About Us

Prescott School has been in West Oakland for more than 150 years. We are a public elementary school with a full-day Pre-K and TK for students under 5. At Prescott, we teach students to be active, social, and creative life-long learners. We do this by supporting the whole-child by working with students and their families. 

Prescott also has a rich cultural history. Oakland's first African-American teacher, Ida Louise Jackson, taught at Prescott starting in 1925! 

Every morning, we recite the following from "Our Deepest Fear": 

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves,
"Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?"

Actually, who am I not to be?
I am a child of God.
My playing small does not serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around me.

We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.