Learning Centers

Learning Centers

ACE Learning Centers go beyond the standard curriculum taught in schools to support teachers and students in providing the skills and knowledge needed for ongoing success in careers and the job of education. Going beyond means providing English classes for parents and high school students, advanced teacher instruction at the school that employs them, improving math and STEM skills to graduate high school and enter college, providing community-based internship programs, helping students earn access to college and supporting them through their first year plus intensive training in radio station engineering and journalism. And so much more.

Check out the ACE Learning Centers and be impressed with the work they do for students, parents, teachers and the community.

ACE Learning Center / Alpha Parent Learning Center  

The Alpha Parent Center provides families access to resources to live a healthy, stable, and secure life, plus provide opportunities for families to get involved in their children’s education and in their communities. Classes include English proficiency for Latino and Vietnamese parents; computer classes; high school classes for parents who want to earn their high school degree; instant translation; family therapy; cultural engagement opportunities; how-to classes and guidance regarding the college admission process and student success. Family resources are also available including immigration, housing, mental health, domestic violence and more. Alpha Parent Center Facebook and phone app resources provide access to check on events, student grades, housing, jobs, low-cost family counseling, free medical resources, etc. The Alpha Parent Center also acts as a coordinating organization for Second Harvest Food Bank that provides fresh food to the Alpha Schools community.

ACE Learning Center / Oakland International High School  

Oakland International High School (OIHS) is dedicated to helping support recently arrived immigrants and their families academically, socially, and emotionally. Many students have severe interruptions in their formal educations because of war, poverty, or ethnic conflict in their home countries and, as a result, are far behind grade level in almost every subject. Continuing education is a real need for them and their families.

At the ACE Learning Center, students and families are supported in their acquisition of English language and technology skills, plus success as they move to college and/or careers. These include Peralta Community College classes offered at the OIHS campus; community-based internship programs, including KDOL-TV; and Refugee Transitions classes that help parents with English, technology, gardening and cooking.

REACH UNIVERSITY/TAP COMPUTATIONAL THINKERS

Reach is a nonprofit university that offers job-embedded learning to educators. ACE supports the Teacher Apprenticeship Program (TAP) for Computational Thinkers which will integrate computer science and computational thinking into curriculum in K12 schools. Computational learning adds logical thinking to all subjects, thus providing skills needed for the current and future workforce. Reach will equip future teachers with the necessary knowledge and skills to integrate computer science and computational thinking across the curriculum in K12 schools, thereby preparing K12 students, especially those in rural and low-income urban communities, with the foundational knowledge required for 21st century careers that demand continuous adaptation and the capacity for continuous learning. The project will be delivered via a workplace-based model in which future teacher candidates will enroll in Reach University to earn their bachelor’s degrees while simultaneously employed in their community’s K12 schools.

ACE Learning Center / San Francisco International High School 

San Francisco International High School is dedicated to helping support recently arrived immigrants academically, socially, and emotionally. The ACE Learning Center programs continue past work with both Acceleration (Literacy and Coding) and Span programs, plus a new flexible-schedule continuation education program for students across San Francisco whose work and family schedules make it difficult to attend school regularly.

Acceleration is an intervention and prevention program that provides access to rigorous college-prep curriculum by giving students the reading and math support they need. The college retention program is Span. It helps recent graduates through their first year of college with advocacy, administrative and cultural challenges faced by newcomer immigrants. Through peer-to-peer, group and individual advice, Span promotes college retention and academic success. ACE supports Span Fellows and Span Scholars who mentor younger students. The flexible schedule continuing education high school is the only program in the San Francisco Unified School District that utilizes independent study, online learning, case management and small group advising to support English language learners who cannot attend high school during regular hours. Students who must work or take care of family members now have an opportunity to earn a diploma.

ACE Learning Center / KALW Audio Academy  

ACE partners with local San Francisco public radio station KALW 91.7 FM to offer a distinctive continuing education opportunity – KALW Audio Academy. It has grown to be a role model for journalism training in the industry.

This free, nine-month intensive radio journalism training program leads participants through weekly coursework comprehensively covering all aspects of radio journalism. KALW staff and other notable media producers lead workshops on researching, reporting, interviewing, writing, voicing and sound design. Trainees learn to produce and create original feature stories and themed programs for broadcast on the award-winning nightly news and culture show Crosscurrents.

Graduates have succeeded in having their stories air on popular National Public Radio shows and other outlets, along with taking jobs and leadership positions in the industry where they create and tell audio stories. Many have been nominated for and/or won industry awards, while one graduate was nominated for a 2017 Academy Award in Short Subject Documentary.