Santa Fe Elementary School

OUSD has closed a number of elementary schools in recent years and there were more they wanted to close but backed down in the face of opposition. I don't see them reversing that trend in the current financial climate (they fielded a survey recently asking for input on cost-cutting measures, and more school closures was one of the options they asked input on). The campaign to re-open Santa Fe sounds like wishful thinking.

I am in the same catchment for Santa Fe/Glenview Elementary. The school that closed in 2012 was a low performing school that was also under enrolled. It was right around the time a lot of young families were moving in. I have considered the Glenview/Santa Fe school for my kids because we live within walking distance to the campus. But knowing that it's only a temporary location have made us think twice about committing to the school. Regarding possibility of school continue operating after Glenview leaving, there is a committee run by neighborhood parents called Santa Fe CAN that's been laying the ground work to get the school reopened. Other than that I haven't heard much news about any progress. I just read that OUSD is planning to close up to 24 schools in the next several years, so I am not really hopeful about the prospect of OUSD allowing a school to open amidst all the closures. 

I would not bank on Santa Fe reopening.  I live in Santa Fe, and this is a hot topic, and the neighborhood is full of kids (we make up 2 kinder and 1st grade classrooms just from our area the last 2 years of 'hosting' Glenview which gave local families priority).  Sadly not much (no?) progress is being made.  The volunteers running the effort seem a bit disorganized - ex: I have a decade of fundraising experience - they needed to raise money - I offered to help 5x and no one ever called or emailed me back.  It's more or less a 2-3 woman show of a couple local moms doing their own thing here.   More importantly, this would not keep with the needs and goals of Oakland Unified.  The district is on the brink of state receivership again, and a big problem is we have 2x as many schools as other districts with our number of students.  While there were some good things about the small schools movement 20 years ago, it caused a big budget problem.  Consolidating schools is vital as a result, and nearby Sankofa - where all Santa Fe families are zoned - is under-enrolled as it's not high-performing.  So as long as Sankofa which is under a mile away is under enrolled, and there is a huge budget challenge, the district cannot justify reopening Santa Fe.  It seems far more likely the building will be used by another school undergoing renovation or be leased by a charter or private school.   Personally, I encouraged the committee to pursue great charter organizations or someone coming out of a principal fellowship program so the neighborhood could be involved in selecting a great tenant - preferably a public/free charter so anyone could benefit from the close, local school.  Seemed to be zero interest in this practical approach to getting what we want/need...   Also no interest in an effort to make Sankofa a better school to attend as apparently having to walk across MLK and Shattuck to get there is a dealbreaker so it could never be a "real" option.  (Not an argument that will ever hold water at a school board meeting.)

If you opt-in to Glenview, I'd be prepared to drive your kiddo to school after 2020, and to many play dates with friends in the Glenview neighborhood.   If you're looking for a longer-term bet, I've heard great things about Kaiser which is a short drive up the hill and many in the neighborhood go there and like it.  Peralta and Chabot are wonderful but beyond capacity and I am told that even kids zoned there aren't guaranteed a seat.   If you want those, you could try wait list and be the parent willing to switch your child's school mid-year when a seat opens up - could be tough on the kiddo but perhaps worth the long-term benefit?

You've gotten some good info regarding the likelihood of OUSD reopening Santa Fe after Glenview moves back to Glenview. I second all of it.

But I wanted to correct one thing a previous poster wrote. Chabot Elementary is NOT beyond capacity. Every year, about 35-40% of our school's seats are filled by students from out of our catchment area. As a result, we have students from all over Oakland at Chabot and have seen an uptick in the socioeconomic and racial diversity of the school within the past few years. Come check out Chabot - it's a terrific school. 

Given the budget shortfalls I agree with others that reopening Santa Fe seems unlikely. I also wonder if the other local 'catchment' school, Emerson, which also has a TK program, will close. I assume that you live in the area and thus this is why you are looking at North Oakland schools. OUSD is getting much more restrictive about the lottery and more and more the 'options' mean less and less. I live in Longfellow and my kid goes to Sequoia. I am used to the drive which is not that terrible so if you end up in Glenview (where if you are in the catchment you currently have priority), the drive is manageable. But playdates, yeah. It sucks honestly that the OUSD approach is to reduce the number of schools rather than having more smaller community schools that really serve the people. I WISH I could walk my kid to school and have all his friends in the neighborhood. The reality is that on our street alone , in one block, no two families had their kids in the same elementary school. Glenview is a decent school and you might want to take the opportunity to get in there- Kaiser too has lots of neighborhood love and therefore playdate and carpool potential. Also folks in the neighborhood are driving an effort to revitalize NOCCS and really want community members to enroll. But they don't have TK. It is a charter school also.

I agree with previous posters, OUSD is in a huge budget crunch. Santa Fe has almost no chance of re-opening. I highly recommend looking at other nearby schools. Sankofa and Emerson (our family is there now) are both neighborhood schools for the former Santa Fe catchment. You may be happily surprised at the communities there and quality of education!

I do not think Santa Fe CAN is going to be successful in reopening the school, for all the reasons already provided.  However, since you're looking at North Oakland, my son went to TK at Emerson and we were VERY happy with his experience.  Mrs. Minor is a phenomenal teacher and my son loved going there.  Emerson can get trickier in the older years, but as far as TK, kindergarten, and 1st grade go, it's a very good school.