Education

Can ‘community ambassadors’ untangle Richmond’s relationship with the police?

Richmond Police Sgt. Florencio Rivera lifts a thick leather belt from the trunk of his police cruiser. He points to several objects dangling from it — pepper spray, handcuffs, riot baton, pistol, Taser — and explains: These are just stand-ins. The baton is made of foam, the Taser is unloaded, and the pistol fires Airsoft pellets. Together, they represent a pretend version of the “duty kit” carried by Richmond officers. Rivera is supervising a mock scenario as part of the…

West Contra Costa schools to receive $1 million federal grant for English learners, immigrant students

The West Contra Costa Unified School District is expecting to receive more than $1 million to assist English-as-a-second-language instruction for this current school year. The state grant is part of a federal education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which allows each state to decide how to utilize federal funding to improve the quality of instruction and advance education equity. California’s draft plan was signed and submitted to the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) by Gov. Jerry Brown last…

A new kind of charter school: Invictus Academy plans to teach non-traditional skills

Invictus Academy of Richmond is a different kind of charter school, one where students will take double periods of math and English along with communication classes like speech and debate. On September 27, the Contra Costa County Office of Education approved plans to open Invictus, a new public charter school. Invictus, which has been in the works since August 2016, will be open to students from grade 7 to 12 by fall 2018. Gautam Thapar, executive director and lead founder…

Food Week in Richmond offers a fresh approach for healthy eating

Eating rich doesn’t mean spending money on an expensive meal. Anyone can have a nutrition-rich diet of healthy foods. But knowing where to purchase affordable, and locally grown produce is not easy. Food Week, going on now in Richmond, seeks to build a stronger food movement, united by a vision of food that is healthy, affordable and culturally relevant. Events this week provide opportunities to learn how to grow and prepare home-cooked meals, and how to access healthy food at…