Oakland Unified School District is a public education school district that operates about 86 elementary schools (K-5), middle schools (6-8), and high schools (9-12) and 32 district-authorized charter schools in Oakland, California, United States serving 49,000 students.
Located in California's most diverse city, OUSD serves a diverse population of students. Nearly half of the students in district and charter schools speak a non-English language at home. For the school year 2013-2014, 30 percent of OUSD students are English language learners. OUSD also serves a large population of newcomer students. Seventy-three percent of students receive free or reduced-price meals.
OUSD was among the first school districts in the country to implement restorative justice practices to limit or eliminate suspensions. During the 2015 school year, 96.1 percent of students were not suspended.
Started in 2010, OUSD's African American Male Achievement Initiative enrolls more than 400 students. Students in the program have experienced success, including higher GPAs, higher graduation rates (up over 10 percent), and lower suspension rates (with a decrease of â…" for students enrolled in the program). In 2016, OUSD launched an African American Girls and Young Women Achievement Program to give students a place where they can find equitable support and new pathways to success.
In 2015 and 2016, OUSD forged partnerships with and secured grants from a number of technology companies, including Salesforce, Intel, Code.org, and Google, and set a goal to make computer science a graduation requirement for the freshman class that begins school in 2017.
History
The first school in Oakland opened in the 1850s and was located in a rented room in the back of a fandango at Second and Washington Streets. On July 12, 1853, the city held a parade to the first official school building. The schoolhouse was at the corner of Fifth and Clay and cost $1,000 to construct. The first school house had 16 students and was taught by a woman named Hannah Jayne. She was the only teacher in Oakland until 1855. Franklin Warner was hired soon after as Oakland's first principal. Frederick M. Campbell was hired as Oakland's first Superintendent. Reading, writing and arithmetic were stressed, as well as American history. Paper and books were scarce, so a lot of learning was done out loud.
In 1860, there were about 400 students in one-room schoolhouses taught by one teacher, and another school building at Fifth and Broadway taught older students. The first public high school opened in 1869 with 29 students. By the end of the 1870s, there was a public high school and nine public grade schools. In the 1880s, the first kindergarten and the first night school in Oakland opened.
A 1909 Chamber of Commerce guide to the city includes this description of Oakland public schools: "Oakland's chief pride is its public school system and the fact that her schools rank among the highest in the United States. No more modern school buildings can be found in any city in the United States than in Oakland. There are twenty-two public school buildings, and according to the figures of the City Assessor (which, upon municipal property are naturally low) the school land valuations amount to One Million, Ninety-three Thousand, Two Hundred Seventy-five Dollars … Connected with the High School is a completely equipped observatory, in which the study of astronomy is made effective and interesting with the aid of the most modern instruments."
A City of Oakland Chamber of Commerce brochure from 1915, which includes a photo of Oakland Technical High School, states: "The pride of Oakland is its schools. This, the Technical High School, with forges, machine shops, a great auditorium seating 1600 people, chemical laboratories and many other education features which prepare young men and women for an active and useful life, is one of the finest structures of its kind in the United States."
A 1915 Board of Education guide to Oakland schools included 46 schools, many of which are still open today. They include Allendale, Claremont, Cleveland, Dewey, Elmhurst, Emerson, Franklin, Frick, Fruitvale, Lincoln, Manzanita, McClymonds, Melrose, Peralta, Piedmont, Prescott, Sequoia, Santa Fe, Fremont High, Oakland High, and Oakland Tech. High school departments included English, History, Foreign Languages, Mathematics, Science, Commercial, Home Economics, Physical Training, Shop and Drawing.
Oakland's first teachers' union, the Oakland Federation of Teachers, was first organized on May 3, 1943 as the Alameda County Federation of Teachers, Local 771 of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) to "improve the educational facilities for the children of the nation and to improve the working conditions of the teachers in the public schools."
Oakland's first African American Superintendent was Dr. Marcus Foster, who was also the first black man to head a major U.S. school district. Born in Athens, GA, Dr. Foster arrived in Oakland in 1970, “already a celebrated and proven educatorâ€. Dr. Foster viewed the three Rs and critical thinking as the building blocks of education. He also emphasized the need for art programs, team sports, and school activities that reflected the life circumstances of the students. In the short time he was in Oakland, Dr. Foster created a climate that gave life to a number of firsts: the Arts Magnet School, Far West School, Street Academy, Montera Film Festival (now the National Educational Film Festival), and the Oakland Education Institute (now the Marcus Foster Education Institute). Dr. Foster was murdered by the Symbionese Liberation Army in November, 1973.
