Preparatory Literary Academy Of Cultural Excellence

As an educator at PLACE I have fallen in love with this place :). I am passionate about what I do and work everyday to make sure every child thrives, becomes lifelong learners and is college and career ready. As the computer technology teacher I am clear what students need in order to compete in 21st Century education. At PLACE, students begin learning typing skills as early as the 1st grade. Unfortunately, this most important skill is neglected in far too many schools and is not offered as part of the curriculum. Students learn the Microsoft Office Suite and Google Suite, which include powerpoint, excel, graphics and learning how to create documents. Students also broaden their analytical thinking skills by learning how to code with programs such as Code.org, Tynker.com and Khanacademy.org. As the only staff member who has the opportunity to teach every student, I am intricately involved with each one of them. I have found students to be eager to learn and a joy to teach.

I am a 20 year veteran at Prescott, and I'm not the only long-term teacher at this site. In fact, Prescott has always had a more experienced staff than most schools in the district. We stay at the school because of the cameraderie among staff, the strong sense of family we feel with the community, and the common passion we bring to our craft. Teachers at Prescott know what a difference we make in our students' lives. This is why we go the extra mile for all of our children. At Prescott we believe in teaching the whole child, and that's not just a trite statement. We engage deeply with our students' families and with their home cultures. Prescott staff are trained in recognizing and addressing trauma behaviors. We engage in regular, extensive professional development on culturally relevant pedagogy, and we make sure that every child in our classes feels seen and respected. We know that our students need real-world experiences, so we emphasize field trips, science, and gardening as integral parts of our school curriculum. We have a dedicated art teacher, a successful reading clinic for struggling students, a sophisticated computer lab, an award-winning circus theater troupe (check out Prescottcircus.org) and a robust social science emphasis that culminates in our yearly Walk Through Black History -- which is now 45 years strong! Prescott is a leader in elementary science instruction and is regularly recognized by Community Resources for Science as a Science Superstar School. We host a family engineering night and a family science night each year, as well as participating regularly in the District Science Fair. Prescott is also one of only 4 schools in Oakland that has an Expanded Transitional Kindergarten class, which accepts children who turn 5 as late as March 1, and we have a full-day State Pre-K program.

This school is a jewel in density populated urban neighborhood. Wonderful talented and exremely dedicated group of teachers whon take on many extra activities to support students learning.

I would rate my experience at this school a 8.