ALC Musings: Vol 1, No 1

Hello Friends:

I’m putting in a weekend work session on the shaded porch of a café across the street from the UC Berkeley campus. It is graduation season, the warmth of the sun blends with a chilly breeze as spring transitions into summer. Cap and gown clad graduates are flanked by proud families, but on my mind is a new middle school twelve miles away. Only a sliver of the youth coming out of Oakland schools qualify to come to Berkeley, and a frightfully high number never even graduate from high school. For many, it is the middle school experience that seals this fate. Here lies the challenge for the new Alternative Learning Community (ALC): to turn the tides and empower youth to be successful academically, personally, and socially in middle school and beyond.

Welcome to Volume One, Number One of ALC Musings. This listserv is intended to give our community, far and wide, an insight into ALC’s work. It is inspired by my friend Robert Burkhardt, the director of Eagle Rock School, who keeps a similar log, as well as the Bay Area Writing Project, who remind me how important it is for educators to take time out from our busy lives to reflect and write. Messages will be mailed no more than two a month, and if you would not like to receive them, let me know and I’ll take you off the list. No one else will have access to your address from this list. Some of you reading this are involved daily in the development of ALC. Others are hearing about our dynamic new school for the first time. If you haven’t recently visited our website, please check out www.alcOakland.com for an overview.

ALC is reaching out to middle school-age students and their families. We are recruiting students who have struggled in traditional school settings but who are committed to meeting ALC’s high expectations. Oakland principals, counselors, and teachers have been very helpful in this process, and this couldn’t be done without the support of ALC’s Outreach Coordinator, Javier Armas. My work with Javier goes back to when he was a student in my high school English classroom. Since then he has graduated from UC Santa Cruz and the two of us have worked together on projects with the Environmental Studies Program and Oasis High School. A part of this outreach includes evening community meetings. All are welcome and a schedule will be posted on our website.
We are excited to announce that ALC officially has a home! We are “tucked in a corner of the town, but easily accessible to all.” Just off 98th St, between MacArthur and I-580. We are only blocks from the Oakland Zoo and close to other great community resources such as Youth Uprising. Four primary bus lines pass near the school. For more, visit the “location & directions” link at www.alcOakland.com.

ALC has already hired two teachers and is meeting many dynamic applicants who are drawn to our mission, vision, and theories of action. Final hiring decisions will be made soon, so if you or someone you know may be interested in this work, please contact us right away.

One very important strand of our work is wrap-around mental health support, and ALC is happy to announce that we will partner with Lincoln Child Center to provide this service to all ALC students.

Of course, there is much more to say, but I don’t want to exhaust you with a novel-length email. Keep an eye on our website and future emails for volunteer opportunities and fund raising events. Get ready for a delicious dinner celebration with Oakland’s “Tamale Queen”. More info soon!

Thank you all for your interest and support in the Alternative Learning Community.

~ Dennis Guikema, Principal, ALC
dennis.guikema@ousd.k12.ca.us
http://www.alcOakland.com