Balsa St
Alameda, CA 94501

Encinal High School provides a welcoming campus to all; its community is like no other.

Wood middle school faces frequent discrimination within the student community that frequently targets large racial, religious, and LGBTQ groups. During my prior experience at Wood Middle School, I have seen fights, Nazi drawings, trashed/flooded restrooms, have heard plenty slurs, on a day to day basis. Lots of teachers at this school do not provide thorough teaching in class and often default to worksheets, and or low quality online resources. Also, in my experience as a student at Wood middle school, I have heard a teacher frequently use the N word in class without any punishment, which shows the incompetence of the faculty to stop this school wide discrimination. I have also observed the work ethic that students receive from going to this school, which (if summarized) boils down to "I don't care about my grade / just do the bare minimum." Overall, I would not recommend this school whatsoever, and if given a choice to enroll somewhere else, please take that opportunity.

Sadly, I cannot recommend Maya Lin. Our daughter is supported as an artist but is woefully unprepared to read, write, learn math or participate in project-based education. We are paying hundreds of dollars out of pocket every month for tutoring in the basic subjects neglected by this arts-integrated curriculum. We have been trying to transfer or get into a Catholic school but are on waiting lists everywhere. I’d recommend anyone with a TK or K student who’s districted for Maya Lin look into other options now as admission becomes more difficult in later years. The school is fun, but so is camp. The kids at Maya Lin are not learning how to excel as scholars. This school should be a charter or choice school. It’s a shame they force families into this unsuccessful curriculum.