Oakland Garden School

Hi there! OGS parent here - my daughter started out as a Sprout there last year so we've been at OGS since Sept 2015. Yes there's been some drama but overall we love it. There was a lot of turnover before this school year started (apparently normal for preschools), however, my daughter's class (Acorns) and teachers are rock solid. We've seen major developmental changes in our daughter (for the better) and she absolutely LOVES her friends and her teachers. I encourage you to go on a tour, speak to other parents and then make a decision. I was also on the fence too because of all the negative reviews but decided to take a leap and I'm so glad we did. The new director, despite stepping into some major challenges, has done a great job overall on bringing the school together. This is all my humble opinion of course! Happy to talk further offline if you have more questions.

My daughter has attended Oakland Garden School for the last 2 years. It's a great school & I recommend it. OGS falls more into the Emilio Regalia way of teaching which is nature based student lead learning. An example is when daughters class became interested in bees, the teachers made a entire curriculum all about bees, pollination, honey etc. The learning is very hands on so the parents were encouraged to send the kids to school with something related to bees and that was used as a learning experience. When we were hiking recently my daughter pointed to a little black bug & told my husband it was bee larva. He didn't believe her, but when he got home looked it up and she was right. In terms of learning numbers or letters that is also more experiential. For instance for the alphabet they may highlight a letter each week and do activities around that letter, then the next week they will highlight the next letter in the alphabet until they eventually make a full Alphabet book.

There is a heavy emphasis on outdoor play, and the kids spend a huge part of their day outside, they grow veggies, feed the chickens & goats, investigate bugs & plants, and play on the playground. If you want your kids to come home clean, this is not the school for you. My daughter is always covered is paint, dirt, glitter etc. All evidence of the fun she had that day. They bake treats with food from the trees in garden, and do a ton of art.  They just started incorporating foreign language exposure as well, so my daughter learns basic words in Spanish, French & Mandarin. The Pinecone class has a dedicated outdoor explorer program which is pretty cool as well. They also have Soccer shots come and teach soccer for and extra fee. Another cool thing is they feature an artist & musician every month and the kids do art projects related to that artist.

The learning environment is very different than the structured environment of Montessori, so you have to be okay with that. We have friends that attend Montessori and my daughter is  on par with them academically in terms of language, writing etc. They are just a different methods of learning. My goal with preschool was finding an environment where my daughter could still relish being a small child, enjoy being outdoors, and develop a true love of learning. Oakland Garden School has provided that.

The parent community is pretty active. There are quarterly potlucks, and school carnival. I like all of the parents I have met, most are working professionals.

Now the bad: The downside of the school is the teacher turnover. At the end of last year the director &  a few teachers all left within a few weeks of each other. It seemed to affect me more than my daughter.  I think that is because the senior teachers all stayed on. From what I understand the owner does not show that she appreciates the staff & there is lack of benefits & career opportunities. (I have friends that have had similar experience at other preschools) Also the administration can be a bit unorganized at times. The new director is working to address those issues though.

I read a couple reviews that referred to the school adding extra fees, but I have not had that experience at all. The school tuition and fees are laid out clearly in the agreement. 

We are lucky in this area to have a lot of great options for our kids, it's just about finding the right match for your child and family.