Meet St. Paul’s Episcopal School in Oakland

Located at Lake Merritt, St. Paul’s Episcopal School makes the city of Oakland their classroom with project-based learning. Read on to learn more about how their commitment to community engagement and equity frames academic and personal development.

This post is sponsored by St. Paul’s Episcopal School, serving K-8.

The first question parents might have upon hearing the name St. Paul’s Episcopal School is “What kind of religious education is involved?” So, let’s clarify. While Episcopalian tradition pairs strong academics with strong moral character, there is no religious education at St. Paul’s.

Leadership at the school tells {510} Families, “We value diversity and belonging and believe that an inclusive learning environment allows students to take academic risks to deepen their understanding. St. Paul’s invests in families to ensure that our student body mirrors East Bay demographics.”

How Oakland can you be?

With the aim of guiding students to become generous and active community members and citizens, St. Paul’s connects with Oakland’s best assets. Lake Merritt is their lab – they study birds, ecology, biology, climate, and more. The sports teams play at Lakeside Park. PE classes swim at the Oakland YMCA.  Community partnerships include Lake Merritt Institute, Rotary Nature Center Friends, City of Oakland, Fairyland, and many more.

The St. Paul’s Approach to Learning

Strong academics begin with a strong sense of belonging. At St. Paul’s every student is known and taught to know themselves. Students learn better and more deeply when they feel secure and seen as individuals. This approach to education integrates academic and social-emotional curriculum to ensure that students have the tools to know themselves as learners and the skills to connect with others by celebrating both similarities and differences. A truly diverse and inclusive learning community allows students to take academic risks, learn from mistakes in a supported environment, and develop curiosity that increases their knowledge and capacity for critical thinking.

St. Paul’s is a different kind of independent school. Through a Flexible Tuition program, St. Paul’s provides twice as much tuition assistance to twice as many families as a typical independent school. Leadership at St. Paul’s believes that all families benefit from the community that Flexible Tuition creates. Because they distribute tuition assistance so widely, to approximately half of their families, racial and socioeconomic diversity are separated. This lays the groundwork for true equity in the classroom and in the community.

What alumni say

Last spring, St. Paul’s asked their Class of 2019, about to graduate high school, to reflect on how St. Paul’s had influenced the person they had become. The most frequent responses were:

• Taught me to be myself
• Strong academics
• Openness
• Community
• Strong values

You’re invited!

Come see St. Paul’s for yourself! Schedule a tour and learn more about how St. Paul’s can support your child’s learning and growth.

St. Paul’s Episcopal School is located at 116 Montecito Avenue, Oakland, CA