1331 Jefferson Ave #206
Redwood City, CA 94062

My son had such an amazing experience at this school. He was in the IB program and all of his teachers were amazing. The principal and administrators build a personal relationship with parents and students. Many sports teams are available to students without tryouts so they are very inclusive. The students are diverse and the facilities are amazing. Great chem lab, full woodworking studio, and photography lab. Tons of clubs, and activities. My son made great friends and thrived there.

Not a "Magnet School". This is a new illegitimate description for the school that was drummed up by some PR person. In reality, this school should be referred to as North McKinley or some such name. It is a segregated campus which is shared by two completely separate schools in the same district: McKinley and Northstar (the 'gifted magnet' program). McKinley has historically been the part of the same campus and building where the undeserved population of Redwood City is designated to be housed. Northstar is the portion of the same campus where the 1 percenters can send their 'gifted compared to the poors' children to recieve a segregated education for free. The district spends great deals of money hiring people who have experience with erroneously using the term equity in attempts to conceal the egregious inequities that define the district. McKinley Institute is a school which suffers from extreme mismanagement from both the local (current principal) and the district administration. Students are not held accountable for their citizenship or their learning. Rigor has systematically been eroded in attempts to improve their abysmal 'numbers'. Parental involvement is nearly non-existent. For most of the students, school is the only place where structure and stability can be hoped for. In this setting, McKinley is a bellows for stoking the fires burning up this definitively undeserved community. The teachers at this school are mostly hard working, educated, and very experienced. Their efforts are completely (and often intentionally) undermined by the current principle who often publicly publicly derides those staff who wish to collaborate. She is the the Donald Trump of school administration and the district has inabled her to a sickening degree. There is very little learning happening on the McKinley end of the this segregated campus. Many of the middle school students are using drugs and are 'advanced in their relationships with other students romantically'. The district does very little to curtail the root problems that plague the institution. The other half of the campus (which is completely segregated by bell schedules and intentionally shares no common time or public events together) is doing exceptionally. The district pays their teachers very well, they spend a lot of money on students, but most of their schools fail miserably. I suspect it's due to cronyism. There is no value for the input of the professionals in the classrooms.

We love our experience at Roosevelt. Everyone here, from teachers to admin to aides, cares deeply about the kids, and there's a real focus on cultivating kindness and curiosity. This really worked for us because we were more concerned about finding a school that fostered a love of learning over test scores, and Roosevelt has helped our kid to love school. Our kid goes everyday excited to learn, and when he comes back, he tells us that school was "grrrrreat!" There's a real warmth and care that permeates the community, and I'm so happy that our family is at Roosevelt.