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Oakland Unified School District

Programs & Services

King Care

In 2010, the Office of African American Male Achievement initiated the Manhood Development Program (MDP), a unique academic mentoring model designed and implemented by African American males for African American males. Instructors for the program were carefully chosen based upon cultural competency, understanding of youth development, and past experience teaching. We are in the next phase of the Manhood Development Program: King Care.

King Care is love. King Care is seeing the humanity of each student by focusing on the whole child. King Care is Mindset, Approach, and Structure.King Care mindsets include leading with love and humanity, specifically an assets based lens of Culturally Responsive/Anti-Racist and Transformative Social Emotional Learning. King Care structures include programs, Protocols, intervention, and prevention activities that focus on student and family empowerment and student success (Mastering our Cultural Identity, Seniors to Success, Early Literacy Kings, 1:1 check ins, family visits, teacher conferences, student trackers, etc.)  

Today King Care is operating in 13 schools throughout the district.

  • High Schools: McClymonds, Oakland High, Oakland Technical, Skyline High
  • Middle Schools: Bret Harte, Claremont, Montera, West Oakland Middle School
  • Elementary Schools: Chabot, Emerson, Laurel, Piedmont Avenue, Prescott, Manzanita, Manzanita SEED, Sankofa

King Care impact is measured by:

  • Decrease suspensions and increase attendance
  • Decrease incarceration and increase graduation rates
  • Decrease the opportunity/achievement gap  
  • Increase in college application completion
  • Increase A-G Completion 
  • Increase Duel Enrollment
  • Increase literacy
  • Increase social emotional wellbeing

Learn more about the King Care and the Manhood Development Program in Publications section.

Student Leadership Council

AAMA launched its Student Leadership Council in September 2014. Consisting of African American males from middle and high school across the district. Members of the Student Leadership Council:

  • create a network of African American male students in positions of leadership who support each other at their school sites
  • act as role models and leaders for each other as well as for other African American males in our schools
  • participate in school site councils in assessing and creating school site interventions and programming for African American males
  • regularly present for Oakland's AAMA program at local and national conferences

To date, the Student Leadership Council has traveled to Atlanta, Louisville, Memphis, New Orleans, New York City, Seattle, and Washington, DC.