How does a school community react when a student threatens extreme violence? This inspiring guest post describes how we can build better communities amidst the fear and struggles. This a true account of a real threat that took place at an Oakland school. Names and school identifiers have been changed or removed to protect the safety…
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Connecting with Kyla: Back to School, This is What We Do
Dear OUSD Community, The beauty of our District is that our students represent all backgrounds and ethnicities. We stand ready to welcome them all tomorrow on the first day of school. For me, the “Back to School’ season is one of hope and renewal. Our resilient staff rises to the occasion every year. Floors are…
Make Oakland Schools Great Again; When 8 Latinx Males Completed the A-G Requirements and 29 Black Males Did
There is a set of folks who view every failure of OUSD as a result of charters. To them, charters drain money from the district and drain kids. The argument seems to go that things were great in Oakland before charters. Kids we thriving, the district was financially stable and families of all stripes were…
Stop Letting Someone Dictate what Will Happen to Your Kids; Parents Need to Take Control
A guest post from Rachel Willis, parent leader and Oakland native on the struggle for better schools and the role parents need to play. “It’s more than waking up and living, you gotta take control of your life, and take control for your kid’s sake. There is a jail cell being built for your kid…
Stop Asking and Answering Other People’s Questions; Thinking Differently about Choosing a “Good” School
A guest post from Courtney E. Martin Many of us are busy and anxious. We are social animals: We listen for the culturally normative thing to do among our friends and, most often, follow it. This is what Aristotle, and later a lot of Internet evangelists, called the “wisdom of the crowd” and what Hannah…