Community Voice: The Newsletter of Manzanita Community School (Summer 2013 Edition)

Library Inspires Culture of Reading on Campus

A proud reader in the MCS Library

When Renae Wilber arrives at 8 AM to open the Manzanita Community School library, kids are already there waiting. When she walks the halls throughout the day, students rush up to ask when the latest installment of Diary of a Wimpy Kid will be available. And even when she wakes up in the middle of the night, she's still in the role of school librarian. "Sometimes," Wilber says, "I'll wake up at 4 AM thinking, 'I know where I can find that book a student asked me about!'"

Wilber would have it no other way. "These kids mean so much to me," she says. "I'm so grateful to be here at Manzanita Community School and have this opportunity to support our students' love for reading."

"You never know what you're going to experience when you read a book," says 3rd-grader Jasmine, "and we have so many to choose from now. Ms. Renae helps us find the ones we like."

"Ms. Renae's awesome," concurs 3rd-grader Damani. "She picks out wonderful books for us. It's important for us to read a lot so we can learn different things in different books and take our reading levels higher and higher."

MCS students enjoying their favorite book, Diary of a Wimpy Kid

When asked about what kind of stories they would write, if they were authors, 3rd-grader Kevin has this to share: "The heroes of my story would be Ms. Renae, my teacher Ms. Lucas, and our principal, Ms. Spencer. I'm saying this because they all work hard every day to help us be better students."

Wilber loves the way students have taken ownership of their learning in the library. "On Day one, I told them, 'This is your library," she says, "and they took me at my word and just ran with it. They're so grateful for the library and this shows in how compassionately they act, sharing books and helping each other. I feel so honored to be a part of this library and this school!"

Touring the World a Classroom at a Time

Every year on Passport Day, Manzanita Community School becomes Manzanita Community World, with every classroom transforming into a different country, from Thailand to Scotland to Afghanistan to South Africa (to name just a few!).

Students become both travelers and hosts, moving from room to room and immersing themselves in the culture, cuisine, art, and attire unique to the countries recreated by each class. The school's elders, our 4th- and 5th-graders, assume the role of tour guides and "passport agents," giving them the responsibility of looking after younger students. "Taking responsibility for the younger kids is a great leadership opportunity for our older students," says Manzanita Community School teacher Allison Stormont. "We see older kids helping kindergarteners find their backpacks or jackets and walking them to the bathroom. It's great for community building."

"I was a helper this year," says 5th-grader Benjamin. "It was kind of hard -- you can see what it's like to be a teacher!"

"It's rewarding for us to see kids so engaged," reflects Stormont. "They get really excited by the countries they learn about, and talk about wanting to visit them when they're older. They become a little more worldly, that's really our hope."

In Afghanistan during Passport Day

"We get to go to places and learn about other countries like Egypt and Ghana," says 3rd-grader Makalah. "In Canada," says 3rd-grader Josiah, "we learned about a painter and I really liked his paintings because they were like Kandinsky."

"It's good because when you grow up and want to visit these other countries, you'll already know a little about them," explains Makalah. "Also, it can help you get to know other kids at our school who might be from the countries we visit on Passport Day."

At the end of their world tour, every student's passport book is full of stamps, and their "luggage" is filled with regional arts and craft pieces they made in different rooms. For students like Benjamin, the annual tradition sticks with them and is one they won't soon forget. "I've been to six Passport Days now, ever since I was a kindergartener! I've visited so many countries, and I'm really glad our school has Passport Day every year."

Students visiting China on Passport Day

Support Our Young Readers and Travelers!

In a state that spends roughly $3,000 less per student than the national average, public schools like ours must raise money to continue giving our students the opportunities they deserve, such as a fully stocked library and materials to host events like Passport Day.

Please consider a tax-deductible donation to support our programs!

You can donate online here (designating "Manzanita Community School") or by mail to: "OSF/MCS," PO Box 27148, Oakland, CA 94602.

Thank you for your support!

The Ascend Voice, Summer 2013

Chew on This: ASCEND Students Explore Food Industry

As covered in previous ASCEND Voice editions, healthy and responsible eating have been a hallmark on our campus through the years, from our students' love for the ASCEND garden to their field trip tours of sustainable urban gardens and farmers markets. This past semester, through their "Chew on This" learning expedition, our 6th-, 7th-, and 8th-graders wrote the latest chapter on this theme.

