Oakland Technical Senior High School

Oakland Tech started their Centennial Celebration last year with a kick off of a presentation in its library on October 18, 2014.
There were many people on hand, listening to the speeches and appreciating the history of the school. I could not stay long to enjoy the company of my fellow alumni. However, I purchased a copy of the Centennial Book, 1915 to 2015. The book is filled with memories and photos of many alumni who received their education at this fine school.
When I did the initial review of Oakland Tech (hereafter Tech), I gave the school a 3 star rating due to something tragic happening on the campus during the school year ¹⁹⁷²⁄₁₉₇₃. A student named Rita King (Class of 1974) was killed during a fight in the cafeteria. This incident had an impact on the school the following school year; to wit, that the majority of the white and Asian students transferred out and enrolled in other high schools (Skyline or Oakland); thus, resulting in a school that was no longer diverse or lacking diversity.
Tech had to set up their campus at another location (the old Merritt College on Grove Street) in the late 70’s due to the building not being up to earthquake standards. It wasn’t until the fall of 1982 that the newly renovated Tech had its dedication. It was great for the students to be back on a campus in classrooms where there were no big puddles of water on the pavement and no leaky roofs when it was raining hard.
I cannot say for sure when Tech was gradually becoming diverse again, but I would like to believe it was during the ¹⁹⁸⁰⁄₁₉₈₁ school year. Even though the seniors of that year were known as the Apollo Class, still there needed to be more improvement in race relations. I know the graduating seniors of the Class of ’81 had good intentions in having speeches delivered in different languages — English, Spanish and Chinese. The sing-​song mimicking and clowning displayed by some of the adults sitting near me proved that the process of improved race relations still had a way to go.
Several months ago, I was on the campus for a meeting on a Saturday. I did not meet up with two gentlemen and a committee for all these upcoming events. I liked what I saw in the trophy cases, the Tech memorabilias and pink breast cancer items in the glass cases by the library. The rating was upped to four stars.
I had the intention of doing an update after another kick off celebration in front of the school on November 1, 2014, but I had other things occurring and the holiday season was a busy one.
The Centennial Celebration Talent Show held two days ago in the school auditorium for the cost of $ 10 was more than enough to give my alma mater five stars for outstanding performances by the alumni, teachers and current students in singing, dancing, drama and oral speeches. Kudos to the principal, PTSA and all who were involved in organizing this event. All hail to Technical I sing.
Finally, I can still say it loud, I’m from Tech and I’m proud.

Class of ’87 The Best High School in the East Bay!!! We will be celebrating Oakland Tech’s Centennial soon! Gear up and get involved.

The school is very nice and vintage.
the first day there during summer school I got lost inside.
I like the hallways, they’re like little alleys and the windows are very nice. i thought they were going to open all the way up.
I went here for the 2010 summer school so i did not really experience the whole thing.
The cafeteria is very interesting. don’t know why but yea.
during summer school I missed my regular school Skyline High School!
Tech is an okay school but not for the whole year for me.

Class of 2001 Lets go Bulldogs
It gets 5 stars cause they let me graduate… hahahaha

This school is awesome! Im currently a senior here… lower classmen rob each other in the boys locker room… thats the only con here… other than that… you’re all good!

Say what you want about urban schooling, the rumors are probably true. But realize that in the last graduating class, out of all the other OUSD schools, Tech had the most impressive one! 2 future Harvard students, 1 Columbia, 1 Brown, 1 Johns Hopkins, 7 Berkeley, and a crapload of Other UCs. Show me another Oakland school that can do that, and I’ll show you next year’s class.
But in all seriousness, these students didn’t succeed just because of the school, no one does. They all sought out opportunities, great programs, and great teachers to do so. Teach your student to do the same, and they’ll achieve their goals, even in the most unexpected places.
Now on a practical note, the school has been recently renovated and awarded a 6-​year WASC accreditation.

I was is Paidiea too with Mrs. Wolf and Ms. Joe. All my advance classes were harder than my college classes. However, my science, and match class were terrible. I had to play catchup in college with those two courses. It’s still better than a lot of schools in Oakland and i hated the race wars that went on. If all the classes were like the Paidiea program, Tech would be the best school in California.

Compared to all the other public high schools in Oakland, I thought Tech was one of the best. The question is, however, did it prepare me for college well enough? I don’t really think so.
I took all the right classes and even took honors classes with the Paideia program. I was in the tennis and the soccer team. I participated in clubs. However, when college began, I felt that the education I received was not up to par with my fellow classmates in college. I felt like the educational foundation that Tech structured within me was not strong enough. When I started attending college, I basically had to reconstruct that foundation. Then again, what can you really get out of a public high school situated in an urban area? Not too much.
Here are «other» info about Tech that you should be aware of:
–Open campus (means you can buy food outside of school during lunch)
–Not all teachers are «qualified» to teach (meaning some of them are not knowlegeable in their field)
–Office personnels are RACIST towards everyone except for black people (Don’t get me wrong here, I have many black friends)
–There are many fast food restaurants close by
–The bus stop is right in front of the school (although it gets really crowded)
Advice for parents/​guardian:
Keep track of your child’s classes. Have them take college classes. Put them into educational programs outside of school. Give them tutors. Have them read textbooks from the library. Take them to college with you (if you are in college) Do what you can to prepare them for college. You cannot rely on Tech.

who would have thought my old run down alma mater would be buds with the ritzy hood, rockridge?