Stonebrae Elementary School

I gotta say, I used to get pretty offended when near strangers look at me with incredulity and say, «You’re sending your kids to *Hayward* public schools??» After six years of it, I’m done explaining and defending. The answer is just, «Yep.» I expect these are the same busybody idiots who ask single people why they aren’t married, and childless couples when they’re going to procreate. Pfft, not worth my breath.
Our elder has been at Stonebrae for 6 years, our younger for three. We’ve been a part of the Mandarin dual immersion program since its inception, and have watched it grow from 30ish kids and one amazing teacher to hundreds of kids and at least 10 teachers. I’m told my kids have very good accents, but my Mandarin vocabulary is limited to Thank you, you’re welcome, one, two, three, red, and Hi. And according to my children, I botch those up pretty well.
Parent involvement at Stonebrae is very high. PTA is active and does a lot of great events and fundraisers. They have a stellar team of officers and a lot of support from the families.
The school has an enviable cultural diversity. One year, my daughter’s class made flags from a country of their heritage. There were only 2 or 3 duplicates in the class of 32.
Communication with the teachers is very good. Some years have been better than others, but I guess that’s to be expected. I’ve always felt like I’ve been greeted with an ear and an open mind when I’ve brought up a concern.
For the most part, the facilities are very nice. It was built only 7 years ago, and things are still in good shape. However, acoustics in the multi-​purpose room are atrocious. Any event you go to, it’s nearly impossible to understand the speaker, but all the chit chat in the back of the room reverberates like mad.
The after school program, while good, has a severe shortcoming. It’s inexpensive, but limited in number of students. Each year there is a mad rush to sign up for the following year’s YEP (Youth Enrichment Program). And every year there are many working families who don’t make the cut and are left to fend for themselves working out transportation and care for those hours between the end of school and the end of work.
Overall, though, I’ve been quite happy with our time at Stonebrae Elementary.
They’re even bringing the music program back next year!

Great basketball program. Friendly staff. Nice facility!
This review is just for the «multipurpose auditorium» facility and the Hayward Area Recreation District basketball class for toddlers.
The school is brand new and looks great. The indoor basketball court is just as new and amazing. My daughter started the basketball classes at about 20 months, and the «coaches» are wonderful with the kids. They teach extreme basics, such as some terms like the baseline, and doing things like jump stops. I wasn’t sure if my daughter was quite old enough for a class like this, but she actually usually does okay. She likes to go off and do her own thing sometimes, but she does like to copy a lot of the stretching and jump stops etc. The ages in the class range from about 18 months to 3 years.
The toddler basketball class is perfect for introducing young children to the sport. My daughter is now enrolled in her second session!

Newest school in the area, great academic program, good area!

I can’t believe the school tell parent «it is ONLY two half days that a student is missing. They are not missing much.» Wow, unbelievable… Delay from district, and delay from school is fine… The San Lorenzo Unified will not say that. Missing a day of school should be a big thing.

Not a great school. Most teachers are apathetic and my nephew has stuff stolen out of his lunch almost everyday. School couldn’t care less.
Added 9÷3÷2012 — yes, this facilities are new and this should be a great school, it’s in a very nice neighborhood but it’s still part of the Hayward school district. About half of the families in this school zone send their kids to private school.