"Students used Eric Schlosser's Chew on This book as a starting point to engage in reading, writing, and discussion of food issues," says 8th-grade teacher Kate Linneman. "They explored the growth of the fast food industry, and the role of fast food in the growing use of factories, machines, and exploitation of both animals and people in food production."

Along with reading the book, students analyzed the advertising strategies that lure consumers into eating high-calorie, low-nutrition foods, including the way certain fast food ads target specific audiences – such as kids their age.

"We started to see how everything in the fast food industry is planned to get more customers and manipulate kids," explains 8th-grader Ivan. "They know how kids are going to react, and they make their ads to take advantage of that."

As the students' perspectives deepened throughout the unit, they took on projects to demonstrate their learning. 6th-graders created public service announcements, 7th-graders made a model McDonald's counter where they served not food but alarming information about the industry, and 8th-graders filmed satirical commercials.

"People need to know everything that's going on," says 8th-grader Jessica, "because it's not what it looks like in the commercials. We need to be educating our peers and other middle school students about what they're really eating and where it comes from."

"We learned," says 7th-grader Yahaira, "that companies sometimes use ammonia to kill the E. coli in meat. That's the same stuff you use to clean your bathroom."

"We also investigated how the some meatpacking companies treat their workers," says 7th-grader Hilda, "paying them low wages in unsafe conditions."

At ASCEND's Spring Expo, students had the opportunity to share these projects with their families, other students, and community members, explaining the impact this expedition had on them while passing along their newfound wisdom and perspective on the food industry. All told, Linneman says, "We really saw some of the ideas coming out in how they talk about fast food, and in their actual eating habits."

"My opinion about fast food and [food production] definitely changed," says 7th-grader Ameyali. "Now I think about how the animals are treated, and how companies treat their workers."

"Everything about fast food and the fast food companies is pretty nasty," says Jessica. "I just don't want to buy it or eat it anymore."

"By the time it gets to your plate," Ivan adds, "it's just not normal food anymore — it's a bunch of chemicals. It's really important for everyone to be educated on that, about what exactly you're eating. If I were thinking up a true tagline to describe fast food in an ad, I'd use: fast food, fast death."

7th- and 8th-graders Hilda, Yahaira, Ameyali, Ivan, and Jessica

Blended Learning Finds Its Footing at ASCEND

Technology-based learning has long been a mainstay on our campus, with students producing their own videos for Expo, creating personal history podcasts, using Google Docs, and more. In that spirit, we have begun piloting Blended Learning at ASCEND.

Blended Learning unites online assessments and lessons with traditional teaching to make instruction both personalized and data-driven, maximize small-group teaching, and boost students' ownership of their learning. While groups of students use online "adaptive software" that adapts to their level of learning and challenges them, teachers are able to work directly with small groups of kids who might be struggling with specific skills.

"Instead of teaching a one size fits all lesson that leaves some students unchallenged and others too challenged," says 1st-grade teacher Jayson Welden, "Blended Learning lets me teach to every students specific needs. At the same time, other students are working independently, and still being pushed rigorously."

Support ASCEND!

As a public school in California — a state near the bottom in per-student spending, nationally — ASCEND must reach out to the wider community for financial support. We hope you will consider a tax-deductible donation supporting initiatives like our technology-based Blended Learning program as we look ahead to the coming school year.

You can visit www.ascendk8.org to donate online, or you can contribute by check to: "OSF/ASCEND," PO Box 27148, Oakland, CA 94602. Thank you!

Sankofa Reflections, Summer 2013

"We are arriving..." 

Sankofa Continues Ambitious Expansion

Standing in the recently painted hallway as Sankofa Academy’s first class of 6th-graders passes by and its Pre-K students rush to recess on the redesigned playground, Principal Monique Brinson takes in the scene before capturing the school’s commitment to continuous improvement in a few short words: “We are arriving.”

