At College Prep we value the unique time that is high school. As our students grow, they develop their abilities, test ideas, question assumptions, grapple with ethical issues, make long-lasting friends, and cultivate their character. Our blend of high academic standards, personal responsibility, and kindness creates a unique learning community.
Guided by exceptional and caring teachers, mentors, and coaches, our students engage with each other and the increasingly interconnected world. College Prep is a home for ideas, discovery, and engagement-intellectual pursuits that our students treasure. Our academic offerings are buoyed by our warm culture and inspiring location adjacent to the city, and nestled in a verdant valley campus.
Guided by exceptional and caring teachers, mentors, and coaches, our students engage with each other and the increasingly interconnected world. College Prep is a home for ideas, discovery, and engagement-intellectual pursuits that our students treasure. Our academic offerings are buoyed by our warm culture and inspiring location adjacent to the city, and nestled in a verdant valley campus.
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It's a pleasure to introduce you to College Prep, a community of learners who engage deeply with big ideas and the craft of scholarship. Tucked into a glen in the Rockridge neighborhood of Oakland, our informal and welcoming campus provides an educational home for a lively and talented community of students and teachers.
Mary Harley Jenks and Ruth Willis founded The College Preparatory School in 1960 with 50 students and families who gambled on a place that offered a different high school experience, one that insisted on the value of deep learning. The School thrived with the blend of high standards and care that became its signature.
The College Prep history program engages students through an integrated approach that emphasizes interconnections between different regions of the world. A three-year required sequence of courses-Asian Worlds, The Atlantic World, and The U.S. and the World-is designed to deepen students' understanding of history, strengthen their sophistication of thinking, and build the skills of writing, group work, public speaking, and independent research.
At College Prep we believe in the foundational importance of scholarship, the value of dialogue, and the need for academically curious young people to belong to a kind, creative, diverse, and joyful community. We challenge our students to engage deeply in learning, appreciate one another, and grow into adults who are intellectually adventurous, ethically sure-footed, and generous of heart and spirit.
As part of College Prep's Whistleblower and No Retaliation Policy, the anonymous reporting methods listed below are available for any member of our community who wishes to disclose genuine concerns of any suspected violation of laws, rules, or regulations that govern the School without feeling fear of retribution.
Reviews (6)
Sienna G.
Oct 26, 2021
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Do not send your child to this school. While the academics are good, white privilege and racism among both administration and students runs rampant. Blatant skirting of rules for students from rich white families while if a POC is even implicated or accused of a similar infraction, the reprimand is swift and hard. Diversity is of no actual value to the administration other than to make their numbers look better in comparison to private schools in the area.
Mary F.
Jul 10, 2019
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Administratively one of the worst. When my child was there, the head mistress, DeVane, was a superficial bureaucrat. The advisor, Knudsen, was insensitive and frankly, a little stupid. She shouldn't be an advisor to anyone.
However, there was some amazing teachers there but by and large, this was and probably still is a suburban school that does not have the wisdom nor depth to teach the top students.
I hope this school has improved. Yes, academically it is very good but academically good is a natural occurrence when you only select students from the top of each "feeder"
However, there was some amazing teachers there but by and large, this was and probably still is a suburban school that does not have the wisdom nor depth to teach the top students.
I hope this school has improved. Yes, academically it is very good but academically good is a natural occurrence when you only select students from the top of each "feeder"
BeFree Y.
Jan 19, 2015
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OVERRATED.
Private high schools are not subject to be ranked nor state regulations.
Tuition fees is $37,500 per student each year.
The school advertised and misleading parents that students can apply for financial aid.
School application fee+Financial aid application fee & Test fee.
To apply, the total application fees is approx.$200-$400
If your 4.0 GPA child is not accepted by this school, they will not explain nor provide any reason why.
Private high schools are not subject to be ranked nor state regulations.
Tuition fees is $37,500 per student each year.
The school advertised and misleading parents that students can apply for financial aid.
School application fee+Financial aid application fee & Test fee.
To apply, the total application fees is approx.$200-$400
If your 4.0 GPA child is not accepted by this school, they will not explain nor provide any reason why.
Jay Cumming
Jan 04, 2015
Report
CollegePrep offers exactly what we were seeking in a school. We are a scholarly interfaith family with a strong commitment to social justice and public service. We sought teachers who would stimulate our son's intellectual and moral growth, and smart motivated students representing a broad range of cultures and viewpoints. The faculty at CollegePrep -- many of whom have Ph.D.s -- are top scholars in their respective fields, and they are committed to teaching youths, both inside and outside the classroom. The school community is small, friendly, and diverse. CollegePrep does not try to be all things
Jon F.
Dec 01, 2009
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CPS is the pre-eminent high school in northern California and competes with Harvard Westlake as the top secondary school on the west coast. At last check, something like 3/4 of graduating seniors were National Merit semifinalists, finalists, or winners.
Historically strong programs include English (world class), forensics (world class), foreign languages, arts, history, and math. Historically under-resourced programs include advanced sciences.
Secluded from the freeway in a gully, the campus looks like an idyllic, architecturally balanced ski village, a fantasy of rolling floral slopes and cascading
Historically strong programs include English (world class), forensics (world class), foreign languages, arts, history, and math. Historically under-resourced programs include advanced sciences.
Secluded from the freeway in a gully, the campus looks like an idyllic, architecturally balanced ski village, a fantasy of rolling floral slopes and cascading
Laurence W.
Dec 19, 2007
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