Private Schools

This school is great!!! It has so many supporting teachers

Our son enrolled in St. Paul's when he was entering 6th grade and was immediately welcomed into the community. SPES is much more academically rigorous than his elementary school was and the staff and administrators provide a great deal of support both to him and to us as parents. The integrated project based learning is engaging. We love the fact that St. Paul's is truly *in* Oakland, the kids are out and about daily, and do service learning with Lake Merritt and then local charities. We love that St. Paul's is a diverse community. I cannot recommend St. Paul's more highly. I wish he had gone there since kindergarten!

Why Write This Down? By Matthew Patella Why write this down? People usually ask me that. Well, doing so re-writes the socially enforced relationship archetypes, and changes my role as a human being. This brings healing, and ends cycles where I am forced to play a role I don't want. I remember ignoring stalkers in Kindergarten, because that was what adults had taught me to do, and falling down a flight of stairs after being thrown or pushed, hitting my head quite soundly, my skull being soft at the age of 5 or 6, there being no pain yet, and walking away in the direction of the science rooms, the direction I was shoved; for the most part pretending it didn't happen because the organizational culture made it too awkward to report, and life going on. When I think about what I can really remember about the stairs incident, in Kindergarten, I seem to remember Greg using Jake as a shield when grabbing and throwing me down the flight of stairs, but all I could see of Greg was his hands, like the rest of his body was black. And I remember a syringe puncturing me earlier in the day, and the Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Goodrom, always seeming unfriendly yet speaking with the normal words. In the first grade, I remember ignoring a stalker whispering things from the bushes lining the Head Royce Jungle Gym, and a flexible arm throwing a rock, to hit my head, causing, this time, tremendous pain, and having to run away. Chris Y, who had been mean to me at every opportunity since montessori relaid Kevin Peters saying he was hit in the head with a rock, and that Joe Kermish Wells had done it, but Kevin later said that rock throwing hadn't happened. As a person with learning differences, I was almost always a target of bullying, and it was almost always difficult to report problems simply because doing so would make those responsible for the situation look bad. I started learning weird tricks, like paying attention to people following and whispering at me, and starting to engage them. Usually trying to get to a teacher meant having to go through the stalker, and it usually felt like something worse would happen if I told my side of the story. I didn't take notes on conflicts growing up, but in using the method of engaging with stalkers I often had to physically engage and escalate with over 5 people each year, k-12. I never hit anyone on campus, but often had to wrestle people. My next serious injury was in the 5th grade, if I remember correctly. The VonKugalgen twins had often been belligerent and insane, and when they suddenly became nice, I didn't suspect anything. After multiple suddenly positive interactions, we played a monkey bar game to see who could jump to the farthest monkey bar. I won, reaching the fourth bar consistently. A few days later, it rained, and Stephen VonK suggested I go and try the monkey bars again. I thought it might be fun, went out in the rain, and jumped, but my hands slipped, and I fell and broke my arm. I'd swung and jumped on the monkey bars in the rain a few times in the past without problems, and I remember on the day I broke my arm a grease that was hard to see in the rain had been applied to the fourth bar. The Head Royce School added a program for people with learning differences while I was in lower school there. The program was new, it was sort of stiff. There weren't activities tailored to individual learning differences. Instead we got extra time, and were allowed a little creativity in schedule. The reality that many of the different kids likely would be targeted by bullies because of their differences was never discussed, and I learned to define my learning differences in the positive light of giving me a unique perspective. Many of the HRS teachers were great, especially in high school, and classes were often outside the box. I don't recall a teacher touching me at all, or any sort of bad conduct by an HRS employee. What did Colin Rood knocking me over after a meditation retreat at age 18 teach me? That meditation heals, but doesn't build self defense.

All I can say is, inspirational!!!! This is the type of educational philosophy that Aristotle and Plato takes about.

Owners are dishonest perverts who take parents to court (and lose). The last people you want to trust your children with.

Amazing security

come inside and bust my chifforobe

OHDS has been such an amazing experience for us. My daughter, who started in 2nd grade with no prior knowledge of Hebrew, no formal Jewish education, and who comes from an egalitarian, Conservative Jewish family, fit in immediately. She runs around the house singing Hebrew songs, integrates ideas from Torah into every day conversations, and loves participating during Shabbat and Holidays. She has made beautiful friendships and the school has welcomed us both into their warm, supportive community. From the Hebrew immersion, to the study of mindfulness in the classroom, the integrative projects that challenge kids in science and humanities, the focus on critical reading and thinking, the unbelievable art program, and the integration of middot (personal values) throughout the curriculum, this school has exceeded our expectations and we couldn't be happier here.

Teachers and staff have brought Catholic education into the 21st century with grace and dignity. This school and parish are very family oriented with lots of great activities throughout the year. This is a modern and tolerant parish who embrace traditional Californian values.

I have one child at this campus. We love the teachers and the warm school community. Students learn in small classes, cross-grade learning groups and project based learning approach. Instruction is in English and German. The East Bay Campus has a very international outlook and many children speak more than one language at home.

I was at Aurora for all six years that I possibly could have been there; kindergarten through 5th grade. I could never thank Aurora enough. I was sent to Abbie's office a total of 10 times in my time at Aurora. It got better by one each year, four times in kindergarten, 3 times in 1st grade, twice in 2nd grade, once in 3rd grade, and finally, 0 times in 4th grade. I have never been sent to the principal's office ever since 3rd grade. Aurora changed me from an active and energetic bully, to the kind, smart, and caring person I am today. At my middle school, I met people with similar problems to me. They came from public schools so they didn't get changed like me. But I bet that the private middle school we're at will change them the way Aurora changed me. No matter what, I will always believe that Aurora is the best school in the world.

My kids are thriving here!

Excellent School. All of the teachers and school administration knows the names of the children and invest extra time and effort into our son. Our son is so very happy at this school. Apart from the school academics this school foster growth in each child in community service and civic activities. Overall this is a wonderful learning environment that focuses on the holistic development of the child at his/her pace.

Pretty good.

My son loves it