Lamorinda Public Schools versus Oakland/Berkeley Private Schools

Hi,

You might want to also check out The Saklan School in Moraga. Similar level academic program as others you mentioned, and a really wonderful, diverse, and supportive community as well. We have several friends who have done both public schools in the area and then have gone on to experience independent schools. The biggest differences are class size and the way students are able to truly dive into learning rather than doing more rote learning and testing. There is also quite a difference in the amount of music, art and other specialists as well as more field learning experiences, leadership, and public speaking opportunities. The partnerships you have with the school and teachers are very strong and the focus on social emotional is a priority.

I grew up in Lamorinda and attended public school. We live in Berkeley now and my son is attending The Academy. From my experience The Academy is a much better school than what I experienced in the Lamorinda public schools. Also, if you kid is bright they offer very little in advanced or gifted programming. The Academy offers a more advanced curriculum. 

My kids went to the Orinda Public Schools K-5. I would characterize those years as good, not great. No matter how good your public school is - it is still a public school and subject to the lack of per student funding that affects California. There were some teachers who were amazing. But there were some who shouldn't be teaching and yet can't be fired because after a year of teaching, they are granted tenure. There are also too many kids in the classroom, especially after 3rd grade when classes ballooned to 28-30 kids per classroom. I realize this is small in comparison to schools in Oakland and elsewhere in the state, but to me - it's too many kids. Especially if you factor in that upwards of 5 may have some learning and/or social challenges. My other critique of the public school system as a whole is that they are teaching your kids to do well on a multiple choice test. That's not fostering a love of learning nor expanding minds. That's looking good on paper. 

We did not want to see what OIS would hold for our kids as we knew there would be more kids in the classrooms and the hallways as 4 elementary schools feed into one middle school. In addition to more kids, we knew there would be more hit-or-miss teachers. We moved to Head-Royce in 6th grade.  I have found the quality of the teachers across the board to be excellent. Not just that they know their subject matter, but that they care and ENJOY what they do. They are accessible not only for us, the parents, but for the students. They LOVE to have students come to them for clarity or questions. They are nice people who seem to genuinely care about each and every child they teach. I can say that about some of my public school teachers, but not all. There were many that it felt like they were punching a clock.  Each grade level team at Head-Royce consults constantly on what is being taught and when and how it ties in with other subjects. There are about 15 kids to a classroom. Music and art are required. In public elementary we had music and art twice a month. At Head-Royce we have it twice a week. 

My kids were both prepared "enough" for Head-Royce. I do not think that their math or writing skills were adequately developed in the public school system, but now at Head-Royce, they are thriving and it seems so obvious that they were not inspired to learn in public school. In my opinion the kids that I see who came through Head-Royce from the lower school are better prepared. Is that because of the continuity of the curriculum? Maybe. But I also think that overall, the smaller classes, the higher quality teachers, and a curriculum that is based on educating the whole child and not just how to take a test, has served those kids well. Lastly - it is ironic to me that for my children to experience any true diversity, we have to go to private school. But there it is. Head-Royce is truly diverse and I think that the diversity is a critical role in the quality of the education. A well thought through curriculum absorbed and discussed by a variety of different ethnic, social and economic backgrounds lends to enlightened education. 

I can't say enough good things about Head-Royce School. We will not return to public for high school and yes, I do realize how fortunate we are to have this choice.

We live in Orinda and have 2 daughters at The Academy, now in 5th and 2nd grade. We were making this comparison ourselves a few years ago and can share our reflections from that process.

One of our first observations was that each of the schools could be a good fit depending on what a child needs and what parents value most highly. They are all well-resourced and filled with committed teachers and parents. In our case, we valued a few interrelated things: a love of learning, challenging academics, small class sizes, and exceptional teachers. The Academy stood out on these fronts. The school embodied a respect for children's intellect and their ability to stretch to engage with challenging concepts whether in math, science, history, or literature. One more concrete way of describing this is that the baseline mathematics curriculum is over 1 grade level higher than the corresponding grade in the public school and due to a class size of about 12, even further differentiation is possible for children that are ready for more challenge.

For the other independent schools you listed (Head Royce, Bentley), our knowledge is limited to the tours we took and conversations we had rather than personal experience. Both had well-resourced classrooms, many more electives, beautiful grounds, etc. But we didn't see as much of a difference with the Lamorinda public schools on the couple of things we really valued above.

Good luck with your decision!