I rarely leave reviews, but my experience at Encinal has been frustrating enough to deserve one. Honestly, this school has been a huge letdown. Most of the teachers come across as rude or just completely uninterested in actually helping students. Instead of encouraging learning, they seem more focused on enforcing pointless rules and making school feel like a punishment. Communication is poor, support is nearly nonexistent, and it feels like no one really listens to students or takes their concerns seriously. It's hard to feel motivated in an environment where you're constantly talked down to or ignored. If you're looking for a positive, respectful, or even just functional school experience -- I'd recommend looking elsewhere. read more

I just recently went to my 30th high school reunion. What can I say about ENCINAL HIGH? Well....not much. I went back for a school tour, and the school needs a paint job. But I did get a diploma there. I did meet alot of odd characters there. And for those who remember '' The Logs'' .....I sat there and never smoked a cigarette. For one day, with my buddies.....I was cool. Steve D. .....CLASS OF 77 read more

Last month Encinal High School had its 19th Annual Extravaganza of Bands on May 17. There were at least 12 marching bands from other schools participating and competing for trophies. The parade route for this event is shorter than what it used to be, and I will never forget the first two times Encinal held this event (1996 and 1997). Back then, the parade route went all the way out to Webster Street and then return to the school via Central Avenue. I like the shorter route...keep it close to the school. I always enjoy this event as it is a reminder that the school year is about to end. Thank you Encinal, Mr. Armen Phelps and the parent volunteers (their children are members in the band) for all the support and assistance offered each year for this wonderful event. I know I will be back next year for this event - can't miss it because it will be their 20th Annual and that one is special. read more

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I will miss you.. Graduate class of 06! Here's my story: It was a hard decision to come to this school. I wanted a fresh start and go to St. Joesph, meet up with people from Elementary School and go to Alameda High, or just stay at the end of the Island. I was living on Bay Farm, but went to school at Chipman Middle School so when it was time to go to High School I was supposed to be at Alameda High like my mother and uncles and aunt. However, after trying to be friend people from the good old days, I learned that they are FAKE, pretend to be your friend and just use you. It didn't happen to me, but when i was with people in the group and some would walk off, the people left would start taking hella crap about them. I thought to myself why would I want friends like those and realized how real people are at EHS. Of course you can say, there are always other people you can hang with and what not. True, but Alameda High had too much ASIAN people. The LOVED the diversity at EHS. Not just race but in terms of backgrounds. You get to learn about how life really is and not be blinded by the luxury of suburbia. EHS had more opportunity than AHS in terms of AP classes and activities to participate in. AHS you have to apply to take AP classes Setting: Big campus, almost each building 1 story except the main one. Theres is everything here, football field, baseball field, track, etc, unlike AHS where they have to go a couple blocks to practices. Parking for students. The only down fall is only fast food around, you have to go to the AHS side of alameda to get decent food. (KAI's- chicken Katsu to go! and barely make it on time for 5th period to each your food there) Here is a list of activities at EHS Clubs: Key Club- like any other community service club Environmental Club - co found National Honors Society- need to have good grades Spanish club French club Geek club- no lie, rubics cube unite! Sports: Tennis- at first they didn't let me join when I transferred from St Joes, but the year after I dominated and was #1 seat. This is why you should always give people a chance. Now my mom took over both boys and girls team and she does her best to encourage people to play. Soccer- Had 2 different coaches, but had fun. Goalie! Took team to North Coats Sectionals Senior year!! Both girls and boys team made it! Swimming ( I heard they just cut it) Cross Country- 1st SGT was the coach at the time. 6am runs, not fun but at least not in the hot sun Badminton- 1st SGT was coach as well. Let me tell you, NOT EASY when a tennis player. Football- played in the band during the games Baseball/softball Golf Basketball Cheer Volleyball (men and women)- Womens team beat Alameda high all 4 years I was there and made it to NSC Rugby Activities: Musicals/Drama- LOVED LOVED LOVED LES MIS and it was interesting being a cat Marching Band- funnest band ever! we got rhythm and style, unlike no other band. We were FAMILY JROTC- 1st SGT was like a daddy to everyone. This was another family. Miss morning PT at 6am and BOOT CAMP DECA- some business thing Auto Shop Leadership AP/Honors: Honors Eng- thank GOD for getting me out of reg english Honors Pre-cal- fell asleep all the time in class AP EURO/US- ROD who can ever forget 80/20 AP English 3/4- Too many books to read and for the summer AP CAL- I hate to say it but thanks Jorrez for being to tough on us, though I didn't get it at the time, College CAL was so much easier because of you, highest AP scores AP BIO- memorizing is hard AP CHEM- first time taught by MR. Williams....Yeah.....thats all I had to say, the girls know what im talking about AP Environmental Science- SCRAPS AP Spanish- i guess you can say, the absolute highest AP scores on campus (5/5), yet again like 1 person takes it a year and usually a native speaking AP physics- I just know I heard...HARD! OK this is all I can remember since 4 years after graduation, but yeah loved it and miss it. read more

