Reviews & Press

Both of my kids attended Park Day for grades 6-8. They are VERY DIFFERENT kids, and they both had an incredible experience that absolutely honored and celebrated their individuality. The SEL curriculum, at least in middle school, is woven throughout everything. Empathy is at the core of how they examine the world in all subject areas. Using an empathy-based approach supports inquiry-driven instruction as the students are taught to question motivations of characters (real and fictional). This allows for nuanced discussions of complex situations in history, literature, and even science (e.g., climate or environmental justice).

Both of my kids are very bright and felt academically challenged throughout Park Day. The older one is now in tenth grade, and they were very well prepared for high school. I've consistently heard the same from their classmates at a range of high schools from large public to small charter to very competitive private school. Park Day kids develop great writing, critical thinking, analytical, and public speaking skills. Two years into high school, my teen is still waiting for peers from other middle schools to "catch up." My niece and nephew attend top private schools in New York City, and I feel very confident in saying that my kids received at least as good an education at Park Day, if not better. I hope that's helpful.

We are new to the Park Day community and have been really pleased with our choice. When we were looking for other schools last year, we wanted a place that would reignite her love of learning and her experience at Park Day has done that and more. She is eager to go to school each day (which helps with the morning routine!) and there is always at least one thing she is looking forward to each day. Park Day has proven to be a great fit for our child’s learning style. The campus is magical — it’s like a school nestled in a botanical garden — but it is also a central part of the learning experience for students. Learning Garden has become one of the (many) highlights for our child. She comes home excited to talk about the projects they do. She also loves Art, Music and Spanish and has taken an interest in learning more in each of these areas at home. It’s clear that there is a lot of cross-pollination in the curriculum, which is also a great fit for our kid’s learning style. We’ve appreciated the scaffolding of the fourth grade curriculum and the opportunities for stretch that it’s provided our child. The emphasis of the growth mindset has been really good for our child, just enough friction without suppressing their motivation. We wanted our 4th grader to love learning (the school’s tag line) and I can tell by the way her face lights up when talking about her day that this is the case. It can be challenging to enter a new school community but we were warmly ushered into the parent community by the leaders of the Parent Stewardship committee. The coffee carts on Wednesday and Friday also offer a great opportunity to chat with parents across grades. I work in Oakland, so appreciate that I’m able to chat with a few parents before heading in to start my day. We are also a two-mom, multi-racial/ethnic family made by adoption and appreciate that we’ve been able to find affinity groups: Families with Children of Color, the Village for Black parents, families made by adoption, and the LGBTQ+ affinity groups are all welcoming spaces (and spaces with overlap too). We appreciate the commitment to social justice and DEIBJ that is foundational to the curriculum and to the vision of the school’s leaders.

Our son is in kindergarten at Park Day, and we couldn't be happier. His kindergarten teachers are a dream team, and the art, language, music, and PE teachers have such well-thought-out programming. After a shy phase in his preschool classroom (he's a pretty extroverted kid otherwise), he now regularly contributes in class, has made friends, and asks for extra math worksheets. I love to see the differentiation at work. We looked at several schools and felt like they tried to fit their students into mold, while Park Day makes learning fun and allows students to explore, discover, and pursue their passions. Along with the social justice curriculum and emphasis on helping students develop self-advocacy skills, we love the community we've found there.

We absolutely love Park Day! From day one our entire family has had an exceptional experience at Park Day, and couldn't be more grateful for the community we have built in such a short time. Our child had attended a top rated public OUSD school, but the difference in what we are experiencing with the shift to Park Day is remarkable: the breadth of leadership experience evident across all faculty and staff, inclusivity and diversity, educational rigor and support, values of social justice threaded through the curriculum, communication and responsiveness, community events, and so much more. Our child is thriving academically, and building new friendships in the classroom and through the incredible electives Park Day offers. They are so proud of their new school, and we as parents feel equally as proud and engaged.

My daughter started middle school at PDS this year after attending elementary school at an OUSD school. Our experience could not have been better! The other students have been extremely welcoming, and the teachers and staff are incredible. A lot of thought and intentionality are put into the curriculum and teaching, both of which focus on critical thinking and helping students build the skills necessary to succeed academically.

In addition to the academics, there are great opportunities for arts, sports, and other activities. The arts programming--which includes visual arts, music, and drama--is supplemented by clubs that include activities like creative writing, watercolors, and more.

As a queer family, we have been welcomed by the school community, which also includes a number of other queer families. In short, we could not be happier with Park Day.

Park Day School is in our neighborhood and we had not seriously considered sending our kid to a private school until we visited in person. That day we toured the beautiful grounds, met some staff, teachers, and current parents; learned about the progressive, interdisciplinary education model; and heard about the JEDI values and affinity groups which support the constellation of student and family identities at PDS. We were dazzled by the community, focus on literacy/math/academics as well as creativity, and parent/teacher partnership. We were fortunate enough to receive some scholarship funding to make this possible for our family and we couldn't be more grateful.

Park Day School has turned out to be everything they advertised - a well-run progressive school with kind, supremely talented teachers, and an enthusiastic, loving community rooted in Oakland.