Fall 2023 Foundational Series

OEA Members can submit hours upon completion of the series in the Exit Ticket for payment at the Professional Development rate, OR submit for Professional Growth Units for advancement on the salary scale if not already at the limit.  PGU forms can be signed off by emailing Raquel Jimenez or your Supervisor with your notes from the series, and submitted to your Talent Representative for processing.

SEIU & AFSCME Members can check in with their Supervisor to see if they are eligible to submit an extra time form online if these times fall beyond contract hours:

• Please list Raquel Jimenez - Office of Equity Executive Director as the approver & supervisor.
• You will be compensated at your Extra Time rate.

The Foundational Fall Series focuses on exploring our belief systems, shares common frameworks to unify us as a school district, and asks us to do our self-work as a key part of our work to build an antiracist school district that reaches equity for all students and families.

The series offered below are multi-session to reinforce learning and go deeper into a topic than a typical one-off workshop, and differentiated by experience in antiracism learning to help provide the best experience for participants:

• Emerging = Beginner
• Developing = Intermediate
• Practicing = Advanced

Tuesdays 4-6pm  |  9/19, 10/3, 10/10  |  Zoom

Facilitators: Raquel Jimenez & Lailan Sandra Huen, OUSD Office of Equity 

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• Overview key tenets and frameworks of racial justice, equity and healing in Oakland schools.
• Build a common understanding of our shared legacy of oppression, white supremacy and its impact on our thinking, actions, and work as anti-racist educators.
• Ground in how schools have intertwined with centuries of racial discrimination.

Tuesdays 4-6pm  |  10/17, 10/24, 11/7  |  Zoom

Facilitators: Lailan Sandra Huen, OUSD Office of Equity + OUSD Teacher Leaders

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• Learn key tenets and practice areas of Culturally Responsive Teaching, and what that means for Oakland’s diverse students.

• Explore existing best practice examples in our school district to share resources, inspire your practice, and ground ourselves while lifting up student and teacher voices.

• Reflect on what culturally responsive practices can look like in your classroom or role within the current political and social context in Oakland.

Thursdays 4-6pm  |  10/19, 10/26, 11/2  |  Zoom

Facilitators: Lailan Sandra Huen, OUSD Office of Equity + Shanti Elliott, Skyline High School

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• Explore common ‘equity traps’ in schools that are shaped by racist belief systems.
• Develop mindfulness around how these show up in Oakland schools and how we can interrupt these behaviors.
• Work in small groups to share experiences and develop counter-strategies to show up for racial justice.

Mondays 4-6pm  |  11/13, 11/27, 12/4, 12/11, 12/18  |  Zoom

Facilitators: Jarrett Austin-Thomas & Diana Iniguez, OUSD Talent; Priscilla Parchia, Expanded Learning 

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This series builds on the 5 elements of being an Antiracist Educator by Dena Simmons.

• Develop critical consciousness to identify the ways in which racism and colonialism marginalize students and families.
• Build, reflect on, and sustain our professional and personal antiracism work.
• Explore the practices and policies that perpetuate systemic inequity in your sphere of influence.
• Identify and develop strategies to interrupt racist practices within your sphere of influence.

Wednesdays 4-6pm | 9/20, 9/27, 10/4 | Zoom

Facilitators: Quetzal Education Group

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As implementation of the OUSD George Floyd Resolution and Black Student Reparations Resolution, all staff working in Oakland's schools should be trained in disrupting anti-Black racism.

• Name and categorize 4 different types of of anti-Black racism and anti-Blackness. Naming is important in order to disrupt when it happens.
• Identify expressions of anti-Blackness in their work and reflect upon our areas of growth.
• Practice some ways to begin disrupting these expressions in self and others.

Tuesdays 4-6pm | 11/14, 11/28, 12/5, 12/12 | Zoom

Facilitators: Lailan Sandra Huen, OUSD Office of Equity + School Leaders

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• Learn Courageous Conversation tools, created by the Pacific Education Group, to help support brave space conversations about race, racism and intersectional oppression and solidarity amongst staff, families and students.
• Understand how school leaders have addressed scenarios, and strategize around case studies in Oakland schools.

Tuesdays 1:30-3:30  |  10/3, 10/17, 10/24, 10/31, 11/14, 11/28, 12/12  |  In-Person @ The Center 

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Facilitators: Dr. Zaia Vera, OUSD Social Emotional Learning & OUSD Restorative Justice Team 

This professional development series is designed for central and site leaders, specifically school culture and climate teams who can readily apply the practices and then facilitate tSEL PD for school staff in the 2024-2025 school year. Transformative Social Emotional Learning is a core component of school safety, equity, climate and culture, and academics. This workshop series will equip participants to train site staff in tSEL practices critical to implementing an equitable and positive school climate and culture, namely, Culturally Responsive and Anti-Racist Teaching, MTSS (Multi-Tiered Systems of Support), Sown to Grow, PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports) and Restorative Justice (RJ).  Participants must attend all sessions to get the full tSEL benefit.

Mondays 4-6pm  |  9/18, 10/2, 10/23, 11/6, 12/4  |  Zoom

Please Note: The 10/16 session was rescheduled to 10/23. 

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Facilitators: Cintya Molina, Office of Equity; Jamal Muhammad, Office of Equity African American Achievement; Samantha Fenwick, Office of Equity Family Engagement Network 3; David Cammarata, Special Education; Melisha Linzie, Engagement Specialist, Special Education  

This learning and action group will engage in sustained collective inquiry so that we can become a source of information and action against ableism and racism - and for disability justice in OUSD.

For recordings & slide decks, CLICK HERE.