Oxford Elementary

Oxford School is a small school tucked into the hillside in north Berkeley with approximately 300 students in 14 classrooms. The small size of the school combined with the excellent staff and the strong support from families makes it a wonderful community.

The teachers at Oxford are committed to educating every child and are very sensitive to students’ individual needs. We offer rigorous and stimulating learning experiences in a nurturing and supportive educational environment. This setting is sustained by the responsible, disciplined attitudes our students acquire through discussion of essential values that teach them to do the right things in their daily living with each other. Our weekly school-wide community meetings explore the nature of empathy, conscience, self-control, respect, kindness, tolerance and fairness, and promote solid learning progress and strong self-esteem for all students. In addition, Oxford continues to educate with community involvement in mind. Our staff has a keen understanding that what makes this all work is learning to listen to students and working in collaboration with their families.

There are many opportunities for enriching experiences aside from the regular classroom activities and lessons. All our kindergarten through second graders work weekly in our school garden. Students learn to investigate and ask inquisitive questions, which in turn lead them to reflect upon their place in and responsibility for the world. All first through fifth grade students receive weekly music instruction, with 4th and 5th graders getting instrumental music two times per week. We work collaboratively with Bay Area Community Resources to provide students the opportunity to learn social skills and self-awareness strategies in a small group setting. Oxford has a long tradition of infusing the arts and a concern for humanity and the environment into all aspects of the curriculum.

Parents are an important and very active part of our community. They volunteer in the classroom, chaperone field trips, help in the library, supervise students in the yard, and help in the cafeteria. They also help teachers by communicating important event information to our families. Our extremely involved PTA runs our Harvest Fair, Spell-a-thon, Winter Fair and Multicultural Potluck, and more. Parents also contribute as members of our School Governance Council (SGC) who are instrumental in writing our school site plan, as well as being active members of the English Language Advisory Council (ELAC). In addition to these committees, we have a very active PTA that raises funds every year to support various Oxford programs.

We have different support services offered at our school. We have our RTI Team support team that provides intervention services to our students throughout the school day, including counseling support, reading and math intervention. Families have the opportunity to enroll their students in the After-School Program for extended school day where students receive homework support , targeted intervention, and can enroll in an assortment of enrichment classes that are hosted by our After-School Program through LEARNS. Some of our students receive academic tutoring by Oxford staff and/or by UC Berkeley tutors.