"When we went from schools organized for opportunity for some, to schools organized for opportunity for all, everyone rose."

We dive deep into the district's embrace of an instructional model known as Linked Learning that aims to provide college and career access to all students. OUSD has shifted the high school landscape with career themed learning, universal college prep, internships, dual enrollment in community college, and much more. Rebecca Lacoque, director of linked learning, is our guide into this big-time high school change work.

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Oakland Unified School District's on-time enrollment window opened on December 1, 2023. In this episode, we discuss what that means for families, big picture enrollment timelines, and things to consider when researching and selecting schools (HINT: stay away from websites that rhyme with "Straight Fools").

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Do you know about the reading wars? In this corner, systematic phonics and nearly the entirety of empirical science... and in this corner, whole language, uh, proponents.

In our first-ever episode of the Grow With Us podcast, we look deeply into perhaps the most important work a district an undertake: teaching kids to read.

Guest: Romy Trigg-Smith, Director of Early Literacy Instruction

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Every week, the Grow With Us podcast will tell stories about the hard work and creative thinking that makes Oakland Unified such a remarkable place of learning.