Student Council Vice President Mikylah and President Phillip,
both members of Sankofa’s first 6th-grade class

It is this mix of pride and humility — and a nod to the work yet to be done — that continues to define Sankofa. As the campus evolves and grows to become a Pre-K-8, the school community constantly looks to the present and past for cues, staying true to the meaning of the Sankofa name: “to return and fetch it,” to reclaim the past in order to move forward.
 

“The adults in our school community are my eyes and ears,” says Brinson. “Through the dedication of our family leaders, classroom teachers, Teachers on Special Assignment (TSAs), and other school staff, we are becoming the village that takes care of our children.” 

Sankofa is also respecting the small-school roots that shaped its culture and helped boost student achievement. Staff has capped class sizes at 25 wherever possible, and has stayed true to the philosophy of individualized attention for students, with one-on-one support offered by on-site staff as well as outside partners like Lincoln Child Center (LCC) and Project SEED, UC Berkeley’s Sage Mentors and UC Build, Experience Corps, and Temple Sinai volunteers.

6th-Grade Youth Elders Lead the Way

While a unified vision and positive momentum are felt across all grades at Sankofa, the school’s first group of 6th-graders has stepped up to lead the way. “Last year’s 5th-graders became this 6th-grade class of leaders,” Brinson says, echoing this newsletter’s theme of “arrival” and growth. “They are our legacy class, and I’m so proud of how they’ve become the youth elders in our community.”

6th-grader Adam embodies this spirit in a number of ways. Academically, he is on the Sankofa Honor Roll and in the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program. He is also clearly a peer leader and role model for other students. When a class of 3rd-graders filed past Adam during his interview for this newsletter, nearly every student greeted him with “Good luck, Adam!” They all knew he was scheduled to represent Sankofa at the Alameda County Spelling Bee the next day. 

6th-grade student leader Adam

“It feels great being a youth leader and Sankofa elder because the younger kids look up to you,” Adam explains. “Whenever I’m on the yard with them, they’re always like ‘Adam, Adam, can you help me with this, can you play with me?’ And I love to do it because I like children, they’re so energetic it’s just fun to be around them and mentor them. You have to be trusted to really be a big part of Sankofa. We 6th-graders are leaders, and we choose that role ourselves by showing that trust.”

The genesis of Adam’s piece for the recent Oratorical Contest reflects the depth of his sensitivity and vision. The idea came to him around September 11, this past fall. As an African-American Muslim, he was attuned to the atmosphere of discrimination connected to the 9/11 anniversary. “I was thinking about this, and I got really sad,” Adam recalls. “So I thought of a solution. My thoughts were to make a poem and have my dad and family and everybody else listen to it. The poem is called ‘I Am an African,’ an original piece by me displaying African culture and saying we are here, we’re like you, we are all the same.”
 

After writing it, he shared the poem with Principal Brinson, “to see if it was good enough. She cried when she read it. It was amazing.” When Adam read the piece aloud before the entire school, “I was a little afraid. But once I let it out, everybody was happy that I was speaking up for every African and African-American that has been treated unfairly because of the skin they’re in.”
 

Adam’s free-time reading also reflects an ambition beyond his 6th-grade years. “My dad is a lawyer and political author, so has a lot of law books,” Adam says. “I like to read those and challenge myself because my dad always says, ‘I want my kids to be smart.’ He treats me like an adult, he’s real with me. He trusts me and, along with my mom, he’s the one who made me achieve all these things. I want to show the younger kids how much of a leader I am, as my dad is for me.”
 

When asked about the future of Sankofa, Adam lights up. “I hope we continue the success we’re having right now,” he says. “I mean, we’ve achieved so much. I feel as if we’re all connected, and I think that can happen to every child as long as they feel our spirit and our Sankofa pride.”

Academic Achievement Gains

  

This year, Sankofa moved more students into “Proficient” and “Advanced” (a 12.2 percentage-point increase) in English Language Arts (ELA) than any other school in the District. Overall, Sankofa’s Academic Performance Index (API) has increased 248 points since 2007! At 773 today, we are just shy of the state goal of 800.

Sankofa's steady API increase since 2007

As we continue to grow as a Pre-K-8 full-service community school, it is more critical than ever to sustain and build our programs, including the whole-child activities offered in our extended-day program. You can make a tax-deductible donation online or by mail to: “OSF/Sankofa,” PO Box 27148, Oakland, CA 94602. Thank you for your support!
 

