North Oakland Community Charter for our First Grader?
I am looking for people’s advice about North Oakland Community Charter School? I like that the school is educating the whole child and the citizens of the future - the school is very diverse reflecting Oakland richness and challenges- also I hear the sense of community & family participation is quite strong, art and music classes are twice a week (pretty cool in my book). Not very impressed with the academic scores though but I know they are not everything really especially when you go through two years of Covid and you have a big portion of school population free and reduced lunch students. What do people know/think? I want to raise my child I sheltered from the problems she needs to be prepared to solve.
Many thanks,
A caring parent seeking good education in an inclusive school
Parent Replies
My children are learning and so are their classmates regardless of economic status. My kinder student is writing sentences and my 2nd grader and most of his very diverse class are above grade level in reading. They have implemented a new math curriculum that is rigorous and has students challenged which is great! Great schools might be the worst thing that ever happened to public schools as it completely misrepresents the actual experience of students.
Hello! I am a current parent at NOCCS and my daughter is in first grade. I can’t recommend NOCCS enough. I love my daughters teacher, the principal and the whole NOCCS staff.
NOCCS is a wonderfully small school and very diverse. The arts are what sold me when we chose NOCCS. Not a lot of Oakland schools offer art. Mr. Mercer, the art teacher, is fantastic.
Happy to answer any specific questions you might have about NOCCS.
best,
Alyson
My Kindergartener loves NOCCS. He is learning so much. His teacher is phenomenal. Academically, it's perfect for our son. I don't put much weight to scores. He's learning everything a Kindergartener needs to learn. The students and parents in his class are awesome. I really like the sense of community that the school fosters. One of my favorite things I like about the school is its commitment to social justice and diversity. All of the teachers and staff are dedicated to their profession and actually seem to like their jobs. Choosing NOCCS for my son was an excellent choice. He'll be attending 1st grade there next year as well.
We started our daughter in K the first year of the pandemic and she is now in 1st. We have had an amazing experience through this very bizarre time. The staff has gone above and beyond in so many ways. Honestly, although I have nothing to compare it with, I can't imagine it being better anywhere else. Her core teacher and all the specialty teachers (art, music, mindfulness) are phenomenal. My daughter vocally expresses her love of the school and her classmates daily. She literally doesn't want to leave most of the time.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion were all critical for us as well. NOCCS does an amazing job in this area as well. I feel it represents Oakland as a whole very well.
Lastly, we don't think that the academic scores of NOCCS in any way represent the quality of education my daughter is receiving. She is thriving in math and literacy far better than I could have expected, especially given the challenges of COVID.