.  In terms of schools, it all depends on which school district she is in and which school she is assigned to.  She can check out the greatschools.org website to see the ranking of the various schools in Palo Alto and then she can work backwards and see where she should look for housing to get into those schools.  If they can afford Palo Alto, Los Altos or Menlo Park those are all great places to leave with good schools.  Mountain View is nearby and also has good schools.  If they cannot, other areas with good schools that are less expensive are San Carlos and Belmont.   It will require commute to Palo Alto, but the schools are good and the commute is manageable.  Hopefully others will have further suggestions as to cities to check out.