Interested in enrolling your child at Sankofa Academy? Call the Student Assignment Office at 510-273-1600. We also welcome you to tour our school. Call 510-654-7787 to set up a visit.

EnCompass Rising, Summer 2013

Owning Their Learning
EnCompass uses Science and Blended Learning pilots to personalize learning

Thorax, pupa, nocturnal, larva, exoskeleton. Within seconds of sitting down with EnCompass Academy 2nd-graders to talk about science, these are just some of the words they rattle off with confidence.
 

Thanks to a deep commitment to science this year, students across campus are talking, thinking, and acting like scientists. “We have more science than ever at EnCompass,” says Principal Minh-Tram Nguyen. “It’s been an amazing year of growth.” As an OUSD Science Cohort School, EnCompass staff got support from a District science coach, received science trainings, and increased Science planning time.

This boost, says Nguyen, not only helped the school offer more science learning – every grade gets much more science time than the District requires – but it has fueled the pursuit of two key parts of the EnCompass vision: “teaching to the whole child,” and “developing an active, reflective, and disciplined mind.”

“Students are using the academic vocabulary of science to ask each other questions, and then asserting scientific thinking through claims and evidence,” explains Nguyen. “That inquiry and investigation supports the ‘active mind.’ And their use of scientific language – through science notebooking and in conversation – connects to the ‘reflective and disciplined’ piece of our vision statement.” Nguyen says the students in Marlene Atwood’s class “took science talk and ran with it.”

2nd-grader Josue offers an example. “If we’re observing a darkling beetle and one dies, we have to have our evidence, and then make a claim about why the beetle died. For example, I might claim my darkling beetle died because of the evidence that it had laid all of its eggs, and they soon die after laying all their eggs.”

Josue’s classmate Mariajose goes on to explain their use of “compare and contrast” when looking at the life cycles of beetles versus humans, and offers a creative interpretation. “Beetles molt, and drop the exoskeleton that covers them. In a way, humans do the same thing: We change clothes when ours don’t fit us anymore.”

By engaging in this type of analysis and hands-on work, students are taking real ownership of their learning. Atwood puts it this way: “Science gives students the opportunity to make sense of the world around them. But to make this experience real and tangible to them, it needs to be taught as a total body experience, allowing children to use all of their senses. Hands-on science allows the students to become scientists discovering the world for themselves.”

“Learning this much science now, in 2nd grade, is going to help us later on because you might get a job as a scientist,” explains 2nd-grader Noel. “And in college, it will help us to know a lot of science already, because when we have to solve problems in class, we won’t just say, ‘I don’t know this, I guess I’ll just guess.’ Instead, we’ll really know the answer.”

Interacting with animals and insects all year has also instilled respect and sensitivity. “When you learn more about them, you care more about them,” says 2nd-grader Sarah. “Science helps us know more about animals so we can take care of them.”

2nd-grade scientists Josue, Noel, Mariajose, and Sarah

The Next Level: Blended Learning

EnCompass Academy is honored to be one of just two OUSD elementary schools taking part in the Rogers Family Foundation’s Blended Learning Pilot. While using technology is a big piece of this program, computers are a conduit for a larger vision.

“As we transition to the Common Core standards, we need to help our students adjust to a new way of thinking and applying knowledge using technology,” says Principal Nguyen. “The online math and reading content is motivating kids to improve by immediately and consistently letting each of them know what level they’ve reached in the progress toward their learning target. It’s a powerful shift.”

“EnCompass has embarked on an ambitious first-year implementation of blended learning that ultimately reached every single teacher and every single student,” shares Greg Klein, director of the Blended Learning Pilot. “Teachers and students used a variety of adaptive online programs to personalize the learning experience for each student. EnCompass teachers rose to the challenge, setting the stage for Year 2, where they can focus on going much deeper with the tools already in place.”

“Even in our early phase of piloting Blended Learning, our students now own their learning more across content areas,” says Nguyen. “They are choosing to use screen time to put their minds to work and become more engaged in the world, rather than the kids’ typical use of screen time to disconnect and escape from the present moment."

Support Our Young Scientists and Technologists!

