OUSD High school Recommendations: Skyline, OHS, Oakland Tech
I am reaching out to get feedback on several Oakland public high schools. Our 8th grader is academically very gifted and motivated and finishes work quickly. We are seeking a rigorous/creative academic high school to keep him engaged and learning. He especially loves math, science, computer science and engineering. He has a robust personality but is also a sensitive soul and would benefit from a school that supports community-building (including LGBT community). His current school is very big but breaks down classes into smaller families, and that seems to work fine for him. Currently looking at Oakland High School, Skyline, and Oakland Tech. We know schools change over time and would love an updated view into any of these. Any thoughts/experiences you can share? Are we missing schools we should consider? We are wondering about academics, community development, creativity/innovation...We know it's all up to the lottery, but just trying to look at what to rank.
Parent Replies
Have you consider charter schools ? I don't think you have much of a choice when it comes to public schools. School will be assigned according to your zip code of residence.
My daughter goes to Oakland High, and we've been very happy with the social atmosphere and supportive environment. Academics have been a mixed bag with my daughter complaining that some classes feel remedial (relative to her middle school coursework), which frustrates both her and me. She is a junior now in their STEM pathway (called "Project Lead the Way") and is taking computer science, physics, and principles of engineering this year. Those are all going well. Geometry last year did not go well as the work did not challenge my daughter, and the class completely fell apart with remote learning.
My daughter has many LGBTQ friends and the school and student body seem generally supportive. There is an LGBTQ center on Lakeshore that is only a short walk away, and pre-COVID my daughter would walk down with her friends after school pretty regularly.
To rebut another response, my daughter initially got into Oakland Tech through the lottery process, though we are zoned for Oakland High. We reconsidered after facing the reality of what her daily commute would look like (one of the bus options offered by 511 was literally to walk to Oakland High school and catch the bus from there to Tech). She was also influenced by OHigh having a larger, and in her opinion better, orchestra. So we switched, which wasn't a problem since Tech has the longer waiting list. So yes, the lottery can work, though you obviously can't count on getting lucky.