Ocean Charter School

Hate to say it, but this isn’t a very good school. Given the fact that they have moved their campuses twice in the last two years says a lot. This school is definitely in a lot of trouble. They are constantly scraping pennies together to keep the school going. I give the school two stars because there are some people that work there that are truly passionate about what they do and love doing it. But with that being said, this school is severely misguided by its administration and most of it’s staff.
From having office workers write report cards for fired teachers to openly lying in IEPs to receive additional government funding, this school is (lack of a better word) corrupt. I will give them credit though, they certainly go out of their way to find ways to make every penny. I know for a while they were reducing the pay of the staff to keep the school going too. They laid off a few people (one of which was pregnant) because they couldn’t afford the health insurance.
But aside from the horribly misplaced ethics of this school, I will say that if you enjoy taking off from work to pick your child up because they caught something from another child who doesn’t have their vaccinations, this is definitely the school for you. They don’t require kids coming into the school to receive vaccinations at all. So it’s like sending your kid into a cess pool of disease.

My children do not attend school there. Some of my son’s classmates attend their after school care program, and I have toured both the regular school and received information about the after school care when we were looking to find an after school program for him. It was nice that their after school program was independent of their school. The staff was friendly and the facility for the elementary campus is nice (great outdoor play equipment), but it’s a shame that they’re divided between two campuses. I like the Waldorf curriculum, and it’s great that there is an opportunity to be in a Waldorf-​based program that is essentially a free public charter. As far as the vaccine issue, that’s horrible and makes me call into question the judgment of the majority of parents at the school.

I do not have a child who goes to this school. I am reviewing as a parent who attended the prospective parent tour this year for other parents who are thinking about taking a tour. (I suspect my reviewed will either be pulled or get grayed, but it is what it is.)
What I liked: I liked the play emphasized learning. I also liked the practical life lesson aspect of the classrooms. The school is located in a old apartment building and each of the classrooms is essential an apartment with its walls removed. They each have full kitchens and the kids participate in preparing and cooking their daily snacks. K level kids cutting with real knives under supervision, etc. There is also a garden area. The playground area is mulched as opposed to asphalt or that rubberized stuff so popular now, which was nice. There is a high level of parental involvement, which is important.
What I did not like: There is almost no diversity. The classrooms I saw (three K classes and a 3^rd grade class, where overwhelmingly white. Like 90% or more. The TK/​K vaccination rate is well under 50%, which means no herd immunity. There is very much a hippie/​crunch, «natural» materials, attachment culture here.
If you or your child has special mobility needs, I would call ahead and inquire about the school’s accessibility. I assume that much have a way to get up to the second floor, where the upper level classes and library are located, but it was not obvious. Perhaps a school official can comment on my review and provide more information on the school’s accessibility.
Most of what I did not like was a personality thing. Although I am fairly «crunchy» in my parenting (home births, cloth diapers, etc), I did not feel comfortable with the culture of this school. It was too extreme for my tastes. The vaccination information (which can be pulled from California’s database tracking such things), tipped me over the edge. For the right sort of family, it could be a great fit. But if you are not a hippy-​whole foods-​wood toys-​no media type and you believe in evidence based science, I would skip this tour and move on to the next school on your list.

Our Son graduated last year from Ocean Charter School, a K-​8^th grade school. I will report he is now doing very well in High School, in my opinion partly due to the work he did at Ocean Charter.
OCS is a Waldorf inspired school, and I highly recommend that if you decide to attend this school you embrace its philosophy.
For example, the school strives for no screens on campus and at home. I.E. no phones, TV and computers during these important brain development years. While there are students that don’t follow this, especially in middle school years. The school works with the parents and students to limit or remove this influence in their lives. Funny enough a lot of Google executives and employees are now sending their students to Waldorf schools.
The best way to describe the schools approach is a arts based, creative learning approach. An example is instead of using stock off the shelve text books, the students create their own textbooks. It is project orientated. Singing and drumming a part of the program, and a lot of outside play and activities.
Class sizes are small, from 15 to 25 students, depending on the grade and demand for entrance to that grade.
The teachers great each and every student, and says goodbye to each and every student individually every day, and includes eye contact.
The school has several events through the year with Waldorf schools from Santa Barbara to San Diego.
The administration, staff and teachers are all great and dedicated to the teachings, families and students.
Although, like many charters, they do not have the permanent home, they are currently looking to purchase one, and have the money from a state bond. Also, like other charters, the staff is a bit on the sparse side of an extremely large public school district. But that is overcome with the local control and decision making that Charters have to offer families and students.
The program has the same teacher follow the students from K through 5^th grade, and then in most cases the student gets a new middle school teacher from 6^th through 8^th grade.
The 8^th grade class finishes their time at OCS by going on a overnight trip. My son’s year was to Catalina on a private oceanography ship. The year before was a river rafting trip down the Merced River.
The bond is very good between the students by the time they graduate. Some students love the small school size, while others like a larger school atmosphere. This is small time nurturing school.

Feel so blessed!
A Waldorf inspired eduction in a public school setting– amazing!
Our son is so happy– the staff is incredible, the school has a homey, natural, beautiful environment, and the children are so sweet and wholesome there. If you get in via lottery, you definitely have gotten the golden ticket

We are in our 2^nd year at Ocean Charter, and couldn’t be happier, and truly blessed in many ways. This school has a Waldorf curriculum and is geared to the students life of art in every aspect. It has really helped my child gain confidence and also learn team work.
She has learned some great qualities in life that I think a lot of other schools are missing like knitting, and cleaning and just learning that these are important as you grow too.
The parent involvement is wonderful and its shows creativity even in that area that helps us parents grow and learn as well…
We couldn’t ask for a better school. Its definitely worth checking out.

If you’re looking for a Waldorf inspired school this is not it. They say one thing and do another. Do yourself a favor and either opt for the real thing or keep looking.
Some of the upper grades teachers are the worst I’ve ever come across and the administration is even worse. Extremely contradictory in my view as a parent of a student at both Waldorf and OCS. They have no idea what each celebration is about whether it’s Michaelmas or Winter Spiral… there’s minimal knowledge of these important events. It’s as though they’re just checking off boxes but not actually participating in the event itself.

We are in our second year at Ocean Charter. After 3 years of attempting the lottery, we were blessed to gain acceptance when they increased their class size from 20 to 28 in 2011. As a parent I hoped Ocean Charter would be a fit for my boys, but you never know until you are there how your children will fare. After two years now my boys are incredibly happy and I am continuously moved to tears by what they study, their homework and the level of care and commitment of their two teachers. This school is magical and everyone seems to feel very blessed to be there. There are numerous volunteers opportunities there and the parents are enormously important in making OCS work. After several rocky years in ‘normal’ LAUSD schools, we finally feel we have found our educational ‘home’.

My kids are first year in kinder and never got sick. Used to get sick a lot in preschool years. Also, love the teachers, curriculum and whole child approach. It is very international and fun for all of us.

I have 3 children at OCS (all vaccinated btw) and they love this school. Just like any place it has it’s issues that are mostly addressed quickly and with passion.
If you want a place that will barely watch your kids, much less educate them, put them in just any old public school. If you are looking for a place that has an extremely active and intelligent curriculum then OCS is perfect for you.
The one guy who is freaked about vaccines, frankly, has a profile picture that makes me wonder if he has kids. Plus he lives in SF?
Again it’s not for everybody. You know what’s best for your family … If you actually have one.

I have my kids in school here. A fantastic place for kids to experience learning and team work. They are sooooo happy at this school. The parent involvement is awesome, the teachers are great. This is a really good place for kids