Original Research by School Decision on Urban Montessori Charter District
The Urban Montessori Charter District is no longer operating. The district's single school, Urban Montessori Charter, permanently closed on June 30, 2025, after the Alameda County Board of Education declined to renew its charter in December 2024. The county board cited high absenteeism rates and math and reading scores below state averages as reasons for the non-renewal.
For families who were enrolled or considering enrollment, the closure ends what had been Oakland's only tuition-free public Montessori school serving kindergarten through eighth grade. The school had been small, with an enrollment in the low hundreds. The student population was diverse: roughly a third Hispanic, a third white, and a sixth Black, with smaller shares of Asian students and those identifying as multiracial.
The Montessori model itself has not disappeared from Oakland's public options. In May 2025, the Oakland Unified School District board approved a memorandum of understanding with Urban Montessori to launch a Montessori pilot program at Brookfield Elementary for the 2025-2026 school year. At Brookfield, families can choose between a traditional or Montessori track in grades TK-5. This allows families who valued the hands-on, self-directed Montessori approach to access it through the district rather than as a charter school, though at a new campus and under different governance.
Among Alameda County's districts, the closed charter had reported a chronic absenteeism rate in the below-midpoint range and per-pupil spending in the lower-middle range relative to other county districts. State assessment proficiency data and graduation rates were not available, which reflects the charter's grade band of K-8 and does not suggest weak performance; elementary and middle grades are not tested at the state level in California.
Families seeking a Montessori education in Oakland should explore the new Brookfield program with OUSD directly to understand the scope of the Montessori curriculum, classroom structure, and enrollment process for the coming school year.
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