Redwood Day School

Unfortunately, I would absolutely NOT recommend Redwood Day School, especially not for Black or BIPOC families. My child was among 4 Black families that left mid-year this school year, 3 of whom left because of academic concerns. Specifically, it came to light that a large percentage of our child's 2nd grade cohort were reading below grade level at the beginning of the school year, predominantly BIPOC students. Through conversations with other families it also became apparent that majority of our grade had been supplementing either with additional parent academic practice and many with paid tutors. Additionally, when it was highlighted that our children hadn't been taught the entire 1st grade Math & Focus textbook, which led to only 3 of 18 students passing the pre-assessment. When we addressed this discrepancy and concern with John Loeser (head of school), his response was, "Sometimes we don't get through the whole textbook. I don't understand why we are spending so much time talking about a photocopied math test." As for his response on the reading issues, he said "it is normal to have a wide range until about 4th grade." Our family, and many others were not willing to wait until 4th grade to hope and see if our kid would be "caught up" by then. 

While all of this was incredibly disappointing, especially since part of why we chose Redwood Day School was for it's "academic rigor," what was the most disappointing about all of this was the gaslighting by the administration, specifically John Loeser and Johanna Aeschliman. They continued to downplay the very real academic concerns that numerous families had and only began to address any requested changes after so many families withdrew mid-year. In addition, instead of taking any responsibility and looking at the first grade teachers (one of whom has several complaints from parents about her particular traumatizing method of shaming students for mistakes), they instead attempted to throw one of their few incredible Black teachers under the bus by saying that she had shared inaccurate data. The irony is that there were multiple sources of data that were showing the same exact academic issues.

This response is focused on our Black family's experience, when we withdrew many families of various backgrounds and in numerous grades reached out to our family with similar and even worse stories. Many families at Redwood Day are in OUSD and fear that their public school option will be even worse than, so they feel stuck at Redwood Day, despite their concerns and disappointments and high tuition costs.

As any parent desires, we simply wanted our kid to be educated in a safe and loving environment, Redwood Day is not that place. The reality is that our kid and the other kids that left are thriving at their public schools. All have found better instruction and a greater sense of belonging from students, teachers, and the entire school community. I would recommend looking at Park Day if you are looking for a private school alternative. Otherwise, save your money and send your kid to public school. Invest your time and money there.

I just read the very negative experience of a family who left Redwood Day, and wanted to share our very positive experience, because I think a lot of us have had excellent experiences at Redwood Day. I have sent two children to Redwood Day, one who is still there and one who has already graduated. Our current student is very happy, well-supported, ahead of grade level for reading and math, and thriving socially.  Our child who already graduated was incredibly well-prepared for high school, was admitted to his first choice high school, and really had an excellent experience all the way from K-8.  We have loved the outdoor education programs, the beautiful campus, and the full arc of the K-8 program that balances social-emotional learning with academic learning.  With our older child, we watched his friends progress through the program from K-8, and watched them land at the end of 8th grade with very strong academic skills and confidence as people and learners.     

As a black parent of a black boy I’ve had a great experience at RDS. I was nervous about independent schools in general and was afraid that he would be the only black child and not have a sense of identity but it’s been the opposite. He’s having a great experience and there are other black children in his class. He’s excited to learn and when compared to his OUSD friends and some of the issues they’re facing- bullying, large class sizes, academics- this reaffirmed that I made the right decision for my son. No school is perfect and I try my best to be visible and volunteer whenever the opportunity presents itself. My community is reflective our family unit so we have ample opportunity to experience culture outside of the community and it provides balance. I toured the other schools and St. Paul’s was a contender but I chose the school that would be the right fit for my son. Good luck in your search and be sure to tour the schools and speak to the families. 

YES! Absolutely. Redwood Day is probably one of the best independent schools in Oakland. As a mixed-race family who has been at Redwood Day for over a decade, I highly recommend the school for a number of reasons; 

1. Strong social emotional program that is consistent and clear across the grades - our kids know who they are, how to be great ally's, self advocate, deal with conflict maturely and fairly.   
2. Incredible academic programming that is almost constantly being reviewed and enhanced - just review where Redwood Day kids graduate to and how prepared they are academically to enter and thrive in high school and beyond.
3. Strong commitment to DEIB, not just with the students, faculty and staff. This extends to programs with parents and guardians - it was an essential part of the school's fiber and strategic priority 
4. Absolutely amazing community 
5. Impressive clubs, music, drama activities - if you kid is interested in something, there is a space for it at Redwood Day

If you have a chance to be part of the magic that is Redwood Day - I would say YES! 

I'm the parent of a current Redwood Day 2nd grader, and we have been very happy with the school. Our child has had amazing teachers who go the extra mile to challenge them in ways specific to their needs. They are thriving academically without any outside tutoring or other support.

Many of us in 2nd are highly satisfied with the school and looking forward to many more happy years at RDS.

Absolutely! Redwood Day School has exceeded expectations for our family. We started in Kindergarten and I've been incredibly impressed with the curriculum around identity and inclusion. The administration, her classmates and frankly, all the other grades are incredibly diverse. However, what I think is more important is that RDS teaches children how to be proud of their identity AND how to move through a diverse community, both through a lens of respect, curiosity and kindness. As a BIPOC family, we know intimately that our future schools and workplaces aren't going to be perfect. They're going to be hard in so many ways. What RDS teaches kids is how to live in the real world, in positive ways, that both respects/serves the kids themselves and also contributes to the overall community. We originally looked towards independent schools for academic rigor and we have not been disappointed. What has been an absolute gift (and a real surprise) is the school culture. It's the sort of thing that doesn't show up in ratings. It's a soft skills thing that is hard to measure, hard to 'market', hard to describe-- but is what absolutely distinguishes the school from other private schools. Would HIGHLY recommend, everyday we are so thankful our child gets to attend RDS!