Oak Elementary School

770 Berry Ave.

Los Altos, CA 94024

    Oak School is one of six elementary schools in the Los Altos School District. It is located in the southeast end of the school district bordering the Mountain View School District to the north, the Cupertino School District to the south and Stevens Creek to the east. Oak is one of the smallest elementary schools in the district.

    In addition to Los Altos residents, approximately three students per grade level attend Oak School on interdistrict transfers. A large majority of these students are from nearby Mountain View School District neighborhoods.

    Oak School was selected as a California Distinguished School in 1989, with the citation praising the high caliber of classroom instruction and teacher preparation.

Students' Needs:

    One of Oak's goals is to meet the unique learning and social needs of each student. Students are regrouped within classrooms to assure that classroom instruction is at the appropriate level. Teachers meet frequently with grade level colleagues, specialists and the school principal to plan program adaptations necessary to meet the needs of individual students. A school psychologist is also available for testing, for conferencing with parents and staff members, and for helping classroom teachers identify effective instructional practices for students with special needs. A Child Study Team helps to determine the best program for children with special needs.

    Special education services are available to all eligible students in the district. Services include an all-day special class, small group instruction from learning disability specialists, and speech and language instruction. Students with severe handicaps are served within the Los Altos School District, in other school districts or in non-public schools. 

    Oak School houses a preschool communication handicapped class for children throughout the school district. This class is for preschool-age children who have special education learning plans to improve their communication and language skills.

    The Resource Specialist is specially credentialed and works with students who have learning disabilities and are performing below their ability levels. These students are served through pull-outs during the regular school day (students leave the regular classroom individually or in small groups to receive separate instruction in a different classroom). They are also served through work with the Resource Specialist in their regular classrooms. The resource teacher and regular classroom teachers also meet regularly to discuss and plan program and instructional modifications to enhance the learning of students with special needs in the resource and regular education programs.

    A counselor provided through an agreement between the district and the Community Health Awareness Council works on site two days each week with Oak students. The counselor provides the extra support many of the students need to continue their growth as emotionally and socially healthy young people.

    Services for children with limited English proficiency are available at Oak. Students receive instruction in the English Language Learner program from an instructor one-on-one and in small groups. Instruction emphasizes English language acquisition including listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students remain in the regular classroom for instruction in other academic areas. ELL support continues until the student can function successfully in the regular program. 

Instruction for children identified as Gifted and Talented are provided both by an afterschool program of "minicourses" for GATE students and a course in advanced mathematics for 6th graders.

Oak's Scores on California Standardized Tests

Scores range from 1-99. A score of 99 indicates that the school scored higher than 99 percent of the other public schools in California. All scores are from "McCormack's Guides '99."

Learning Environment:

    Behavior standards have been adopted for each classroom, and a school-wide discipline plan (including computer-use standards has been established by the staff with School Site Council and PTA approval. At the beginning of each year students and parents are notified of the standards and consequences. Consequences are both positive and negative. One possible consequence is a suspension from school for students who have repeatedly violated the "respect" part of the school standards. These are instances in which a student has been disrespectful or has hurt someone. Parents are always notified whenever a violation of the respect standards has occurred. Suspensions are temporary exclusions from school usually lasting one or two days. 

    All Oak teachers are assigned to grade levels within the scope of their teaching credentials. In addition to regular reaching and playground supervision duties, all Oak teachers work on school-level committees and several are members of district-level committees. One Oak teacher serves as a district mentor teacher. Five served as instructors in the district "Teachers Teaching Teacher" staff development program.

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