Clarendon Alternative Elementary School

I have twins there at Second Community. They’ve been going since Kindergarten. We have all been very happy there — the school is a special place, a warm, caring place where I have always felt safe leaving my children. They have been in separate classes each year by their own choice, and I have been happy with every single one of the 8 teachers that they have had, so far. The twins have been happy, inspired to learn and enjoyed pretty much everything about Clarendon Second Community and I’ve always felt we won the jackpot when the oft-​flawed, SFUSD Lottery gave us our first choice in 2010. Many of the parents are closely linked with their children and the school and that makes for a fabulous community feeling that translates into a high quality education.

Let me give you another prospective about this school. Very smart kids go to Clarendon and then their siblings get priority. So there are very few new spots for newcomers each year. There are some good teachers and some not very good teachers here. We have had both. The school gets good test scores because of the type of families and kids that go here, not because of the teachers and/​or administration. If your kid is super smart, he/​she will ride on the coattails of this school. Tons of kids go to Kumon and all that kind of thing. Good test scores do not always translate into a good school — Be careful not to buy into this myth. And if your child has any issues, any learning problems, any disability, etc., do not even think of sending them here. You will be sorry. They do nothing to help kids that need help at this school. They say they do but in truth they don’t. They expect the kids who all go here to be way above grade level. The ones who are not there, will just get left in the dust. There is little caring or empathy for them by the administration to help. If you have an above average child, they will do fine here. If you don’t, look elsewhere and save yourself and your child a headache.

I attended this elementary school and I had a great experience. Its a really great environment in which to learn, and I couldn’t have had more fulfilling elementary school years. I have great memories of this place, and every one of my teachers has affected me in some way. I think I got a great education here and I would send my (future) children here.

I attended this school from 1988 – 1993. If the current administration is anything like the one in place when I attended and whose philosophies involved singling children out and verbal abuse by staff, then my 1 star review will stand. To this day I cringe when I recall accidentally walking through the wrong door in the caffeteria when exiting with an icecream bar in my hand, and this fat, racist black lady, Barbara, who made it real clear throught the duration of my attendance at the school that she specifically despised me and my white friends for being «white» as she put it, grabbed my ice cream out of my hand and threw it in the garbage. She would also constantly make up lies for an excuse to get me in trouble. In addition, looking back, I had the worst bleeding liberal teachers who whould treat me different than the rest simply because they knew my parent’s political views and I was often excluded from certain activities with other students for unknown reasons. I would never send my children to this school as it’s history chills my blood just to think about it. These stories are just the tip of the ice berg, I have archives of others as well as at least 5 friends I still keep in contact with who would agree.

Best public school in San Francisco. The teachers are fabulous. The enrichment programs are amazing — Japanese, Italian, art, music, PE, library, computer. The parents and administration are dedicated. The children just thrive. My son loves school and my daughter can’t wait until she’s old enough to attend.
Clarendon’s hard to get into, but worth the fight or wait to do so. We waited until the middle to first grade until there was a spot for our son and then moved him from private school to Clarendon. We’re really happy we made the move. This school is a dream come true.

Okay, this one’s coming from a full-​fledged parent with actual chillinz who’ve attended this wonderful school. I really can’t say enough about the entire experience, from the administration (Beth at the front desk is a true gift) to ALL of the teachers. Dang, all elementary schools should be this nice, from the lighting to the location, from the fellow parents to the library.
If you’re shopping around for an alternative elementary school for your soon-​to-​be kindergarten-​er, you really can’t do much better than this place. My testament to this school is that they’re providing these children with an education that would rival virtually ANY of the private schools in the Bay Area, from the Japanese language classes to the first class art teacher, from the Taiko drumming to the oh-​so-​basic concept of teaching our kids the old-​fashioned way: homework, but not overwhelmingly so. Because definitely «more» can translate to «way too much».
For me, this was yet another reason why we decided to raise our kids in the city.