Marcus Garrette, 15, writes about the social and academic challenges he faced when he went from an Oakland public high school to a private school in the 10th grade, and how his outlook shifted during the year. -Katy

When I began school last fall, I thought that it was going to be an amazing year where my friends and I would spend time relaxing while working hard, seeing how we had already completed our first year at Skyline High School and we were now sophomores. I was taking a few advanced classes and the regular required classes, plus I was in the school jazz band and was happy, overall, with my schedule.

As my first week of school progressed, it was feeling similar to last year. I spent a lot of time joking around but getting work done at the same time. I was very content with how things were going. This would change VERY soon and VERY fast.

Towards the end of that first week, a fellow schoolmate from my jazz band walked up to me and told me something that my sister had told her. The schoolmate told me, “Marcus! You’re going to Bentley?!” and I quickly responded with “What? No I’m not,” because at that point, I had no idea what Bentley was. The only other time I had heard that name was in reference to a luxury car. Read the rest of this entry »

courtesy photo

Here’s a feel-good story for the week: Three seventh-grade girls from Tehiyah Day School, a Jewish school in El Cerrito, spent the last two months collecting children’s books for their bat mitzvah projects. They knocked on neighbors’ doors, scoured garage sales and asked family friends, parents at their school’s bus stop, and people from their respective temples.  

The three girls — Talia Myers and Rose and Gabby Rokeach — collected 1,000 in all, which they delivered to children at Greenleaf (K-3) and Whittier (4-5) elementary schools in East Oakland. The books were for the kids to keep.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been told that enrollment at some public elementary schools dips in the upper grades, as families with means or scholarships transfer their children to private schools. Many others, I hear, make the switch before middle school.

I bring this up because it’s private school application season, and a Thornhill Elementary School mom tells me her school won’t write personal references for those applications. She thinks that such a position puts kids who attend public schools — but who might want to go to private school in the future — at a disadvantage.

Here’s what the Thornhill notice said, according to my source: Read the rest of this entry »