Our School
Student Body
Oxford is a small diverse school located on University Avenue, right next to the
BUSD offices. Approximately 270 students attend Oxford, kindergarten through 5th grade. We have twelve regular classrooms, two classes at each grade level. The small size of the school, combined with the excellent staff and the strong support from families, makes it a wonderful community.
Oxford Today!
The current Oxford campus was entirely renovated prior to the school's move in 2020. The campus encompasses two buildings, one that houses the main office, support staff offices, kindergarten classrooms and grades 3rd – 5th. The other building houses 1st and 2nd grade and a Special Education classroom. There is a remodeled cafeteria/gymnasium, a new library, renovated classrooms, and a brand new playground, including a kindergarten play area.
History
The original Oxford first opened its doors at the 1130 Oxford Street campus in 1910 and served children from kindergarten through 6th grade. According to a 1918 History of the Berkeley Schools, just eight years after opening, Oxford was already known for its "skillful management and good corps of teachers" that "made the school a credit to the department." The school’s first principal, Mrs. Partridge, described the school body as friendly and familial. She noted that the school was dedicated to "making the children independent intellectually, vigorous physically, and strong morally,” and that "since we are a happy set of people, teachers and children together, we feel that in a measure we are attaining our ideals."
Over the next 110 years, Oxford continued offering an environment of dedicated teachers and a happy student body at the same 1130 Oxford Street campus. In August 2020, however, the school relocated to its current location at 1222 University after a geological survey raised concerns of the safety of the school in the event of an earthquake. The new campus, which was previously home to Berkeley High's “West Campus" and later REALM Charter School, was beautifully updated for today’s Oxford students to start its next chapter.
Oxford’s Approach
Goals
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Safe learning environment
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Strong community
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Commitment to learning
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Embracing all of our students
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Preparing students for their future
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Meet each child’s needs
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Kids first
Philosophy
Oxford’s staff is committed to making sure that all of our students achieve and flourish. We believe that all children can and will learn if given the encouragement and instruction to do so. Since we are a small school, we can focus on the needs of every individual child in terms of academic, social, emotional, and physical needs. We take very seriously the task of meeting all students where they are, teaching them to think critically, and engaging their minds and hearts in an effort to make them love to learn.
The curriculum at Oxford is aligned with the State grade level standards for student achievement. The teachers use a variety of approaches in order to make the standards accessible to all children, including individual projects, whole class instruction, small group work and cross-age tutoring. Our teachers work collaboratively with our families to support our children in their learning. We encourage participation from parents, UC tutors and community volunteers.
A top priority for all Oxford staff is expressing and teaching a deep appreciation of and tolerance for diversity and differences. We encourage positive self-image and high self-esteem for all our students, we insist on respect for self and others, and promote concern for our environment here and elsewhere. These qualities that we strive to nurture in our children are apparent in the ways students care for each other on the playground, in the classroom and all around the school.
Teaching at Oxford
Oxford prides itself on the excellent teaching that goes on in all of its classrooms. The teachers have weekly staff meetings to cross-fertilize and share ideas about what is working and what needs improvement.
Many parents volunteer in their child’s classroom to provide education around specific skills such as bread-baking, paper making, music mornings, pottery, science experiments and other hands-on activities.
Parental Involvement Makes a Difference
When researchers have compared the characteristics of high performing schools with low performing schools, one of the main differences they have found is the amount of parental involvement. High performing schools have plans for involving parents and welcome parents as partners. Schools that find ways to work well with families have improved teacher morale, higher ratings of teachers by parents, more support from families and a better reputation in the community.
This has been shown to be true in communities with both adequate and inadequate resources. Research has also shown that students develop better attitudes toward their school and school work when their parents are involved in the school’s instructional program. This effect has been found to carry over to benefit all students, not just those whose parents volunteer in the classroom.
