Berkeley Parents Network: Redwood Heights Elementary School

Berkeley Parents Network

Redwood Heights Elementary School

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

Parents' Reviews of Redwood Heights

Re: Best schools to target for Oakland Lottery system (Oct 2007)
Dont' target Redwood Heights! This school was way oversubscribed last year and 16 neighborhood kids were displaced. Although these kids were later admitted into the largest K class ever at the school, there was absolutely no room for families through the open lottery. As a smaller school than most in the hills, Redwood Heights will likely continue to be fully subscribed by neighborhood children over the next few years.

The best quality schools to target through the open lottery are Kaiser and Glenview in my opinion. I know people who got into both schools through the open lottery this past spring. If you are denied initially, act quickly with an appeal and be persistant and patient. Good luck! Redwood Heights Parent

March 2006

My son will start kindergarten this fall and been assigned to our local public school (Redwood Height Elementary in Oakland), but we also have a couple of private school options. Since there isn't any recent information on the BPN site regarding Redwood Heights Elem, would anyone be able to share any recent experiences (positive/ negative) with respect to the school's environment (academics/principal/teachers/ other kids)? This information would be invaluable in helping me determine if the school is the right choice for us.

Our daughter is finishing her kindergarten year at Redwook Heights Elementary and we couldn't be happier with the school. The teachers and staff are very welcoming, helpful, caring and excellent educators. The community of parents is devoted and busy at the school. One thing I really value is the sense of community I have experienced since my child started at the school. I had met my immediate neighbors but getting plugged into the school has really broadened my friends (and my daughters) in the area around our home. My daughter is getting an excellent education, she is experiencing a diverse community, and we have made so many wonderful friends in the neighborhood. I hope this helps you make your decision. RHS parent

Feb 2005

Re: Gay Friendly Schools in Oakland
We're a two-dad family living in Oakland and though our ''rankings'' of different school options on a LGBT sensitivity spectrum are more anecdotal than empirical at this point, we have asked many of the same questions. Unfortunately, we don't know anything about Chabot's record in this regard, but if you're considering relocating to Oakland, I encourage you to look at the Redwood Heights neighborhood. Our daughter will be starting K at Redwood Heights Elementary this fall. This is the one Oakland public school that we've heard has a reputation for being especially sensitive to and familiar with gay families. For us, it's less important that family diversity be a formal part of the curriculum than that it be something that school staff and leadership are simply comfortable and familiar with. Our thinking is that such familiarity is either an indicator of or an incentive for higher numbers of gay families to be part of the school, which in the end, is what we really want for us and for our daughter. We've not had any upfront conversations with the principal or staff at RHES about this, but this is in part due to the fact that we don't think its necessary: when we went to the K orientation, we counted at least three lesbian couples in attendance among the roughly 30 families that were there. For middle school, we alternate between girding ourselves for private school tuition or waiting to see which small public schools crop up in OUSD over the next 5-6 years (the district's reform efforts are not to be discounted at this point, we feel, and we think we'll have more options in 5 years than we do now). But if there's one area where we think private school is likely, it's middle school, and our current interest is in the Julia Morgan School for Girls. Though light years away, a high school that interests us is the new Oakland School for the Arts (www.oakarts.org). There's been some traffic about this school on the list, and it appears to be very solid academically, as well as a small and supportive environment. Also making me lean toward this school is that our daughter already shows a genuine interest in song, dance, and theater, but who knows where that will be when she's ready for high school. Feel free to email me.

2001

I have a second grader at Redwood Heights and a child starting in the kindergarten in the Fall. We are largely quite pleased with the school. It has a absolutely first rate principal who knows every child, a very experienced teaching staff and very involved parents group. It's relatively socio-economically diverse, though that is changing a bit as the neighborhood changes, and seems to serve children from a range of SES quite well if you look at the test scores. I am not thrilled with the kinder- garten program, but have been very happy with subsequent years, especially this year. My child has been fortunate this year to have an incredibly gifted, experienced, and entertaining teacher. Redwood Heights' parents group funds field trips, a spanish program, and motor skills as well as some social skills programs.

We actually moved from Sequoia School District to Redwood Heights before my son started kindergarten. I think Sequoia is getting a lot better, and is certainly in the middle range of Oakland Public Schools. They have many challenges in the school... Lots of English learners and children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Myriam

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