Another busy week with school tours, and ACOE and OUSD board meetings, the Measure G1 commission, the AAMA symposium, and Build Day at Hoover, all that and much more this week and beyond with links and info below, please read, share, and get involved, and check our our State of Black Education in Oakland events with the NAACP and another looking at Segregation in West Oakland, and look for our celebration of Black educators event, as well as upcoming interviews with elders of Black activism.
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This Week
4/10 9:30 am East Bay Innovation Academy Middle School – Spring 2018 Tour
4/10 6:30pm ACOE Board Meeting
4/11 4:00pm OUSD Board of Education
4/10 6:00pm Measure G1 – Districtwide Teacher Retention and Middle School Improvement Act Oversight Commission
4/12-4/15 OUSD Office of Equity 2018 African American Male Achievement Spring Symposium
4/14 Build-Day-Oakland
Further Out
4/17 4pm – 6pm Yemen: From Global to Local to Household
4/16 5:30pm – 8:00pm Meeting of the Community Advisory Committee for Special Education (CAC)
4/17 6:30pm – 8:30pm TBS Talks: Talking With Children About Race
4/18 5:00pm – 8:00pm Meeting of the LCAP Parent and Student Advisory Committee
4/18 6pm – 8pm 4.0 Schools Oakland Education Happy Hour (Tix on Eventbrite!)
4/28 10:00am – 2:00pm Young Men’s Conference
5/10 4:00 PM – 6:30 PM – Author Talk with Richard Rothstein (the Color of Law), electeds, activists, and community- Segregation and the Responsibility of the State
5/12 10am – 1pm – The Chinese Exclusion Act & U.S. Immigration Policy
Opportunities / Funding for Educators and Youth
Mills-Oakland Promise Scholarships
SMASH Academy Accepting Applications
How you can help
Help ICS survive the OUSD budget cuts
Ms. Zissis, from Sankofa Elementary, needs iPads for her speech students
Wondering how to support students and staff through the OUSD #budget cuts?
Help out ICS, Sankofa, or other youth being affected by budget cuts
This Week
4/10 9:30 am East Bay Innovation Academy Middle School – Spring 2018 Tour
4/10 6:30pm ACOE Board Meeting, 313 West Winton Ave., Hayward, CA 94544
4/10 6:00pm Measure G1 – Districtwide Teacher Retention and Middle School Improvement Act Oversight Commission, KDOL TV Studio, B-237, Met West High School Entrance, 314 East 10th Street, Oakland, CA 94606-2291
4/11 4:00pm Board of Education, The Great Room, LaEscuelita Education Center, 1050 2nd Avenue, Oakland, CA 94606-2291
4/11 4:00pm – 10:00pm Board of Education Regular Meeting. Location: The Great Room at La Escuelita, 1050 2nd Avenue, Oakland, CA 94606
4/12-4/15 OUSD Office of Equity 2018 African American Male Achievement Spring Symposium The Oakland Unified School District’s Office of Equity and the National Equity Project invite you to experience our ENGAGE, ENCOURAGE, EMPOWER approach to realizing My Brother’s Keeper’s vision in a citywide system of schools.
This three-day professional development experience will sell out. Get your tickets early to make sure you are a part of our classroom observations, Office of Equity staff-led seminars, student interactions, and more.
Ticket includes admission to:
- Symposium Professional Development Workshops
- Manhood Development Program Classroom Tours
- African American Male Achievement’s Man-Up! Youth conference
4/14 Build-Day-Oakland – Young people age 5 to 14 and their parents are invited to enjoy a day of outdoor fun at Hoover Elementary School. The free event will take place on April 14, 2018.
The UC Berkeley chapter of Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW), headquartered in Denver will host Build Day-Oakland. The free event includes lunch for the youth participant.
“This is an opportunity for kids to get away from the digital world for a day and discover the beauty of community gardening,” said Brittany Bennett, Executive Director. “It’s also a great time for kids to connect with their parents or grandparents by doing hands-on activities they both enjoy.”
Supervised activities will include:
- Planting seeds
- Watering plants
- Examining and comparing different seeds with a magnifying glass
- Gardening safety
- Garden scavenger hunt
- Refurbishing chicken coops
- Blending fruit smoothies
Local and state ESW chapters host similar events with students and young adults nationwide each year to introduce youths to sustainable living through the Build Day programs. Build Day is a new initiative created by Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW) that creates local sustainable change by bringing together local technical expertise and community power. Regular citizens, community leaders, and engineers will work together to design, educate, and build a sustainable solution to a locally pressing issue such as stable food production, clean and equal water access, and urban rehabilitation.
To join the event, register here for information about the Build Day-Oakland, contact Egoamaka Egbe at (310)-720-7564 and/or [email protected].
