March 2006

When we were considering Crocker we heard concerns about schools that rigorously taught Open Court, but it turned out to be a non- issue. While it is a drill-based phonics system, the teachers are great about supplementing it with additional reading materials. And the phonics drills do seem to work -- my son's second grade class is filled with kids reading long and short chapter books. I help out in the classroom occasionally and have seen how the kids sound out words they don't recognize. So don't be overly concerned about Open Court.

As for art, it is an hour a week and you could not find a better teacher than Ms. Neeley. The kids love her and her enthusiasm for art is infectious. My son was able to identify paintings by Picasso and Matisse in first grade, and actually enjoys going to museums to see what he recognizes from his art classes. If you visit the school right now, you will see a great project that the third graders did based upon Grant Wood's American Gothic. Ms. Rose is an equally excellent music teacher. I believe that the kids have music for 30 minutes a week, not 15 minutes.

You are correct that there are no teaching assistants at Crocker. The teachers rely on parents to volunteer and the parents do volunteer, in large numbers. I know that many parents are worried about student-teacher ratios, but 20 to 1 looks pretty good to me when you consider that there were 28 to 32 kids in each of my elementary school classes.

We briefly questioned whether we made the right decision to embrace our neighborhood school when Dr. Ward was appointed just after our son was accepted in kindergarten. But the state takeover has not been a significant issue at Crocker. Dr. Ward's style is to leave the well functioning schools alone, and Crocker is a well functioning school.

Finally, one of the benefits of a local school that you should not overlook is that it is great for neighborhood kids to go to school together. When we go for walks through the neighborhood, my son points out his classmates and schoolmates whenever he sees him. It is wonderful that he can go over to his friends' houses after school, and then it is a short walk home. Of course, it has been nice for my husband and me to meet other neighborhood parents through Crocker events. That is a benefit I had not anticipated when we chose Crocker.
Happy Crocker Parent

As for Open Court, I too am not thrilled with what they require K's to do, but given that-I feel at least better that the teachers do a good job weaving fun projects and themes into the day so its not all about that. And my son has learned alot this year.

Above all, it is really fun to walk to school and get involved in the neighborhood.
a new Crocker parent

March 2005

California public schools have to adhere to some pretty strict standards these days, and Oakland also has the Open Court reading system which is a scripted phonics-based program. Fortunately, the days of Open Court policing are over and so teachers can be more creative in how they teach it. But not a lot of time is left for play in Kindergarten. However, the Oakland schools are supposedly going to a full day w/in the next couple of years to help solve that problem, but that won't help you. My child's K teacher at Crocker retired last year, but she was way big on them getting in a lot of play time in whatever way they could given the academic requiremetns she had to meet. I believe the current K teachers are the same.

I think most of the teachers there want to partner with parents and do a good job of doing that despite their limited prep time. I have always found the teachers ready, willing and able to talk with me about my child, how she is doing, give suggestions, etc. They are very dedicated professionals.

The sense of community is one of the best things about Crocker. The school is well supported by the parents through the PTA and through the efforts of volunteers who work in the classroom etc. I have been very impresseed with that aspect of the school. I do not find (most of!) the parents overbearing or weirdly overinvolved in their kids lives; they seem to be pretty level headed yet focused.

There is before and after care through Adventure Time which I don't use and don't know much about. Through the PTA, there is an afterschool program which offers things like music (in addition to the music the kids get as part of thier regular curriculum), martial arts, drama to name a few. The classes change as needed and are fairly well attended from what I can see. I have not personally utilized them much.

Overall I think it is a great school and my daughter has benefited from it enormously. Good luck to you in your decision. Hilary

January 2004

As far as private school is concerned, 8 students went to St Paul this year. We have Crocker students at many other private schools. They are well-prepared for the challenge of middle school in either setting.

I can put you in touch with parents of recent graduates of Crocker if you send me an email.

Judy Ganley, President
Crocker Highlands PTA.

I strongly recommend that parents consider Edna Brewer as an option. (see Edna Brewer Middle School for the rest of this review.)

Re: Gifted Children in Oakland Schools
I have a daughter in K at Crocker Highlands Elementary School. She too is a bright child who was reading at the age of four before school started, albeit very simple books. I too had some similar concerns about her abilties and would she be bored etc. Being that she was one of the younger ones in the class probably helped, but she definitely is not bored, even though the things they are doing are easy for her and she has been able to do (some of them) since she was three. She takes pride in her accomplishments and has a teacher that also is seasoned in working with kids of multiple skill levels. They say that by the end of kindergarten (and studies have shown this) that most kids are just about at the same level regardless of where they started. Now that may not be entirely true, as some may end up being very gifted, but in general I think it will turn out to be true for my child.

I think ANY school will have a myriad of abilities and teachers are trained to deal with it. The gap may be bigger at some schools than others, and you will need to figure that out for your particular school, but you cannot paint all Oakland schools the same. Crocker for example is an excellent school whose recent API test scores were better than some Piedmont elementary schools. But remember, school isn't just about academic excellence, but lots of other things too. I think we tend to get caught up in the former when the latter may also teach our children essential life skills that will serve them well.

There is a GATE program but it doesn't start until the third grade.

The State takeover doesn't seem to have affected Crocker much, at least negatively. There is so much parental involvement that I think no matter what happens, the school will be fine. I also understand that Dr. Ward wants to give schools that achieve a certain level of performance more autonomy, which will be great. So that's a good thing. And morale overall seems just fine to me.

My advice is to check out your local public school (don't make assumptions based on what you see; go visit, talk to the principal and PTA), maybe a few others that you might want to transfer too (remembering that students from low performing schools get first dibs) and give it a try. Kindergarten will not make or break a kid. And prepare to be surprized by how great Oakland schools can be!

Hilary

January 2003

September 2001