In 2003, OUSD Superintendent Dennis K. Chaconas was fired and Governor Gray Davis approved a $100 million emergency loan, the biggest school bailout in California history. Chaconas was replaced by a state-appointed administrator, Randolph E. Ward. Ward resigned in July 2006 after being appointed superintendent of the San Diego public school system. Kimberly Statham was named Ward's permanent replacement, but she resigned suddenly on September 17, 2007, ostensibly under pressure from state officials. OUSD Chief of Staff Vincent Matthews was named interim superintendent.
In 2008, the state turned control over OUSD back to the city. The local school board hired an interim superintendent, Roberta Mayor, in July 2008 while the school board undertook a year-long search for a permanent leader. Anthony "Tony" Smith was hired in July 2009 as the district's permanent superintendent. Smith resigned suddenly in April 2013 after four years leading the district, citing family health issues. School board member Dr. Gary Yee was named the acting superintendent. In September 2014, Antwan Wilson became OUSD's fourth superintendent in six years. After just two years at the helm, Wilson resigned in November 2016 to become chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools. Devin Dillon, OUSD's deputy superintendent of Academic Social Emotional Learning, was named acting superintendent, effective February 1, 2017.
Schools
The district-run schools includes 59 elementary schools, 13 middle schools, 19 high schools, with 9 alternative education schools and programs, 4 adult programs and early childhood education centers at most of the elementary schools. There are 38,000 K-12 students in district schools and more than 5,000 employees.
Elementary and middle schools
Montclair Elementary School
In 2015, Montclair Elementary was recognized with the nation's highest honor for a K-12 school, the Blue Ribbon award, which recognizes "exemplary teaching and learning". Only 10 schools in the Bay Area, public or private, received the award that year.
Nearly half the students (47 percent) who attend Montclair come from outside the neighborhood. The East Bay Times reported, "One of the school's secrets to success is what (Principal Nancy) Bloom calls the morning intervention acceleration model. Used in the kindergarten, first and second grades, children meet once a week in groups with no more than four or five students and get targeted instruction that meets their individual needs. On the other days, the students are outside doing physical education."
The school serves an increasing number of English language learner students and students who receive free and reduced priced meals.
In 2016, Collaborative for High Performance Schools praised Montclair Elementary's energy efficient design.
Coliseum College Preparatory Academy
In 2015, Coliseum College Prep Academy (CCPA), located on the Havenscourt Campus in East Oakland, achieved a 91 percent graduation rate. The school serves about 450 students and a large percentage are English language learners (170 students in 2014-15). CCPA's ethnic breakdown for the 2013-14 school year consisted of 42.7% Hispanic or Latino students, 28% Black or African American students, 13.2% Asian students, 9.8% White students, 2.6% students of two or more races, and 1.1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander.
Notable alumni
Notable Oakland public school graduates include:
- David Carradine - actor
- Angela Davis - activist
- Del the Funky Homosapien - musician
- Ronald V. Dellums - Congressman and Mayor of Oakland
- Clint Eastwood - actor and director
- Ben Fong-Torres - music writer
- Chick Gandil - baseball player; member of the infamous 1919 "Black Sox"
- Larry Graham - musician
- Tom Hanks - actor
- Rickey Henderson - Baseball Hall of Famer
- Marsha Hunt - musician
- Brian Johnson - baseball player
- Kehlani - musician
- Damian Lillard - NBA star
- Jack London - author
- Marshawn Lynch - football player
- MC Hammer - musician
- Edwin Meese - Attorney General
- Joe Morgan - Baseball Hall of Famer
- Julia Morgan - architect
- Lloyd Moseby - baseball player
- Huey P. Newton - activist
- Sten Odenwald - astronomer
- Gary Payton - Basketball Hall of Famer
- Marcus Peters - football player
- Bip Roberts - baseball player
- Frank Robinson - Baseball Hall of Famer
- Bill Russell - Basketball Hall of Famer
- Sheila E. - musician
- Dave Stewart - baseball player
- Too $hort - musician
References
External links
- Oakland Unified School District
- List of schools and test scores
