Most of the residential real estate clients I work with have kids in (or going into) the public schools and they want to make sure that the new house they purchase leads into an acceptable school. Sometimes a neighboring school, even within the same district, has a far inferior reputation and API score. While I used to feel confident telling a client that a particular house falls within the boundaries of the school of their choice, I have become older and wiser on this topic. Here’s a story to illustrate –
A few years ago, I had a past client move back to Sunnyvale after having lived there a few years prior. She wanted her son to go to Cumberland Elementary school because his friends from before would be there and he would feel more comfortable. We bought the right house – it was in Cumberland’s attendance boundary. We even closed escrow the summer before school would be starting. However, upon visiting the district with the enrollment package all filled out and her residency established, my client was told that her son would have to go to Cherry Chase for the first year back – Cumberland was impacted. He would be moved to Cumberland the following year. Luckily, Cherry Chase is a wonderful school, but it was a slight change in my client’s game plan, and it resulted in a little more of a rocky transition for her son.
Lesson learned: Call the school and find out how impacted the school of your choice is, and where your child will go if they end up being full. Get comfortable with that contingency plan and set your child’s expectations before you decide on a home purchase!
Happy house hunting!
Giving Back, Growing Strong 
Great point! And of course, they can always redraw the boundary lines as well… not to mention when schools open/close or shift their philosophy. In general, it seems that while schools influence the property value greatly, there is little to guarantee that a specific property is associated with a specific school.