Mid-Year Update – Oakland International High School Creates ACE Learning Center Success

By Martha Sessums, President, ACE

Mid-school year, it’s always great to see how well an ACE Learning Center is doing. Getting its stride. Staying steady. Turning out impressive success stats. Being a place that is part of the beat of the school.

Each ACE Learning Center is required to provide a January report, and reading the Oakland International High School (OIHS) report is one of the leading examples of how well it works with a strong educational partner.

Parent classes – ✔Check.

Working with Refugee Transitions, the ACE Learning Center teaches English to 51 regularly attending students from 11 countries. Two levels of classes meet for over two hours a day Monday – Thursday. Parents learn basics like reading a STOP sign to learning how to communicate with teachers about their children and filling out forms.

Success rate in Level 1 Classes: 78% of students make language gains, while 35% make significant gains.

Success rate in Level 2 Classes: 82% of students make language gains, while 52% make significant gains. And over 90% pass the oral exam.

Internship Program – ✔Check

Genesys Internship program has 12 students that are working at companies like BART, PG&E, Kaiser Permanente and others. There are 58 students at KDOL Video Production. At the end of the year, students who pass the summative assessment will earn 3 units of community college credits at Laney College.

Community College Classes – ✔Check

A pilot continuing education program with Peralta Community College shows great success. Focusing on English and math skills, the classes provide an expectation of what is required in college-level education. Last semester, 12 students finished ESL classes and 41 completed Elementary Algebra. This semester, it’s more of the same. The classes have helped eliminate the barrier of remedial coursework before students are eligible for transfer level classes.

As Sailaja Suresh, Director, OIHS Learning Lab said, “These classes are creating a bridge for our students to enter into credit-bearing math and English classes upon graduation from our school.”

SIFE Math – ✔Check

Students with Interrupted Formal Education (SIFE) have a large challenge. These are students with limited and/or interrupted time in school. Because of war. Famine. Illness. Life in an immigration camp. Moving from one country to another, a trip that takes months, not hours. The future – and success in that future – can be a challenge. Math included.

Success Rate: Serves 43 students in grades 9 and 10. There’s that bridge again.

College Literacy – ✔Check

Literacy can start in the community. Partnering with researchers from Stanford and CSU East Bay, OIHS students are investigating how to become better community members by using literacy as the lead. They work with elementary school students at a nearby school and read social justice-themed books with the younger students.

Success: All students appreciate taking a leadership position when sharing and teaching reading skills. Even elementary students.

Lab School – ✔Check

Five student teachers are on OIHS campus from Mills College, UC Berkeley and St. Mary’s, along with Reach Institute. This is continuing education for the student teachers who are part of the future Newcomer teachers in the Oakland Unified School District.

Success: High school students meet college students. On campus. Both can see their future.

“The ACE Adult Learning Center continues to be an active hub on campus for parent learning and school engagement,” said Suresh.

ACE can’t ask for much more. Thank you OIHS.