Education
Oakland’s new city council members, who were inaugurated at a ceremony at City Hall Monday, set the stage for the elected body’s biggest policy focus of the next four years—public safety. While it’s no secret that crime is Oakland’s number one problem, with the city’s homicide rate reaching 131 on the last day of 2012, councilmembers old and new declared Monday that the council should formally proclaim that combating crime the city’s first priority. That means more than just acknowledging…
2012 was a year of big changes for Oakland, as the city dealt with its struggling finances, a possible federal takeover of its police department, multiple petitions to recall the mayor and the closure of several elementary schools.
The Oakland Unified School District has issued a letter to the school community, offering information to parents and teachers about how to talk to children about the school shooting that took place in Connecticut on December 14, and how to help children cope with anxiety and fear. The letter also addresses safety protocols within the school district here. With the district’s permission, Oakland North is reprinting it in its entirety, with links at the end to resources geared for parents, students, teachers and other…
The Nutcracker Prince, the Grinch, Snowflake the Elf, Santa Claus and even a tap dancing Christmas tree will be joining the whimsical cast of characters at Children’s Fairyland this holiday season. For 10 days, the beloved Oakland theme park will be transformed with twinkling lights and decorations into a multi-cultural winter wonderland.
Sounds of Christmas music, cheering and motorcycles at the Oakland Parade seeped through the windows of City Hall, but didn’t stop discussions on youth and technology, the freedom of information act and the digital divide in Oakland at the first annual CityCamp, organized by the OpenOakland brigade. Over 120 people, including programmers, city officials, bloggers and community members, attended the “unconference,” or interactive forum with topics of discussion that attendees themselves choose.
Kevin Weston doesn’t remember doctors saying he had two weeks to live. He doesn’t remember his 44th birthday. He doesn’t remember his own wedding, though he says he’s seen the photos: Weston in a white hospital gown, eyes closed, with an extremely swollen face. In some photos he has tubes and monitors attached to his body. And in one photo, he has a white hospital bracelet on his wrist, and he’s holding his new wife’s hand. In August, Weston was…
Administrators at the American Indian Model Schools—a set of three Oakland charter schools, two middle schools and one high school—responded late Monday night to a 1,080-page notice of violations given to them by the Oakland Unified School District, OUSD spokesperson Troy Flint said Wednesday.
Students find creative uses for discarded items through Oakland’s annual Re-Create art contest.
On an average day, the East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse, an Oakland thrift store, is chock full of school supplies, furniture and even quirky items like ET postcards and baskets full of doll heads. The shop buzzes with teachers, students, parents and passers-by, either in search of something specific like pencils for the classroom or just hoping for a unique find.