Life Academy

Allendale may be the most underrated gem in all of OUSD. Our kids absolutely love going to school here and have excelled academically and socially. In our 3 years here, we have continued to be impressed. The teachers are experienced and genuinely care about the students, and it really shows. The leadership is competent and parent involvement is growing stronger. Also, the FREE after school programs have been amazing. The demographics have shifted due to the inevitable gentrification of the area, but the school has been able to retain its community feel. We are beyond happy with our experience at Allendale and have made several great friends over the years.

As school tours and enrollment season rolls around, I just wanted to take the time to post a review for International Community School (ICS) in OUSD. Last year, around this time, I was researching Spanish dual immersion schools with no idea which to pick. After attending all of the school tours for each of them in the district, I was so enamored with ICS. I am SO glad that our son got into ICS! The principal, Ms. Raquel, is a gift. She is the most accessible principal I've ever come across, having been a teacher at the school, a parent to a former student, and now principal. She hosts monthly meetings with parents to hear their concerns and acts on them immediately. The parent community is unmatched; I've never felt so welcome anywhere. There are numerous opportunities to meet other families, and people often come over to introduce themselves. There are many opportunities to celebrate the various cultures at the school, and English speaking families are welcomed into the community too. Kids all seem to know each other, and they are genuinely happy to see each other every day. My son went from speaking very little Spanish to willingly speaking it at home with his dad, who is fluent. His TK teacher, Ms. Micaela, is absolutely phenomenal, as are the paras Ms. Judith and Ms. Garcia. I couldn't have dreamt of a better experience for our son and family.

My son has been going to this school since kindergarten. It has a high teacher-parent involvement, and save for a couple of not very good teachers, the rest have proven to be really good, engaging and motivating. It is a plus that this is a bilingual school. The environment is safe and inclusive. The facilities are ample and clean.

The school has a lot of community input and the staff works very hard to fall into compliance with the policies and directions of the district, county, state, and nation. The school uses a dual immersion model for instruction where part of the day is in English and part of the day in Spanish. Some classes are fully bilingual, while others work with credentialed Spanish teachers and credentialed English teachers to deliver the curriculum to the students. Students still take state tests for the most part. With all of parties involved from the community, to the staff, to the district, all playing such an active role in the education of these students you have to wonder why they haven’t been successful in achieving higher test scores in spite of their efforts. Are there larger problems in the community or in the district or in the state or county that are preventing students from this school from having scores that correlate with successful outcomes as students pass developmental milestones.

Patten Academy is a very safe place to send your children. I’m so happy my children are in a school with a Christian foundation. The kindergarten teacher Miss Johnson is amazing. If you have a child entering kindergarten you will not be disappointed. The kindergarten graduation was broadcasted on YouTube and those babies were so well mannered and extremely smart. It was such a blessing to watch our future leaders sit on that stage and talk about everything they have learned. Those kids seemed as if they were ready for second grade. I look forward to another school year with elementary and high school.