Berkeley Parents Network: Montclair Elementary School

Berkeley Parents Network

Montclair Elementary School

Berkeley Parents Network > Reviews > K-12 Schools > Oakland Public Schools > Montclair Elementary School

December 2005

The reviews on the Web site are now nearly two years old. I'm interested in comments, opinions, insights from parents of current Montclair Elementary students. My son will enter kindergarten next fall and Montclair is our neighborhood school. I was unable to attend the most recent tour; a friend of mine did and had an alarming experience with the principal (other parents on the tour felt the same). I wonder how that fits with the rest of the school/teachers, what you think of Open Court, how one goes about getting into full-day kindergarten. Is it ever possible to meet the teachers? (didn't happen on the tour) concerned Montclair mom

I think you're right to be concerned. We had a horrible experience at Montclair Elementary this year. We ended up pulling our daughter, we felt that disconcerted. I will say, though, that our situation was due to a bad set of circumstances (our daughter's class had 27 kids vs. the other K classes having 20, the new teacher quit after one week and the principal dealing with these circumstances inappropriately and with hostility and rudeness). I know, in meeting other Mont. Elem. parents that the school (besides the prinicpal) is great--a wonderful community with dedicated teachers. We just could not tolerate the principal--bottom line. I wish you luck and think you are so smart to check this out. One more thing, if you do try Montclair, I would encourage you to try to get Mr. Jue as your child's K teacher. He is phenomenal and we wish our daughter had been in his class.
--a very disappointed parent

We transferred from a developmental private school to Montclair in 3rd grade. We were placed with the teacher we first observed years ago (and based our decision NOT to attend Montclair at the time), and now I know/think a 30 minute-1 hr. observation is NOT enough. The old adage holds true for us, 'don't judge a book by its cover'. This teacher ended up being an exceptional fit for our daughter, especially given the transition from private to public. Also, each year many of the teachers are reassigned grade levels within the school, bringing a fresh perspective each year. We are finishing up 5th grade now. There will always be good and not so good teachers at any school but children for the most part are resilient and resourceful. As far as the principal, I don't know what your negative experience was but my daughter has had only positive things to say about his presence. Despite lack of state funds and cuts to many programs, science is strong within the classroom, the music program is still exceptional, the PTA strong and the Language League (extra fee) much stronger than our old private school. Good luck.
Montclair Parent

With so few people replying to the recent post about Montclair Elementary, I just had to throw in my $.02. My son just started kindergarten there this year and we couldn't be happier. I, like many others, worried that an Oakland public school couldn't possibly be as good as one of the local private schools. I'm finding that -- with the right teacher -- the school is fantastic. Our son's teacher is great at engaging the students, keeping order in a room with very wide-ranging attention spans and skill levels, and making my child love the learning process. I can echo the previous comments on the principal (he is a bit condescending and, at times, inappropriate), but we have had little interaction with him. And to his credit, he seems to be very suppo rtive of the teachers' needs. All in all, the teacher you choose/get and the interactions with and dedication on the part of other parents are what makes this school so great. I would highly recommend it.
Happy at Montclair

As a resident of Oakland who is planning on sending my two children (4 & 2) to our local elem school, I'm concerned about what I read happening at Montclair. Why would one kindergarten class have 27 kids and the other two classes have only 20 children? That seems so unfair to the families and kids in the large class and it makes me angry just thinking about it. How common is that experience? I understand that there are funding issues tied to keeping classes at 20 or less, but the solution shouldn't be to have one massive class while the other two classes are more manageable. I'd love to hear from other parents about their experiences with th is situation.
Concerned parent of pre-K child

Regarding concerns over the class size--why one K class had 27 students enrolled, while the other 2 were kept at 20...the principal at Montclair Elementary told us he did this due to the Class Size Reduction incentive program. Schools are given bonus money for grades K-3 if they keep the class size at 20 or under. Go over that and they lose that bonus money. If the school is over-enrolled (due to letting in too many inter-district transfers and not anticipating neighborhood enrollment, poor planning in my opinion), the Mont. principal said he always chooses one K c lass to be the ''designated overflow'' class. Frustrating when you know that the other classes are where they should be at. I don't think the CSR program was meant to be manipulated like this. I asked around about the other ''hills'' schools to find out if this ''overflow'' happened and this year it did at Thornhill (but the teacher who got more students was a veteran teacher to the school vs. the brand new teacher at Montclair being given the large class) and it did at Crocker, too, but my friend whose children attend Crocker said that the principal there did redistribute the classes to make them even. This didn't happen at Hillcrest, Joaquin Miller or Chabot. --a disappointed parent

