Updated review of Harding Elementary School in El Cerrito please
Can anyone provide an updated review of El Cerrito's Harding elementary school? The Great Schools reviews linked to the real estate sites are horrendous.
Also wondering what happens if they run out of spots for local residents? (I've heard a few scary stories of parents not getting a spot even though it's their locally distracted spot if they don't start lining up at 6am-and how does that happen?)
What other schools (private) have you found more suitable for your child if decided against this school?
Jun 28, 2016
Parent Replies
Although my daughter finished up at Harding a few years ago, before looking at private schools, take the time to make a bullet-list of what you are actually looking for. Are you looking for art, music, small class size? Harding had those and probably still does. Get on the school email list. Go to the school's community events such as the carnival and plays/concerts. Harding has a beautiful theater and they make good use of it.
Also, many parents fall for the media click-bait of anti-testing and anti-standards/common core; don't fall for it. Testing is not a big deal and standards are good so that necessary skills do not get overlooked; common core is also good because it gives the teachers more opportunity to use their creativity and teaching skills to reach whatever the end goal is.
Finally, after attending Harding, Portola, and ECHS, my daughter had greater academic skills after just the 10th grade than I had after graduating from the Berkeley public schools of the 1970's. I thoroughly believe that whichever El Cerrito public school your child ends up in will be fine and that public education is more rigorous as well as more inclusive than it was in the past.