3 best boarding schools in San Diego, California for foreign students. Description, rankings, 2024 fees

Education in San Diego for international schoolchildren and students is available at all levels of secondary school, colleges, universities and academic courses. Secondary education is represented by more than 750 state primary, secondary, and high schools, and there are about 300 private schools in the city. San Diego is the second largest California city after Los Angeles. Its wonderful climate, active business, student, social life are combined with a general calm and friendly atmosphere. Large universities, dozens of language schools are located here, conditions have been created for programs combining recreation and education.

San Diego is a bright and distinctive city, the venue of the largest international Comic-Con festival: Money Magazine placed San Diego on the 5th place in the list of "The Best Cities to live in". It is attractive to tourists due to the developed beach infrastructure, an abundance of amusement parks.

• Municipal schools offer studying for residents and foreign students in case of vacant places. The best educational options for foreign students are private schools. Many offer bilingual education, most with the study of Spanish, but there are also schools that study German, Chinese and French.

• The best boarding schools in San Diego operate on the basis of a contract with the government, invite leading teachers, and offer a high level of education.

• Private schools in San Diego are most often co-educational, separate education is rare. Many boarding schools in San Diego have historically been associated with denominational groups, but today they offer secular education, as well as the opportunity to attend religious classes and ceremonial events.

• Primary school – age of students 5-10 years

In elementary school, children learn the basics of arithmetic, reading, and writing. They spend a lot of time outdoors, the form of studying is a game.

• Middle school – designed for students aged from 11 to 14 years

The students make up an individual educational plan, which includes compulsory disciplines and subjects to choose from. Already at this age, the students are faced with the issue of career guidance. Great importance is paid to physical development, visiting additional sections.

• Advanced Placement - designed for students aged from 16 to 18 years

An in-depth program for high school students is aimed at preparing for university admission: students choose priority subjects from a list and study them for two years at the first-year university level. The diploma of this direction is highly valued and gives high chances of admission to the best universities.

• IB, International Baccalaureate - designed for students aged from 16 to 18 years

This is an international version of an intensive program for high school students. The balanced direction includes in-depth study of subjects and personal development.

San Diego offers various types of secondary school education for the foreign students: a traditional public school program, enhanced and Advanced Placement courses in high school, alternative forms of education in private schools, preparation for admission to top universities for foreign students in boarding schools.

Some boarding schools in San Diego pay special attention to one or several academic disciplines, allowing to effectively prepare for enrolment in the universities. Some schools offer the International Baccalaureate program.

The best boarding schools in San Diego, working under contract with the state education system, have a greater degree of freedom in choosing methods and forms of education, offer specialized studying programs and alternative learning systems.

Studying at boarding schools in San Diego will allow the foreign students to prepare for studying at prestigious universities in the USA. The boarding schools have their own requirements for applicants – registration fees, tests, personal interviews. The cost of education in English school in San Diego varies from 45,000 to 65,000 USD per academic year.

The application deadlines are in December-January. Personal interviews are conducted in person or by Skype until February. The international students obtain an invitation in March-April.

To enrol in a boarding school in San Diego, the foreign student must pass a standard test, most often it is SSAT (Secondary School Admission Test) or ISEE (Independent School Entrance Examination), which determine various aspects of knowledge of English and mathematics.

Below the list of documents is provided:

• The copy of passport
• School annual grades for the last 2 academic years + quarter/trimester grades for the current academic year
• International language certificate
• Recommendation letters from teachers of mathematics and English
• Motivation letter
• Registration and school forms.

In addition to the above list, children are also required to take internal school tests in mathematics and English to determine whether the children are sufficiently well prepared at the time of admission to English school in San Diego.

• Solana Pacific Elementary School

• Canyon Crest Academy

• Stone Ranch Elementary School

• Mt. Everest Academy

• Carmel Valley Middle School

• Fairmont Private Schools

• Sage Canyon School

• Fairmont Academy

• Westview High School

•  Mater Dei Catholic High School San Diego.