Sankofa United

What zone are you in for Berkeley?  Malcolm X is fairly diverse elementary school in Berkeley.  Peralta and Chabot are both are both well regarded elementary schools.  I believe the principal at Sankofa is newer but I don't know her personally so I can't attest to her qualifications or how she is doing.  I know Sankofa merged with another school during the pandemic and that was really tough for a lot of families.  The school had declining enrollment for a number of years but I believe it has risen steadily since the merger.   

I am a BUSD parent and I went to Oakland public schools. I say this with a heavy heart about my hometown but I would not choose an Oakland school over a Berkeley one. Berkeley schools have better paid teachers, and the district is a lot smaller (less than 10,000 students vs Oakland's 34,000). Therefore the district is a bit more functional. The weird lottery in Oakland also makes some schools much more desirable (everyone wants to go to Oakland Tech and no one wants to go to Fremont High). It creates a pretty inequitable system. Sankofa and Peralta are three blocks from each other and yet one is predominately white and one is predominately black. We don't have that in Berkeley. We too have a lottery system but you get what you get and everyone ends up at one high school (for better or worse). Charter schools have also decimated OUSD funding. Berkeley has zero charter schools. 

Not an answer to your specific question, but I wanted to recommend you check out Emerson Elementary in Oakland (there’s also an Emerson Elementary in Berkeley, I’m talking about the Oakland one). It’s also in North Oakland, it’s also a public school, and it also has a diverse mix of families: white, Latino, African American, Arab American, East African immigrants, and others, not in that order. It also happens to have a very high teacher retention rate and an active volunteer community! My kid is in her second year there and I can say the whole school community is also very supportive of gender nonconforming kids. We’re zoned for Sankofa, but went for Emerson instead since Sankofa was going through a lot of changes when we were enrolling a couple of years ago. 

That said, both North Oakland and South Berkeley have diverse schools and “good” schools and sometimes both in the same package — and they’re all pretty close to each other. It’s easier to move schools within a city than it is to move from one city school system to another, though. Welcome to the neighborhood!

One other thought: Emerson has open playground days on the first Saturday of every month, and December 7 is also the Social Justice Children’s Holiday Book Fair, which is open to the public. Other schools may have something similar. In addition to looking at demographics data on the school websites, open events like these are sometimes a good way to get the vibe of a school between school tour dates. 

I'm a parent of two kids at Sankofa United. My kids are happy and learning and we enjoy the school community! The school has many Black teachers and staff, as well families, including some who have been a part of the school (through different iterations) for multiple generations. The principal is in her second year and has a clear vision for equity and excellence that she's trying to work towards for the school. There is an active PTA that organizes creative community events to support different needs in the school community (e.g. clothing swaps, community potlucks, movie nights, in addition to low-key fundraisers). The school has experienced challenges (e.g. staff leaving mid-year, students with social-emotional and behavior challenges) but none of those challenges are unique to Sankofa United. Our family loves that many (not all) of the families live near the school and it's common to run into families at neighborhood parks and restaurants. We are a White family who actively chose Sankofa United for its racial and socioeconomic diversity and because it's our neighborhood school, and we are happy with our choice.