Education
As Norman Ospina, the school attendance clerk and a translator at Castlemont High School in East Oakland, crossed the courtyard on a crisp overcast fall morning, he spotted a young man he believed had been involved in a campus brawl on September 21. Ospina, whose students call him “Mr. O,” placed his index finger over his mouth, and nodded in the direction of the student on the other side of the courtyard. The student instantly revealed a smile that was…
In a crowded boardroom and to strong applause, the OUSD board unanimously passed an agreement yesterday that resolved to address the Office of Civil Right’s (OCR) compliance review of the district’s discipline of African American students.
At Lincoln Elementary School and nearly 50 other Oakland schools, the custodians, nutrition staff and faculty have banded together to use lunchtime as an opportunity to teach students how to compost.
From September 17 through October 4, most of Oakland Unified School District’s middle and high school students will view the documentary “Bully.”
“Space is my middle name,” said elementary school student Cameron Weignant on Friday morning at the Chabot Space and Science Center as his mother adjusted the tinted visor on his helmet. While about a hundred people of all ages had come up to the observatory above Oakland hoping for a glimpse of the Space Shuttle Endeavour on its final flyover of California, only Cameron had arrived in a full astronaut costume. “He’s been interested in space since he was 2,”…
“I like how this plant feels,” said Devynn Meleg, 7, as she paused to investigate a silver bush during her morning walk. “It feels so weird!” Her mother Brett, watching with a smile, wore a bright yellow vest with reflective strips and a “Safe Routes to School” logo printed on its front. Along their walk, they pointed out spiders spinning webs, a cat sitting in a window and a yard where chickens used to live. The two had set off…
Stephanie Yun, 18, was named Oakland’s first ever youth poet laureate last week. She was honored by Juan Felipe Herrera, California’s poet laureate and a judge for the competition, at the Flor y Canto Festival.
On Wednesday night, “Stand Up for Our Children: A Community Forum” at the Oakland School for the Arts in downtown Oakland brought together educators, administrators and local political figures to discuss two propositions on the November ballot that could generate new funds for public schools by raising taxes for Californians. The forum also included a “break-away” session that allowed attendees to voice their concerns in more in-depth fashion.
In their first meeting of the 2012-13 school year, Oakland Unified School District board members decided Wednesday evening to postpone one of the highly anticipated items on the agenda: a discussion about the district’s response to a federal inquiry into the disciplining of African American male students.