Manzanita SEED vs. Melrose Leadership Academy (MLA)
Are there any parents here who have put their children through the TK program at Manzanita SEED or Melrose Leadership Academy that can share their experience? My husband and I are starting to consider what schools we want to try and send our daughter to next year. She is eligible for TK in 2024 and while she currently goes to a bilingual Spanish preschool, her Spanish isn't great. My husband's first language was Spanish and his mother (and most of his family) doesn't speak English. Because my Spanish isn't great, my husband often forgets to speak Spanish when we're all together. Having our children learn Spanish is important to us so they can have a meaningful relationship with my husband's side of the family. Long story short, we really want to try and get her into a public Spanish-English dual immersion Elementary school. My preliminary research shows that Manzanita SEED and MLA look like they could be a good fit, although they are a bit of a drive for us. We live in Oakland but on the Piedmont border and we've also considered trying to transfer into the Piedmont school system and make more of an effort to incorporate Spanish into our children's lives however we can. Private school isn't an option, otherwise, we'd consider EBI. We do make good money but we do not have any disposable income after we pay our rent and bills.
Parent Replies
Happy to chat - my daughter has been to both schools and is currently at MLA. One of the big distinctions is that MLA starts at 90% Spanish and 10% English and goes to 50/50 at about 4th grade, whereas SEED starts at 50/50. We are not a Spanish-speaking family so the 90/10 model was key in ramping up my daughter's Spanish skills.
I hope you'll get some answers from folks at those schools but I would also encourage a wider look at OUSD Spanish immersion schools. We're at Greenleaf but that would probably be too far for you. (Our kids preschool is best Peidm and it's is a slog to get them up there.) Also their TK is in English with Spanish enrichment and a class full of primary Spanish speaking students, though the rest of the years at the school are Spanish immersion. International Community School is also a great option though last time I checked they don't have a TK. But they would be closer to you probably.
To transfer into Piedmont, one parent needs to work full-time there or your childcare must be located there (with proof of enrollment required). OUSD has gotten much stricter about enforcing these rules in recent years, so if one of those doesn't apply, it may be easy to take that option out of the mix. OUSD has a number of dual immersion schools, although MLA and Manzanita SEED are likely the closest to you. It might be worth looking at the others too, though. We have friends who've had good experiences at both of those schools, and also at Greenleaf. And it could be worth applying to EBI to see what kind of aid they offer--you never know.