Further Out
4/16 5:30pm – 8:00pm Meeting of the Community Advisory Committee for Special Education (CAC) – Participants will:
- learn about community resources available to students with disabilities;
- understand what is coming up in the LCAP process for Special Education students, families, staff, and community.
Childcare, refreshments, and Spanish interpretation will be provided. For additional meeting requests, please contact Ray Bermudez at [email protected].
*LCAP is our “Local Control and Accountabilty Plan.”
4/17 4pm – 6pm Yemen: From Global to Local to Household – In partnership with the UC Berkeley Office of Resources for International and Area Studies (ORIAS) and OUSD APISA Initiative, we invite you to learn more about our Yemeni students and their country, from a variety of perspectives.
We hope to promote better understanding of the parts of Yemeni students’ lives that they may not bring into school with them, but which are important to be aware of.
● UC Berkeley Grad Wadie Algaheim will overview the historical and current situation in Yemen and how it connects to migration.
● OIHS teacher Madenh Hassan, together with Yemeni OUSD students , will share the history of Oakland’s long-established Yemeni community and the dynamics of students lives that may be invisible to educators.
● Q&A for participants to engage & dialogue.
4/17 6:30pm – 8:30pm TBS Talks: Talking With Children About Race – The Berkeley School welcomes child psychologist and Wright Institute professor Dr. Allison Briscoe Smith to dialogue with educators and parenting adults about cultural accountability and talking to children about race. Guests will learn what children can developmentally understand when it comes to race and have the opportunity to bring their questions and challenges. Parenting adults and educators will leave with a deeper understanding of how to build an anti-racist culture versus just a non-racist culture in our families and in our classrooms.
4/18 5:00pm – 8:00pm Meeting of the LCAP Parent and Student Advisory Committee – Participants will: Learn about OUSD’s strategies to improve outcomes for identified student groups (African Americans, Students with Disabilities, English Learners, Homeless) in specific areas Understand overlaps in the various group experiences and needs Review key elements of 2017-18 Annual Update. Childcare, Spanish interpretation, and a light meal will be provided. For additional meeting requests, please contact Cintya Molina at [email protected] Phone: 510-491-6069
4/18 6pm – 8pm 4.0 Schools Oakland Education Happy Hour (Tix on Eventbrite!) Do you or someone you know have an idea for how to improve education? Join 4.0 Schools to learn about two opportunities to help you develop and launch your idea for how we can improve education – the Essentials Fellowship and the Tiny Fellowship. Grab a drink and snacks on us and chat with the 4.0 Schools alumni fellows about their experiences launching their organizations in the Bay Area. Whether you’re curious about education entrepreneurship or have been working on a specific problem in education for a while, we’d love to meet you and hear your idea for the future of education. Cheers!
4/24 The Past, Present, and Future of Activism for Black Families in Oakland; A Conversation with the NAACP– The Oakland NAACP has been a critical ally for Black families. We are hosting an intergenerational conversation focused on the setting a historical frame for Educational Activism in Oakland. Collectively the community will discuss issues, solutions, and key narratives for catalyzing progress within our schools, children, educators, and the community. Details are coming but you can register here
4/28 10:00am – 2:00pm Young Men’s Conference – The purpose of the Building Beloved Community Through The Young Men’s Conference is to provide young black males with the tools to realize personal and professional growth when faced with life challenges, and provide them with a safe space to have identity affirming experiences that are not readily addressed in school curriculum.
Attendees will be able to attend 2 of the 4 workshops offered below to learn more about:
(1) The Man Book: Understanding Yourself
(2) Taking Off the Mask
(3) STEM Training for Athletic Students
(4) Media, Mass Incarceration, and Black Men
Location: Claremont Middle School, 5750 College Avenue, Oakland, CA 94618
5/10 4:00 PM – 6:30 PM – Author Talk with Richard Rothstein (the Color of Law), electeds, activists, and community- Segregation and the Responsibility of the State– NY Times bestselling author, Richard Rothstein, will discuss his recent book, The Color of Law, and the role of the state in creating and maintaining segregation, to the detriment of African Americans and society as a whole. This panel will situate the author’s work in West Oakland, a community that was created/disadvantaged by redlining, “urban redevelopment,” nearby industrial zoning, and other government actions. The panel will pull together activists, electeds, and community members, to reflect on how we got here and the role of government and private actors in remedying it.
5/12 10am – 1pm – The Chinese Exclusion Act & U.S. Immigration Policy The Chinese Exclusion Act Film / Dialogue / Workshop
This May, during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, APISA and the Sanctuary Schools Taskforce along with Chinatown community organizations and the Center for Asian American Media will host a screening of the new PBS documentary, The Chinese Exclusion Act, a groundbreaking documentation of largely forgotten history of the anti-Chinese movement across the Western United States from the mid-1850s to World War II.
