Website: http://www.sttheresaschool.org/

See also: St. Theresa Catholic Church

Corpus Christi or St. Theresa's?

Hi - We're considering Corpus Christi or St. Theresa's. Does anyone have insight into how they compare? Both seem like great schools and communities, but wondering what the differences are. Thanks anon

You see, I had no idea this little gem even existed. I toured many, many public and private schools over a period of two years. At my wits end and uninspired by canned curriculum and lack of (teachers')academic freedom at the public schools and depressed by the astronomically high tuition rates of the privates in Oakland (even with financial aid) I literally stumbled upon St. T. I called, thinking that I would receive an answering machine, a disinterested secretary, or a slightly critical admissions guru. Instead, I talked to a down-to-earth mom turned St. T admissions/everything supporter and got a private tour the very next day.

And I loved it. All of it. Nestled in the hills of Upper Rockridge, the school is clean and beautiful in a mid-century modern kind of way. The rooms are filled with sunlight. The floors squeak with new polish and the school smells like I remember school smelling when I was a kid. The school has RECESS -- lots of it -- and P.E. and art and Spanish and music and grass and all the things that elementary school should have. It seems as if the children are always playing in the grass or toting musical instruments hither and yon.

My little boy started kindergarten this year. He is very bright and active and especially interested in art. At the Montessori preschool he attended last year he was deemed ''too active'' to be productive. His interests in art often didn't fit into the works they had ''out at the time'' and his obsession with art was often considered a problem. Not so at St. T. At St.Theresa, little kids are encouraged to play outside like goofy little kids and art accompanies almost every thing they do. My son has three hours of art per week with an artist on top of the crafts and the coloring and the drawing that he does while learning other things. In fact, after getting to know my artsy little boy, his teachers now encourage him to draw if he is having problems with other kids or following directions. This kind of outside the box teaching has dramatically helped my son connect with peers and follow guidelines. This is what I was looking for when I toured.

I could actually go on and on and on. But I won't. And at $7 K per year, St. T is the best deal in town. -Liz

St. Theresa School is a true gem, nestled in the quiet Oakland hills. My 3 daughters have all graduated from this Catholic school and have been extremely prepared for their high school years. The academics, facility and overall community of the school is fantastic. Students have room to be themselves and to flourish. St. Theresa School provided 13 years of pure joy to my children. They looked forward to going to school every day which is over half of the battle! karen

Appreciate any feedback on St. Theresa's Catholic k-8 school in Oakland. We're thinking about applying in a few years. Any information on the quality of academics and teaching, class to teacher ratios, testing, activities, afterschool programs, amount of religious activity, community, the new facilities and any other feedback would be great. Are there any other considerations if we are not Catholic?

I'd like to hear from non-catholics about their experiences with St. Theresa's. Also wondering how much time is dedicated to Catholic or religious teachings.

I am interested in hearing experiences/information about St. Theresa's school (enrollment process and satisfaction of currently enrolled families). Any comments are appreciated. Thanks! colleen

Msgr. Moran is definitely interested in having a tight knit community at St. Theresa and therefore wants to see the families that attend school attending church. We like that and were previously active members of the parish. If you are Catholic but don't intend to be active in the parish, I think your chances of getting admitted are lower.

If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me. We have not yet gone through the kindergarten process (but will this year) so I don't have any advice there. Jennifer

Does anyone have any information on St. Theresa school (located on Clarewood off Broadway Terrace). I'm not Catholic but I want my daughter to attend a Catholic school or private school. Any information is greatly appreciated. Thank you. Cheryl

The school has strong academics, and has a nice community feel to it. It seems to have enough money for a wide variety of programs.

The downside is that the class size is quite large (30, K-6) and although there is an aide in each class, it's still quite a large number to manage. This can be very difficult for active boys in the class and as a result, they don't succeed as well in the classroom as more compliant children. I know that some years St. Theresa's has had difficulty attracting and retaining boys. For example this years third grade class has something like 22 girls and 8 boys.

The new principal seems to be very fair which is great, although some people seem to miss the more playful, fun spirit of the previous principal.