Touring Richmond's top public schools, Part II

The sun was shining on a beautiful spring day. Standing in the middle of the Richmond College Prep (RCP) garden, Tomasa Espinoza shared the story of why her family chose to send their children to this school.

“Hello, my name is Tomasa Espinoza, and I’m the mother of three children,” she started to say in Spanish to the group of visitors, who were gathered in a circle as RCP students played and gardened around them.

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Tomasa shared how she went looking for a better school for her children than the low-performing neighborhood school. She found RCP, and her three children quickly reclassified from the English Language Learner program.

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“Their math and reading skills are at very good levels, and it is thanks to the school and the work that we do as parents and teachers that the students have achieved success,” she tells the group. Her youngest daughter is still at RCP, while her older sister is at Making Waves Academy for high school. The eldest will attend UC Berkeley in the fall.

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“That is why I think it’s important for parents to have the right to choose a school that we see is fit for them,” Tomasa said.

RCP parent Tomasa shares her story.

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The group Tomasa spoke to was organized by 5C family leaders like herself. Contra Costa County has many thriving charter schools, and this spring, 5C family leaders, alumni and educators are opening up their schools for public tours. Elected officials, nonprofit and philanthropic leaders, as well as parents and educators are invited to take part in a behind-the-scenes look at some of Contra Costa County’s top public schools.

On this beautiful day, the group toured RCP, a charter school serving grades TK-8 located in the Coronado/Santa Fe neighborhood, and Summit Tamalpais, a charter school that serves grades 7-12 in the Hilltop District.

At RCP, the group was met by students with gift bags that included items the students made in art class like bookmarks and key chains. As the tour moved around the school, stopping to observe classrooms and learning more about the historic site (the building housed the first preschool in the country), parents shared their stories.

Parent leaders and staff of Richmond College Prep inside the school library.

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"It was the best decision of my life.” -Mirella, 5C parent leader on choosing to send her daughter to RCP

In the library, Mirella Suriano, a parent leader at RCP, shared why she moved her daughter from a good school in San Francisco to RCP. Mirella’s daughter was tired of the commute across the bridge every day, but Mirella was unsure of how safe Richmond schools could be. Though it was a high-performing school, Mirella said her daughter never felt comfortable there because she never felt she fit in or belonged there.

Mirella spent three years applying to RCP and her daughter was accepted in the 3rd grade. Her daughter is now thriving and loves being a part of the RCP community. “It was the best decision of my life,” Mirella said.

After lunch, the tour group hopped on a bus to Summit Tamalpais’ gleaming campus. Jackie Wilson, the high school’s executive director, spoke about the school’s missions and “what makes Summit a school unlike any other.”

“Self-directed learning, project based learning, mentoring, all these different components,” Wilson said. “Expeditions – you get a break from your regular core classes. So many characteristics about our model are just things you do not see in everyday schools.”

Anthony Durham is a founding parent of Summit Tamalpais. Though his daughter, Selina, is no longer a student at Summit, he still made time to be on the tour and share his story. He’s wearing a blue “Summit Tamalpais Timberwolves” shirt. (Listen to Anthony share his story on the CharterNation podcast.)

(Above) The tour group visits an art classroom at Summit Tamalpais.

(Below) Summit Tamalpais parent Anthony Durham.

Anthony grew up attending Richmond public schools. His mother taught and retired in West Contra Costa Unified. When it came time to choose a new school for Selina in 7th grade, Anthony said he planned to send her to the nearby district school until his mom told him to check out this charter school, Summit.

“I was like, ‘nah,’ till she started to tell me more about Summit and all the good stuff they have here,’ Anthony said. “That intrigued me, because I knew if I had chosen (the district school) there was not going to be those same conversations.”

Anthony remembers the first thing a counselor asked Selina when she was a new student: Where do you want to go to college? “She hadn’t thought about it much at that point, and I hadn’t either,” Anthony said. “But that was the conversation she was having in the 7th grade, and I knew that wouldn’t be happening if I had chosen that other school.”

Selina, now a college freshman, is also on the tour. She said she loved how at Summit she was encouraged to collaborate with her classmates.

“There is a feedback loop so you can work on what you can do better, and with your peers to better understand,” Selina said. “Even projects you work on by yourself, you are always asking peers and teachers what to do.“

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Diana Rodgriguez is a new parent at Summit – her son entered the 7th grade there this year. Diana shared that her son did not feel safe at his traditional school, and she didn’t think he was receiving enough of an education there. She said her son is happy now and receiving proper support from teachers and administrators.

“Here, we are a smaller community,” Diana said to the group in Spanish. “It makes us feel like a family: united, safer. Here at Tam, I found the academic support my son needed.”

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