Located on eleven acres of the shoreline in Redwood Shores, Sandpiper School is isolated from the hustle and bustle of the city and focuses exclusively on learning. The diverse student body also enriches the school experience with an open-mindedness and a civic sense of culture.
Mount Carmel Church School offers education for children from pre-kindergarten through the eighth grade. It offers programs in art, music, technology and more.
Adelante Spanish Immersion School is a California Distinguished School teaching kindergarten through grade 6. The school combines Spanish-speaking and English-speaking students in the classroom to adapt to the rapidly changing bilingual world. In addition to learning another language, students can partake in each other's culture and acquire a more diverse academic experience. The two-way immersion instructional program is unique in the Redwood City School district.
Half the students are Spanish-speaking and half are English-speaking. Approximately 70 percent of students are of Latino background. By the time they graduate, students will demonstrate high proficiency in both languages.
The School has a non-profit: Unidos y Adelante, which plans social and fundraising events to bring the two communities together and strengthen ties. Every spring, the Adelanted School plans a Latino Kermesse, a nighttime celebration of food, dance, and music amongst the community.
It is one of four "Schools of Choice" in the Redwood City School District. A School of Choice does not base attendance on neighborhood boundaries like all the other schools do. All students must fill out a "Schools of Choice" application and a student registration form. All students within the district are eligible to apply.
Sequoia Union School District schools was founded in 1895 and serves 8,200 students through the district. The district schools located in Redwood City are: Adult School, Sequoia High School, Middle College (a collaboration with Cañada College), Redwood City High School, and Everest Public High School and Summit Prepatory High School, which operate independently of the district but lie within the boundaries.
In 2009-10, all of the district's comprehensive high schools made Newsweek's list of top high schools and ranked in the top tier of the state's similar-school rankings.
The District emphasizes the California High School Exit Exam and UC college requirements to students. They also provide a Teen Wellness Center, which provides physical exams, pregnancy prevention and reproductive health care, crisis management, and other services. The Center is staffed by physicians, nurse practitioners, a psychologist, an eligibility worker, a social worker and other health care professionals.
Located in the St. Matthias Parish School Building, children have access to large facilities but also fixtures like child-size bathrooms that cater to children. Complete with a playground to a bike path to athletic fields, the pre-school is equipped with diverse facilities to keep children entertained. This open physical space is matched by academics and an education of Christian values. The pre-school places children not just by age but by development level as well.
Established in 1994, Footsteps Child Care is a nonprofit organization that offers child care to children living in the greater Redwood City area. Footsteps Child Care has nine locations; this Main Street location at City Center Plaza offers supervision to children ages 3-5. Daily activities may include art, crafts, snack time, physical education, field trips and more. For enrollment or tuition information, visit its website or contact the center by phone during business hours.
North Star Academy is an elementary school that offers a "Differentiated Instruction" program, which avoids the repetitive education that can occur in traditional classrooms. A constantly changing curriculum ensures students won't tire of their classes and broadens their perspective and knowledge across subjects. The Enrichment Program allows students to participate in a range of activities from puppetry to stock market studies to multimedia presentation. All activities culminate in a project or exhibit demonstrated at a school-wide assembly.
Students must apply to attend North Star and are scored according to a rubric based on: math academic scores, language arts/reading academic scores, SAGES-2 Reasoning assessment scores, academic performance based on student report cards, and task commitment based on student report cards.
Students who acheive an above-expected score are eligible to attend if spots are available. If there are not enough spots, a lottery of eligible students is held.
At the Redwood International Montessori school, young children not only learn, but have the opportunity to mentor others and express themselves creatively through activities like song and dance. They are prepared for the world by learning languages and about cultures in other places around the globe.
Programs include music, Kindermusik Enrichment Program, Danceworks Enrichment, Around the World, ABCs of the Week, Celebrations, Share Day and Tools for Your Family.
John Gill Elementary is known for its award-winning multi-age program and performing arts focus. While most classrooms have traditional single-grade classrooms, students have the option to stay with the same teacher for three years. This allows the teacher and student to develop a strong sense of community, consistency, and accountability. The older students have the opportunity to be teachers for the younger ones. The program won the Golden Bell Award in 2006 and prestigious Kent Award in 2007-2008.
While most schools have cut their arts funding, John Gill makes it a point to incorporate the performing arts program into the curriculum. Some features include twice-weekly dance instruction, public performances, and music (instrumental and theory.) Every child will participate in at least one public dance performance each year.
The City of Redwood City Community Development - Planning and Housing department is responsible for public works relating to the construction and occupancy of government-supported housing. The office budgets and arranges for the construction of public residential buildings.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel is one of the oldest schools in the Peninsula. It is a Catholic Pre-School – 8 elementary school in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, serving the Redwood City community since 1885.
All of the teachers are fully credentialed and have been teaching for a combined average of 15 years; many hold advanced degrees. The faculty includes teacher aides in all primary grades, Physical Education, Music and Spanish instructors for all grades, school band and after school sports programs for grades 4 – 8, as well as both Resource and Enrichment teachers.
More than just an educational institution, Our Lady of Mount Carmel emphasizes community service and giving back to the community. A year-round service program is a large component of the education. In 1999, the Citizens Scholarship Foundation of America awarded the school a grant for recognition of community involvement. In the past couple of decades, the Sequoia Foundation—an organization that recognizes Redwood City students and adults for outstanding volunteer service to their community—has awarded 12 Mount Carmel graduates. Alumni are always involved in the school and 50-year reunions are held with regularity.