My son is in 1st grade at Montclair, and so far I have nothing but praise for the school and its staff. If you have concerns, my suggestion is to talk to the teachers; my son had Mr. Jue and he was wonderful and very supportive of my son's science interest. If I'm not mistaken, as an entering kindergarten parent, you can schedule a time for a class visit to see the teachers in action. We have been fortunate so far in that we have not had any serious issues, like having him in class with 27 kids, but the bottom line is that life is not perfect, and one should try not to broadbrush a school in a negative light because of one specific problem with a specific teacher. I attended Orinda schools as a child, and I had good and bad teachers there as well; it's just the way the world is. Parents are also very involved and supportive with fundraising and volunteering, which allows Montclair to afford PE, art, science, and music programs. My son is happy, challenged, and has made great friends. Hope this helps, and feel free to email with any other questions/concerns.

January 2004

We just moved to Montclair and are considering sending our daughter to Montclair Elementary for the kindergarten class of 2005. I'm really intereseted in hearing feedback about the school (parent involvement, academics, diversity, teachers, foreign language, computer use--anything you might be able to share).
I'm also interested in the perception of the Montclair schools (Montclair, Thornhill, Joaquin Miller, Hillcrest). Are they all equally as good?
I would really prefer my child going to public school, as my husband and I did, but it's such a hard decision. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

We've had children at Montclair Elementary for the last nine years. It's a great school, very diverse and parents are extremely involved. The major fundraiser, the Metrathon, brings in close to $80,000 to fund enrichment programs. Here's the PTA web site: montclair.ousd.ca.campusgrid.net/home/PTA Teachers are experienced and have been there many years and the principal seems to be doing fine, although there have been some mixed reviews.

All hill schools get great test scores. We think they are all equally good. Montclair has great access to the park and the kindergarten teachers take the kids there when they can. Also many events and picnics are held there. Montclair has Adventure Time before and after care on site which is great for parents who need the extra help. Everyone's different, but Montclair has been great for us.

Happy Montclair parent

January 2003

Montclair has been a great overall experience for our daughter, now halfway through the 4th grade. There are some exceptional teachers, though they all have their ups and downs, and we've had some stress problems with what we feel is overly high expectations and excessive homework load. However, individual teachers have always been willing to work with us on these problems, and from talking with other parents I understand these ups and downs exist just about everywhere. With Montclair you get to be part of an extremely strong PTA and parent community that supports arts, science, physical education, computer education, a librarian, and an outstanding vocal and instrumental music program--that's a LOT for public school! Plus you can pay for an afterschool language class, which isn't particular well done but it's a nice introduction to a foreign language. The school functions as a real community, with several annual events that everyone looks forward to. They also have Adventure Time aftercare on site, which was reasonably priced and very well run during the time we used it. The school population is also more ethnically and socio- economically diverse than you might expect for its hills location.

November 1998

I have a daughter in first grade at Montclair. She also attended kindergarten there. During the last 2 years, grades K-3 have all had 20 students per classroom. In all kindergarten classes, there have usually been 2 adults present. In one room, two of the teachers share it and so they co-teach. Both are men and are a great role model for our children to start off with. In the other room, the teacher is a veteran and has support from other former teacers in the community who volunteer a few days a week to assist in the class. All parents are welcome to assist in the classroom as well.

Montclair's strongest attribute I think is in the PTA. This organization raises enough additional funding to support a librarian, a computer lab and teacher, and a P.E. teacher. In addition, they have started a school garden which is being used by many of the teachers in the classroom curriculum. I don't think you can go wrong by sending your child to Montclair. Leslie

The opinions and statements expressed on this website are those of parents who subscribe to the Berkeley Parents Network. Please see Disclaimer & Usage for information about using content on this website.