Oakridge or Claremont?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you wanted ATS, you won't be happy at Claremont.

The schools are polar opposites and this tells me that you aren't committed to Immersion.

To get the benefit of Immersion, your child will need to stick with it until 8th grade or beyond. They will not be bilingual after 5th grade. There is a reason that it's a K-12 program.

What do you mean by ATS and Claremont being polar opposites?

[Anonymous]

We live in the Oakridge zone and go to Claremont. We were ecstatic about the immersion option, but I'm NOT a Spanish speaker and a bit of an introvert so I feel I have to push myself a bit more to get out of my comfort zone. But its been fine. I have been surprised that I've sometimes been disappointed that my kids' friends aren't as close geographically. OTOH there are a lot of Claremont families in the Oakridge zone (living in the Oakridge zone and another zone used to give those families priority in the lottery, but that ended a few years ago). One of my kids has a friend just down the street, though our next door neighbors and the kids across the street go to Oakridge. But there are kids in the neighborhood who go to private school so even if you go to Oakridge there is no guarantee that the kids living closest to you will also be at Oakridge. As for the teachers your child will have, unfortunately you have zero idea how that will work out at either school and very little control. Also, different kids do better/worse with different teachers. My oldest had a teacher one year that they didn't care for AT ALL. My second child had the same teacher later on and really liked that teacher. I can't say enough good about the Claremont principal, though I like the Oakridge principal the one time I met her.

Academically your child will likely do well either way.

[Anonymous]

Does Anyone know Claremont’s homework policy? If you are a current parent are you happy with the teachers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does Anyone know Claremont’s homework policy? If you are a current parent are you happy with the teachers?

I am not sure about an official policy. But they aren't not a HW heavy school. My 4th grader just this past month started to get 6-10 math problems to do a day. That is it. When he was in 2nd pre covid he used to get packets that he just had to finish w/in a month. They were math and he maybe had to do one worksheet a week? I can't really recall, but someone said the current 2nd grade team doesn't give them out so not sure that still exists. Current first grader has no HW.

I have been happy with the teachers. My kids seem to like them and they are kind. I felt they supported my 4th grader in a difficult situation earlier this year.

[Anonymous]

We're in 1st grade at Claremont so I'm not sure we have the best handle on everything, with last year being a wash. But our 1st grader has had no homework yet (his teachers in K and 1 have been decidedly anti-homework, other than to read at home). We've loved his teachers so far - the Kindergarten team was mostly a virtual experience but they were INCREDIBLE and I have no idea how they managed to be as engaging as they were over an iPad for most of the year. The first grade teachers have also been a force. I really like that in almost all cases, there are two teachers (English and Spanish) which really creates a balance of personalities for my kiddo. Basically we adore Claremont.

[Anonymous]

As others have said, you really need to be committed to the immersion concept. If you are just looking for a “good” school, that is not the reason to go. If you care a lot about your kid learning Spanish, even to the extent where they might be a bit behind their peers at other schools in other subjects, then this might be a good idea for you. But if you just want the “best” school experience, you should look elsewhere. Oakridge will meet those needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does Anyone know Claremont’s homework policy? If you are a current parent are you happy with the teachers?

I have a 2nd grader at Claremont currently. We've had no homework outside of reading. It's not enforced, they just ask that you read with your child outside of school.