Kaiser Elementary School

Fantastic. My son is in 4th grade and has attended Kaiser since K. He is learning the trombone now. Through the many funding activities, we have been given a free instrument to use this year. He has great friends from diverse backgrounds. Everyone knows each other because it is a small school. The principal is a strong and compassionate leader.

I take issue with how the new Great Schools algorithm rates this great little school. I have one child there now and one graduate. There has been ups and downs in administration, but we have an excellent, committed principal now. Thing is, when my older child started here, GC rated it an 8. Now it's a 5, but what has changed? Nothing on the campus; teachers have remained incredibly dedicated, professional and committed and the staff has changed very little. The curriculum and the testing apparatus has changed 5 times as mandated by the district, state and federal governments. The buzz words these days are Inclusion and Equity, both of which have been the standard that Kaiser has held for all of my time there (10 years). Kaiser has a higher than average number of students with learning differences and challenges...because we welcome them! It also has by far the most diverse student body in all of Oakland. The family/staff community is very strong, supportive and active. We also boast extremely high SRI scores (which makes the state tests rather suspect). We teach the whole child, not just their ability to do well on state exams (that change from one year to the next in both content, application and structure). Great Schools simply doesn't draw an accurate picture.

While only 2 months into Kindergarten - I'm amazed at the speed in which my daughter is learning. She is thrilled to go to school each morning. We have found the school a wonderful place and couldn't be happier. The parent involvement is very high, and most of the other parents I meet are just as happy as I am to be there.

I have 3 children currently at Kaiser. Our children are thriving, happy and learning. I can't say enough about the caring and loving teachers who put our children first. We have had a wonderful experiences with all of the teachers, the culture, leadership and other families the past 6 years and are looking forward to the next 4 years. I can't recommend Kaiser enough!