In a state that spends roughly $3,000 less per student than the national average, public schools like ours must fundraise to continue offering our kids the science and technology resources they deserve. You can help!
 
Please consider a tax-deductible donation online (be sure to choose "EnCompass" in the PICK YOUR SCHOOL pull-down) or by mail to:
“OSF/EnCompass,” P.O. Box 27148, Oakland, CA 94602. Thank you for supporting our ambitious students!

Think College Now: The College Review, Summer 2013

Think College Now’s Alumni Night 2013

A year closer to their collective goal, a community of college-focused TCN alumni
reunite.
 
Since 2007, Think College Now 5th-graders have been taking the next steps toward our shared goal: college. Now roughly 350 strong, TCN alumni are at middle and high schools across Oakland, and with each passing year their presence at our Annual Alumni Night grows, literally and figuratively (see Gabriel, at right).
 

TCN alumni then and now: Gabriel at his first Alumni Night
as a 6th-grader, and this year as a high school sophomore

Among our oldest alumni, the idea of college is coming into clearer focus the closer they get to high school graduation. “There are so many colleges I’d like to go to,” said Gabriel during Alumni Night. Now a 10th-grader at Oakland School for the Arts, he will begin applying to colleges in the fall of 2014. “I like Santa Cruz, but I’m also thinking of the east coast, maybe Columbia.”

Oakland Tech 11th-grader Astrid (pictured below on the far right in the top row), a member of TCN’s first group of alumni, has UC San Diego on her list. Taking in the scene at Alumni Night, she was inspired to see so many TCN students – former and current – keeping college in their sights. “I can see [the younger students] – my sister is one of them – following the right steps and reaching for their goal, which makes me proud,” said Astrid. “College is our dream, that’s what we’re all fighting for. What I like about the Alumni Program is staying in contact with TCN staff and former students. I can talk with them about what’s going on with me and about planning for the future.”
 
Gabriel, who volunteers in TCN’s after-school program coaching soccer and helping students with homework, reflected on keeping such close ties with his elementary school. “I feel closer than I’ve ever been to TCN. It’s the best place to volunteer – people are family here.”

Some of TCN’s oldest alumni, now in 11th grade, at this year’s Alumni Night

As Principal Jose Ruben Olivares said when addressing the crowd, “For me, this event is so special because we all get to reconnect in this special place you all helped to create.”
 
Events like this are also opportunities for staff to connect former students with college-prep programs such as AIM High and Pre-Collegiate Academy. Several students are now members of College Track, a college-prep and completion program, including Gabriel and Astrid. Astrid says College Track has helped her “see a lot of opportunities out there that I didn’t know of. If you think grades were everything, they’re not: there are so many things you need to go college, and College Track opens our eyes to those.”
 

Founding Principal David Silver, now College Track’s CEO, was also on hand to offer historical perspective. “Every year we’ve gotten a little better,” he told the students. “We won the Title I Academic Achievement, Distinguished School Award, broke 800 on the Academic Performance Index. Today, people hear you went to TCN and they say, ‘That’s a great school.’ It’s great that we’re achieving, but you all made a promise: to get into college. The proof will be in fulfilling our promise, making sure that all of you get into college and end up graduating.”

At the end of the evening, when asked about the enduring impact of Think College Now, Gabriel put it this way: “TCN taught me to challenge myself. I know now that I’m capable of being very smart, and my teachers here made me see that in myself. Teachers here do more than teach, they help you with all sorts of things. Now I’m out there in the world, confident, doing the best I can. It’s good to see how students are doing, see them doing well — both my fellow classmates and the younger kids. I just hope we all have a bright future. To ensure that, we must all pursue our dreams of college.”

Support Think College Now!

Continuing our fundraising momentum is more important now than ever as TCN enters a milestone year. Not only is 2013-14 the beginning of TCN’s second decade as a school, but it’s the year our oldest alumni, now juniors in high school, begin applying for college. Our school community’s college-focused vision will officially be realized when those students begin receiving their acceptance letters!
 
Please consider a tax-deductible donation to support our college-focused efforts.
You can donate online at www.thinkcollegenow.org, or by mail to:
“OSF/TCN,” PO Box 27148, Oakland, CA 94602.

Thank you!

Former TCN students Linda and Xochitl reunite on Alumni Night