Education
On a cloudy Saturday morning, Carmen Román and her husband, Pierr Padilla, filled the basement of the Golden Gate Library in Oakland with a symphony of sounds, using their feet, hands and traditional Afro-Peruvian instruments. A small group of children shrieked with glee and bumbled around the room, dancing as their parents nodded to the beat being created by Román and Padilla opening and closing the top to their cajitas, a box-shaped Latin percussion instrument, and hitting it with a…
A potential strike and district-wide shutdown has likely been avoided after West Contra Costa Unified School District and the United Teachers of Richmond reached a tentative three-year contract agreement Friday, the union said in a newsletter Monday. On Friday, 73% of the 1,182 members casting ballots voted to ratify the deal. Since negotiations began a year ago, WCCUSD and UTR have been unable to agree on salary and on contract language regarding Community Schools, a strategy that focuses on partnerships…
“Thirty-eight schools have better stuff than us — why do y’all always put us in the bottom?” “Can you please help the school? Because we really need a good school because I think having a good school helps me learn.” “I feel like you guys don’t care about our school.” That’s what Stege Elementary School fourth graders wrote in letters to the West Contra Costa Unified School District Board last school year. Other students wrote letters, too, citing a variety…
Viva Millan-Alioto has six children, two of whom have special needs and qualify for transportation to and from school in the West Contra Costa Unified School District. But a bus driver shortage has stressed the system, making the service less reliable. Millan-Alioto has had to get on the phone with school officials to ensure pickups, or do the driving herself. “You have to be very active to get things done,” she said. As with the teacher shortage, the school bus…
More than two weeks after the West Contra Costa Unified School District declared an impasse with United Teachers of Richmond, many educators are feeling scared and uncertain about the future of their jobs. Since the negotiation process began in February, UTR’s focus has been on ensuring all students have high quality, certificated educators; providing emotionally and physically safe learning environments; and prioritizing shared decision making among students, their families and teachers. But the sides have been unable to agree on…
For years, even on hot mornings and afternoons, Verde Elementary School students have spent their recess and physical education periods on a cracked and sun-drenched blacktop — a wide open space with colored lines drawing volleyball courts and soccer fields, a running track along the edge. But the school will soon live up to its colorful name, with green scenery to cover the blacktop and shade the kids. Last month, volunteers from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and 100K…
Fourth grade dual-language immersion teacher Wendy Gonzalez has been fighting for bilingual education since 1998, often feeling that the school district treated it as more of an afterthought. A teacher shortage in the West Contra Costa Unified School District has exacerbated the problem, she said, leaving dual-language immersion in a precarious place. “If we don’t have support, it’s going to fail,” she said. “It’s going to crumble.” Three elementary schools — Washington, Stewart and Downer — use the dual-language immersion…
Through WCC Education Fund, Youth Code Now triples number of Black and Latino students learning STEM
School days were difficult for Susana Romero, who was 11 when her family left El Salvador and settled in Richmond. She had a hard time with math and her parents, who did not speak English or finish school, couldn’t help her. Things changed academically when Romero was introduced to computer science in high school. She pursued that interest after graduation earning a certificate in information technology support. Now she is an instructor with Youth Code Now in Richmond, teaching STEM…
At the Main Library in Richmond, time seems to stand still. The two-story building’s glass façade — said to be the first of its kind for a public library in the United States — allows the sunlight to filter in but keeps the hustle and bustle of city life out. With time-worn floor tiles and antiquated ceiling lights, the library makes very clear that it’s been around for a long time — actually, since Harry Truman was president. Romanticization of…