When I first started going to Encinal, I wanted to switch to Alameda High because most of my friends from middle school were there. However I made some new friends and decided to stay. The school is not very big and there arn't a lot of people, but the student body extremely diverse. There's a wide selection of AP courses. Some of them include: AP English, AP Environmental science, AP French, and AP Chemistry. They have a College Career center that educates you about college and what classes/tests you should be taking for a certain school. They often have speakers from colleges throughout the first half of the year and you can get a pass to get out of class. This center also helps you with your college and financial aid applications. The college career center happens to be right next to the Media Center (Library), which is very nice and well organized. New computers with flat screen monitors, and the myriad of plants gives this place a fresh look which is a plus for those who are studying. The Librarian, Mrs. Slattery is really helpful and smart! Ask her anything and she'll probably know it. Another helpful center is TRI-High. It's a small health center near the student parking lot. Students are able to get free counseling, physicals, etc. The workers there are really nice and helpful. NOTE: Tri-High is accessible to students outside of Encinal (from what i believe) but the college career center is not. The college career center and Tri-High are two things that Alameda High doesn't have =] Good variety of sports such as Football, Soccer, Cross Country, Track, Tennis, Badminton, Baseball, etc. Those who are new to Encinal usually notice the large amount of school spirit among students and faculty. Homecoming is one of the biggest weeks for students. Students of each class volunteer and get together on their free time to create skits and design a portion of a wall with respect to their homecoming theme and compete against the other classes. This gives students a chance to do something productive during lunch or after school. I know they have homecoming skits in other schools but it's a big thing at Encinal and it makes school somewhat exciting. The lunch that this school offers is not that good. It's a long walk to Webster street, but it's possible to make it back on time for class if you were to go. -Jia hao Li Class of 2008 read more

Encinal High School - Middle Schools & High Schools Near Me - Alameda, California

I went here once for summer school and the class and teacher was good, the subject interesting. The technology is fairly up to date. Location is ok. More recently I've been gong here for the school plays/musicals. They have a great drama department that deserves recognition. They always do a fabulous job on the costumes and stage set-up. Makes you feel like you're watching something more professional than a high school musical. Parking is fairly easy because they open up the back gate so you can park on campus, close to the auditorium. read more

Encinal High SUCKS. I've tried staying impersonal about this writeup, but I just can't help it. The faculty is dim, the students are grade F meat in terms of behavior, and the weather is a merciless egg beater against your skin. I went there around 2001-2003, I think. I remember the graduating class trashed the school with crickets, gooey juice and toilet paper rolls as their senior prank. If you want to send your kid here, go ahead. They gain my C grade approval, but nothing higher. read more

Totally underrated school. Lots of graduates go on to colleges, including many of the UC's. Open enrollment, so kids from Oakland can escape poor Oakland public schools and come here. Strong social studies department. Good counselors. Strong sports program. Very multicultural student body. Located a bit in the middle of nowhere, so it's tough for kids at lunch time to get anything to eat off campus. read more

I Love Encinal high school because I like school and my friends and school have program for students read more

