Relocating to Oakland, inquiring about High Schools (Berkeley, Alameda: home, transfer to)

[harleydavidson]

My family; me (caucasian), husband (AA), 13 yr old son (biracial), are moving to Oakland. My son will be in High School next year. I am seeking help in finding a good neigbhorhood and pubic high school. I included our races in case that will be a factor. ANY help will be greatly appreciated, or even ideas of ways to FIND help!
Thanks

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by harleydavidson

My family; me (caucasian), husband (AA), 13 yr old son (biracial), are moving to Oakland. My son will be in High School next year. I am seeking help in finding a good neigbhorhood and pubic high school. I included our races in case that will be a factor. ANY help will be greatly appreciated, or even ideas of ways to FIND help!
Thanks

Skyline High School in the hills is your best bet. Otherwise Id go for a private. Oakland has lots of good privates.

[BearBranch]

Yes, Skyline. Of note, both Gary Paton and Tom Hanks are Alumni. Here is the home page:

Hannah Studios

Here is a wiki article:
Skyline High School (Oakland, California) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[capoeira]

Alameda,Albany and Piedmont have the highest rated schools. There is a book out about Berkeley High called "Class Dismissed: A Year in the Life of an American High School, a Glimpse Into the Heart of a Nation" that you may find interesting.


California School Ratings - Alameda County

[fizbin]

If you can afford it move to Piedmont (an upscale town completely surrounded by Oakland). It has great public schools. Anyone in Oakland who can afford it sends their kids to private schools - the public school system here sucks beyond belief. Skyline may be the best high school, but it is still none too good.

And really, for affordability, decent (not Piedmont-great, but many steps above Oakland) public schools and a nice town to live in close to Oakland, I'd choose Alameda, the island on the other side of the estuary from Oakland.

[tabithaP]

My oldest daughter graduated from Skyline and we really liked it. It depends what you put into it. They have a really good performing arts program and a peer-to-peer film class, were students make their own films. She also did some stuff with Pixar, so for us it was great. In our neighborhood it is a mix of kids who go to Skyline and Bishop O Dowd. But more parents are putting their kids in Skyline. My youngest daughter goes to a private school now because she is in Middle School, and no matter where you live in Oakland the Middle Schools suck. She went to a 5 star elementary in Oakland, I am not sure what we will do for High School. I feel the money for private school is not really worth it, I rather save the money for college and pay for tutors and extra activites.

My daughter went to Skyline and our neighbor's kid went to a private high school and my daughter scored higher on the exit exam and on the SAT's, but we did pay for tutors. Still waaaay cheaper.

[mburns]

Hi,

I am also caucasian and my husband is Asian American. We have two children that will be entering public elementary schools in a few years and one of the reasons that we like Oakland, (and the whole East Bay) is because of the diversity of households. Skyline High school is an excellent choice and has some challenging upper level academic programs. As another person posted, it really is what you put into it.

If you were also thinking about other areas to live, then I would recommend Piedmont or the Lamorinda area. Both these communities have competitive high school programs. Albany is also a good choice.

I'm a Realtor in the area and would be happy to show you some of our local neighborhoods. My link is Alain Pinel Realtors. You also may want to check out the site, GreatSchools.net. It compares all the public schools in the area and also breaks down the demographics.

Good Luck!

[18Montclair]

So true that it is what you make it.

I attended K-12 in Oakland public schools cause my parents were poor immigrants, but its not as bad as the numbers would suggest-at least that's my experience.

I went to Oakland High School and had classmates graduate and go on to UC Berkeley, Davis, UCLA(myself included LOL) etc. We even had a girl get into Harvard.

Point is, no matter where you go, it ultimately depends on the student and their goals.

[Glenview94602]

18 Montclair, which schools did you go to for Elementary and Middle School? Is it easy to transfer to high schools within the district outside of their territory? I know Montclair is in Skyline's area. But thats awesome cuz my brother went to O-High!