APISA will lead a community discussion afterward with Professor Greg Mark whose family fought anti-Chinese laws in Oakland Chinatown in the 1930s, and OUSD teachers will lead a Curriculum Workshop sharing classroom activities our district is using to engage students this year, which will be launched nationally this year. Please join us for this unique opportunity to better understand our country’s history of immigration policy within today’s political context.
For more information about the OUSD Sanctuary Schools “Dream, Resist & Educate” Event Series: https://www.ousd.org/Page/17294
For more information on the Asian Pacific Islander Student Achievement Initiative: www.ousd.org/apisa
This event is generously supported by War Taxes Redirected by the People’s Life Fund and the SF Foundation Rapid Response Fund, and co-sponsored by the Chinese American Citizens Alliance, OUSD Office of Equity, OUSD Sanctuary Schools Taskforce, Oakland Asian Cultural Center, Center for Asian American Media, and OUSD’s History Department & Teachers. Location: The Oakland Asian Cultural Center | 388 9th St, Oakland, CA
Opportunities / Funding for Educators and Youth
Free Prom Dresses! Do you know an Oakland student in need of a prom dress? In partnership with the Oakland Ed Fund, Lesley West – of Dressed by West – is giving away brand-new dresses to any high school junior or senior who needs one! Students simply sign up for a time slot on Sunday, Mar. 18, browse the Dressed by West collection at Rakuten Performance Center (1011 Broadway), then walk out with the perfect dress!
Mills-Oakland Promise Scholarships-Mills College is committed to providing a diverse, inclusive environment dedicated to helping Oakland girls and young women succeed in college. To make a transformative Mills education accessible and affordable, we are offering generous scholarships and financial aid to qualified students.
Mills will provide a minimum financial aid scholarship of $7,000 to every Oakland Public high school student (district or charter) admitted in fall 2018 with a minimum high school GPA of 3.2. Higher scholarship amounts may be offered to admitted students with higher GPAs.
In addition to these awards, beginning fall 2018 we are excited to debut 10 new Mills-Oakland Promise Scholarships, including the African American Female Excellence Scholarship, the Latina Excellence Scholarship, and eight additional Mills-Oakland Promise scholarships.
Our district-wide scholarship is now live! Apply for the East Bay College Fund Opportunity Scholarship today and share with all Oakland high school seniors. Let’s get to college!
SMASH Academy Accepting Applications– Since 2004, SMASH has helped bring a rigorous STEM education to hundreds of students from low income, underrepresented communities. A few SMASH facts: Impact: SMASH is a 3 year STEM acceleration summer residential and academic year program that works: check out their alumni outcomes here. Free of Cost: SMASH is a free program — equivalent to a $24,000 scholarship.
Nationwide: SMASH is continuing to expand to serve more students across the nation. In addition to existing sites at Berkeley, Stanford, UCLA, Davis, and Morehouse College, SMASH will be opening two new sites in 2018: Wayne State University and the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. The SMASH 2018 application deadline is March 1, 2018. Students can apply here.
Registration Is Required For These Trainings. Please Use The Links Below:
How to Read the IEP April 9, 2018
Learn how to read and understand an Individual Education Program (IEP). We will go over the sections on California’s IEP Form so you know what to make sure is complete and where to focus.
Behavior & Mental Health June 11, 2018
When behavior interferes with learning: connecting the dots between disability and mental health needs at school
LOCATION:
Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF)
Ed Roberts Campus
3075 Adeline Street (between Tremont and Woolsey Streets at the Ashby BART Station)
Berkeley, CA 94703
DATES/TIMES:
2nd Monday Evenings (6-8:30 pm)
March 12
May 14
4th Tuesday Mornings from (10am-12:30 pm)
March 27
April 24
May 22
June 26
NEW: Special Education Topic Series
2nd Monday evenings (6-8:30 pm)
April 9, How to Read An IEP
June 11, Behavioral Support and Mental Health
How you can help
Help ICS survive the OUSD budget cuts Oakland Unified is facing another enormous budget shortfall. District level budget cuts are being shouldered by teachers and families, with each school being asked to cut on average $120 per student. What this means for many schools is an IMMEDIATE LOSS of after-school programs, support staff, access to technology, field trips, and many of the enrichment activities that make their schooling experience enjoyable and equitable. At schools in Oakland’s wealthier neighborhoods, these cuts will be offset by parent donations and annual fundraisers that bring in an average of $300,000 per year. At flatland schools, populated predominantly by students of color, these cuts will be felt by teachers and children, and they will be felt deeply. Please click here to help.
Ms. Zissis, from Sankofa Elementary, needs iPads for her speech students. An iPad would be a great supplemental therapy tool. Learn more about similar projects from Oakland teachers that still need funding. GO will match your contribution!
Wondering how to support students and staff through the OUSD #budget cuts? Here are 5 ways — from donating school supplies to staying engaged!