5520 E Napoleon Ave, Oak Park, CA 91377

We pulled our child out during the summer before her 3rd grade year. She started at Oak Hills in Kindergarten. Her first and second grade teachers were great. They were both effective at teaching the material, had good classroommanagement skills, and were warm and approachable with both the kids and parents. Her kindergarten teacher, on the other hand, was unkind and generally unfit (temperament-wise) for teaching such young children. Overall, we found that the school did not meet our child’s needs and our family’s standards for whole child learning. We think that the school as a whole has a culture that lacks depth when it comes to nurturing the social/emotional needs of its students. This became clear after kids came back to on-campus learning after the pandemic, many of whom needed extra support. Academically, this school stands out. There’s no doubt about that. Unfortunately, there is little to no art/music and quite honestly it just wasn’t a very fun place to be, at least for our child. We’ve moved on to a school that doesn’t perform quite as well academically, but the trade off is the deep commitment they have to educating the whole child - not just in principle, but in practice. Parents are treated like collaborators, art and music are valued and taught year round, and the energy on the campus feels like childhood at its best. Oak Hills works well for many families, but our experience there did not live up to our expectations.