The grounds of Ocean View Elementary School are open to the public during non-school operating…read morehours. Hours are posted on the fence for those who want a quick answer and no in-person interaction. My first visit, when I was trying to figure out if the grounds were open to the public, no one was around so I thought to read the signage on the fence and sure enough that was the case. In my living in Albany, I came to think of it as an extension of Ocean View Park during its open to everyone hours. If a visitor to the school, signage also clearly communicated to check in at the front desk. Grounds were well-maintained and typically, though not always, open during the posted hours.

Bullies there are always teasing and bullying at recess. The principal does not solve the bullying…read moreand the bullying still continues and even the recess duty teachers stand up for the bully.

I have two children attending St John's- one in 2nd grade and one in 1st grade- we have been here…read moresince they were both in preschool (4 years already!) and our family is really happy with the school! Will note first that the preschool is a real gem- great teachers, high-quality play-based program, with appropriate prep for school years, lovely bright classrooms, flexible hours, and amazing value. The best thing about St John's is that my kids wake up excited to go to school every day. They love their teachers (currently Mrs Leamy and Mrs Okada) and classmates, and are learning so much- (e.g. this weekend (labor day weekend), my 6 year old gave me a lesson on the labor movement including telling me who was president when the holiday was made and why people sometimes go on strike- I was pretty impressed!). The school just completed a grant-funded capital project to get a new playground- which my kids love! They also love art, P.E. and getting to say a reading at mass on their own (starting in Kindergarten!). The entire St John the Baptist community has been really warm and welcoming to our family. I love that there is a big focus on building community, on service and being kind to others. The Principal, Mrs T., teachers and staff are experienced and skilled, and so invested - often volunteering after hours and on the weekend. Many of them attended the school as students! After going through other schools with my older son, it is refreshing to have children attend a school with this much longevity in leadership and staff. I have found everyone very accessible and responsive. We also love that the school is K-8- and seeing the 8th graders celebrate graduation together after being here (some since preschool) is pretty amazing. Worth noting- the after-care program is wonderful for working parents- Mrs Cooke is amazing- very caring to the kids, and the program is flexible with drop-in options, affordable, and available 7am to 6pm! Highly recommend this school to other families!

The school recently paid Yelp to remove my original review. It was lengthy, but I'll keep this one…read morea little shorter and to the point. Ready? Here we go . . . We were a family in this school for eight years. During that time we experienced the following: - bullying (gender based, physical, and verbal) toward our child by students that were served no consequences and whose parents were very obviously favored; the principal refused to meet about this matter - a teacher told our 11 year old daughter she used to be a beautiful girl as she yelled at her in front of the vice principal. The VP witnessed this, told our daughter it was wrong, but still victim blamed our child for the teacher's behavior and the teacher served no consequence - this same teacher had been harassing our child for months; she waited outside her stall inside the STUDENT bathroom while she used it and kept trying to talk to her, she continuously begged our daughter to talk to her and say hello, saying things like "we used to be friends. What happened?" (our child was scared of her because of this odd, immature behavior). We told our child she didn't have to speak to the teacher unless another adult was present and that she could say she didn't feel safe. When she expressed this to the teacher, the teacher yelled at our child saying, "I know that's what your parents said but I can talk to you when I want to." The administration did not assist in holding safe boundaries for our child - the same teacher hung up on us during a zoom meeting with our child and the principal and vice principal. It was super unprofessional and rude. She kept insisting our daughter had to speak to her to show respect, yet she hung up on two parents and her supervisors mid-call -The principal had ZERO caring or helpful response to this behavior by her employee. She didn't apologize for her, require her to give us an apology, or even acknowledge that her teacher was targeting our child in an unprofessional way that crossed lines and safety boundaries. - one of our children was coerced to write lies about his actions and intentions in a statement about an incident. When first asked about what happened, he told his truth, but the principal and vp were not satisfied. They kept him in the office without calling parents until he lied and wrote what they wanted - stating he felt he was a danger to himself. When we told them he felt forced to lie and provided them with his truthful written account, they did not acknowledge our email or address this part - our child's therapist and doctor both offered to speak with the principal and sent correspondence affirming our child's health, wellness and ability to be in school. Administration never responded to anyone - we were told our neuro-divergent child would receive support and care from middle school teachers; instead the same teacher who harassed our daughter publicly humiliated him in front of his class because he finished a test "too fast" and then refused to tell us the grade he received on the test. (She informed him 6 months later that he got an A) - multiple parents told us similar stories about the non-response of the principal; most disturbing was that we were not the only family who experienced the written statement coercion. I was appalled, but not surprised that our child was not the only student who was forced to write untruths to self-incriminate themselves - the principal played favorites with students and families when she ignored bullying; she told Spanish speaking parents they were confused about situations they witnessed involving a teacher because they couldn't speak English; she did not take accountability for the unprofessional and harmful actions of her teachers; she was harmful in her own behavior - our child and their classmates witnessed their third grade teacher drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes, and slur words with a half clothed man in her presence while they were on zoom class. The teacher remained on faculty, and the principal took no accountability. She only addressed the matter after parents approached the topic multiple times. The behavior was excused, and we could not talk about it again because she said the teacher was protected by HIPPA; the family that first brought it to the principal's attention was told they were confused because of their language barrier - we also had amazing teachers while at the school. Ms. Fehr (skilled and fantastic, but obvious to us she was not supported by admin), Mrs. Barber (BEST teacher!), Ms. Cordova (so loving!), Mr. Bauer (excellent teacher) - all of which left the school. Also Ms. Cooke, Ms. Bains and Coach Mike are wonderful people and were very kind to our children and family. Ms. Bains is an EXCELLENT teacher and person. -we found the principal to be fake and untrustworthy That wasn't short. Oh well. They might pay to delete it again. Maybe they just should have responded to our emails and concerns to begin with.