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Graduated in 92 and back then everything was great . Played softball/ basketball. Because of the Facebook, I still keep in contact with some of my high school friends. read more

Encinal High has always been the "bad" school compared to Alameda High and it's not. Encinal has a very diverse student body and a great faculty that really cares about the students and the school. The school offers a good amount of AP Classes, sports, and clubs. The school has a great band and drama program. There's always something for someone. The Media Center in the center of the school is really nice with a good computer room. Right next door is a College Career Center where students can do research on colleges, majors, careers and hear college representatives speak. It's also a great place for students to find information about financial aid and scholarships. There's also something called Tri High Health Clinic at the very edge of the campus. It offers free mental and physical health services and health education to students. One thing I love about Encinal was that it's right next to the water. The track has a really nice view of the Peninsula. It might get cold during the winter but that's not a problem a jacket can't fix. The school is located next to the old naval station so there's nothing to do outside the campus and so most students stay on campus for lunch. Webster St is a couple of blocks away and if you have a car, you can drive to one of the restaurants that line the street. There are a few places that offer delivery to Encinal during lunch time. There's also a donut shop a few blocks away on Atlantic Ave. read more

it's very diverse there ARE alot of weirdo's (not creative weirdo's, but weird WEIRD strange people) went there for 2 years, as far as the learning at the new school experience went, it was bad read more

Only thing I can say about this EHS is they only have Mrs Julie Brown as a History teacher. She is very nice to me and I love going to her class. She only teach there for year of 1996. read more

I graduated in the class of 67, yup, I'm as old as dirt. While reading some of these reviews I found some of them to be a bit bitter. One thing I really noticed was the differnce in the younger former students use of language. This of course is due to the times we live in. When I was a fresh 18 year old graduate the world was much different, the only thing I was looking forward to, not really, was going into the army and then to Viet Nam. So many of us only had that choice before us. Some of my class never came home, and if they did, it was to be burried. I was lucky, I was hit in my right shoulder, which was fixed, sort of, latter on, two years, a buddy of mien tripped a bounching betty, he went home to be burried and I went home to get my hip rebuilt. Both shoulder and hip still play hell with me to this day. I still cry when I think of the young men I went to school with. Why the sad tell, maybe you missed the real education at Encinal. Did you make friends, both students and teachers. Did you excell in any class, did you learn that all people are different. When you were in school did you hear of a friend dying in a far off country, many of us did. I do not wish to appear as doom and gloom, it is important that you understand that high school isn't just a place you study history, math, scince and the arts. Its a microcasim of the world you live in. So learn everything you can. Its your responsibility to do the work, teachers can only do so much, besides, they are no long allowed to beat your back side with a big wooden paddle. Last statement from an old guy, I know, boring. After getting out of the military I went to college, I managed to get all the way through graduate school and became a School Psychologist. I moved to Israel and worked there for several years and managed to travel through England, Scottland, France, Germany, Holland and Italy. After which I went to seveal countries in Africa. The best part is I had met students at Encinal who had come from these countries. I had always kept a notebook of my conversations with these Encinal students and have it to this day. If I had not gone to Encinal High School I may never have got the bug to see other countries. The bug came directly from the amazing people I met there. I have not forgotten the young men I served with in the Army, or those who went into the other branches of the military. I hope the are not forgotten by a school we loved. read more

I was one of the top students in my class: as many AP's as possible, a few extracurricular [I wasn't really a sports kind of person], and I was a student rep. You can only get the best out of Encinal if you put your best in it. The AP classes here are challenging, but enjoyable. The regular classes, not so much. My advice would be to immerse yourself in the top classes. Sports are a major part of school life, it really IS a great way to build bonds with others. The Drama department is fantastic, the band is award winning, and so is our football team. Most of the teachers are engaging - there will always be boring ones - but none of them are horrible. One of the senior "pranks" was to decorate the main hall in blue and white. It was endearing - not horrible, like one of the other reviews mentioned. During lunch, there isn't really anything off campus for you unless you have a car. Many students bring their own lunch and stay on campus. read more