New Victories

On June 13th, 2012 the OUSD board unanimously approved district-wide Standards for Meaningful Family Engagement. This represented a major victory for PLAN’s Oakland Families LEAD campaign, which successfully pushed for OUSD to commit to Family Engagement Standards in its five-year strategic plan the year before. Drafted by the newly launched Family Engagement Collaborative – another campaign victory – the standards give parents new leverage for creating true leadership and voice within Oakland schools

New Team

2011 saw the creation of two new positions and the addition of two Director in August and in September, Evelyn new team members. Jairo Güiza joined PLAN as our Training Sanchez became our new Lead Organizer. Jennifer Childs stepped into a new role as Office Manager, and Gulliver Scott became PLAN’s first Program Director.

In May we added seven new members to our Board of Directors, greatly expanding our capacity to advance parent organizing and leadership development to ensure that all Oakland students can receive an excellent education.

New Programs

This year PLAN launched the Parents Ready for School Training of Trainers Program. Staff and leaders from Oakland Housing Authority, International Community School and Oakland Head Start learned to facilitate the trainings on their own sites. As a result, over 100 parents of young children in Oakland now have new skills and knowledge to help them navigate the school system and advocate for their children’s education

New Partners

On Thursday, 4/26, over 100 parents, teachers and community members from schools in Oakland’s low-income communities of color – including Reach Academy, East Oakland Pride and Skyline High School – gathered for PLAN’s first-ever Oakland Parent-Teacher Summit. With the goal of building more positive and productive relationships between parents and teachers to improve learning for Oakland’s most at-risk students, the summit began a new collaboration to make engaging families as true partners in their children’s education integral to the culture of Oakland schools.

New Leaders

The past year’s work resulted in a strong base of parents committed to creating excellent education for all of Oakland students. More than 20 parent leaders will participate in PLAN’s first-ever Summer Parent Leadership Academy. Through this five-week Academy, parents will immerse themselves in the key issues facing Oakland students of color and learn strategies and skills to create positive change.

New Vision

PLAN is excited about its new vision to develop deep relationships with parents, teachers and leaders at Oakland schools to build an environment of respect for students and their families and ensure that parents are welcomed and empowered as true partners, leaders and decision-makers in the children’s education. We will be working alongside parents from several schools – including Allendale, Brookfield, Reach, Skyline and many others – to build their collective power to ensure that Oakland provides every student with an education that prepares them for college, good jobs and leadership in our communities.