Amazing school, all my children attended. They have a new building and amazing teachers.read more

My daughter went to the school and she got bully. She going to fight that wasn't her fault. The…read moreteacher will fill her. I don't know the reason a teacher will pick on my door for no reason the school is stupid.

Only rating this school for the amazing turf pitch located adjacent to the school. Parking can be a…read morelittle tough but outside of that super modern fields and no need to bring a soccer chair because plenty of bleacher seating. Plus really liked the attached sign and keeping parents off the fields and sensitive referees constantly asking parents to move back. Personally was ok with it and super bonus very close walking public restrooms as no outhouses and clean...

Helms has been nice enough to let the San Pablo Cowboys use their school for league games. They…read morefacility is always clean and bathrooms well kept. The staff has always been cordial and accommodating, and refill toilet paper in the bathrooms when needed. I am very pleased with all the new improvements and modernization of the new school.

After leaving my son's other middle school this was so much better. There was this cool ass mother…read morefucker named Memphis Razack and made my sons week during the sick ass Washington DC field trip. Luxury hotel and cool sights as I saw with the different photos my son sent

I volunteered at King Middle School through the Be-A-Scientist program when I was a graduate…read morestudent (Ph.D.) in geophysics (volcanoes and planetary interiors) at the University of California, Berkeley. I participated in the program during autumn semester in 2015. As part of the program I was assigned a group of four 7th grade students to bring the scientific method to life through interactive and hands-on experiment design and execution. We, Be-A-Scientist volunteers, came in on a near weekly/bi-weekly basis to make progress in each student's project. The week's session was always in the theme of one of the steps of the scientific method. This way by the end of the semester the students had designed and performed their own scientific study/experiments according to the scientific method. Each session we went over each student's project discussing it as a small group so they could get feedback from others in the group and hone their communication skills. They also wrote up what they were doing, sometimes including drawing graphs/plots, and if it was a week dedicated to the 'experiment' step in the scientific method they performed experiment trials/experiments. I enjoyed that we were able to develop an experiment for each individual student and thoroughly enjoyed the experiments my students decided upon. One tested different substances on slices of bread to see which generated the most bacteria, one wiped different surfaces with Q-tips to see which yielded the most bacteria, one tested different potting mixtures to see which was best for growing plants, and one dried different fruits to see which one evaporated the most moisture. Some of the results from these projects, such as Q-tips wiped on the wall having less bacteria than Q-tips out of the container, were down right shocking. All of the students in my group were great, expressing mush enthusiasm for the task(s) at hand and each had their own distinct inquisitive style. I have only good memories of my time volunteering with these students and at King Middle School. If you are a visitor here, like I was, there is a main office where you need to sign-in when you arrive to the school and sign-out when you leave. This way the school can keep track of who you are, why you are here, when you are here, and what classroom(s)/teacher(s)'s classes you are visiting while you are here. We were allowed to use only the faculty/staff restrooms when were volunteering.