Looking for current 2018 heartbeat of Hillcrest
Hello!
New parent of an upcoming kindergartner who was placed at Hillcrest for fall 2018 and I’m hoping there are some other Hillcrest parents or friends that could give me some insight to the current heartbeat of the school. The tour didn’t offer too much insight and so far other than the OUSD website, test scores and past reviews here that’s all I can find. Any info appreciated.
Mar 17, 2018
Parent Replies
My children are currently at Hillcrest elementary and MS and have been there since Kindergarten. I think there are several equivalent K-5 schools in Oakland - Montclair, Thornhill, Chabot for sure. Academically we have not found Hillcrest to be amazing K-5, and there have been at least 2 extremely problematic teachers - people who many parents found very difficult, unkind, unstable and/or incompetent. One is still there but BPN prohibits naming names. Ask any longtime Hillcrest parent and you'll hear plenty, I'm sure. That said, the latest principal is well liked and doing a good job, in the opinion of many. Hopefully she stays a while! The features that set Hillcrest apart from most other OUSD schools are: 1) fantastic parents - a really interesting, highly accomplished group and a tight, positive, active/involved community. You're likely to make great, potentially lifelong friends. 2) A very active and generously funded PTA, allowing for a lot of "extras" (that shouldn't be extras!) like music, art, library, playground monitor, reading specialist and other specialized instructors, social/emotional curriculum, and much more. 3) The middle school - this is a very small school (like 100 kids), with a limited number of teachers, but they're all on the continuum from competent to exceptional, and teaching challenging material that prepares kids well to enter any of the private high schools (as well as Skyline and Tech). Primarily because of the wonderful school community of friends, we don't regret sending our kids to Hillcrest and we really like the MS team.
Hillcrest is humming along, and as someone who also took the tour a few years back, I will wholeheartedly agree that it was a waste of time. Hillcrest is too small and crowded to need to "market" itself during the Options process, so they don't put any effort into that. It is a caring community, with loads of positive PTA involvement and fund-raising. The campus is cramped and overall the facilities are not great, but we have had some amazing teachers, involved parents, and the new principal seems great so far. You will find flaws, but I wouldn't hesitate to enroll.