How Oakland is Planning for Promise Neighborhoods

Neighborhood Collaboratives

The Peralta Community College District proposes to lead the Promise Neighborhoods (PN) initiative in four severely distressed geographic areas in Oakland, California. Each Oakland PN surrounds a low-performing school that serves a geographic area where over 40% of children live in poverty. Each PN is among Oakland’s “highest-stressor” police beats, based on crime, violence, dropouts, unemployment, and other social indicators. In each of the four PNs, neighborhood lead agencies will serve as key providers of high-quality programs.

Lower San Antonio

San Antonio is a 45-square-block area in central Oakland surrounding the PN hub school, Garfield Elementary, and its partner school, Roosevelt Middle School, with a large population of immigrant families from Asia and Latin America. The neighborhood lead for San Antonio is East Bay Asian Youth Center (EBAYC).

Contact: David Kakishiba

Phone: (510) 533-1092

Email: junji@ebayc.org

West Oakland

West Oakland is a 30-square block, largely African-American neighborhood surrounding the hub school, West Oakland Middle (WOMS) and its partner school, Martin Luther King Elementary, adjacent to the highly industrial Port of Oakland. Within its boundaries are two large Oakland Housing Authority projects, totaling 544 units, home to hundreds of children. The neighborhood lead for West Oakland is Prescott-Joseph Center for Community Enhancement (PJC).

Contact: Hae-Sin Thomas

Phone: (510) 759-1331

Email: haesin.thomas@urbanedsolutions.org

East Oakland/Havenscourt

Havenscourt is a 25-square-block area surrounding hub school Roots International Academy (grades 6-8) and partner school, Futures (K-5), co-located on the former Havenscourt Middle School campus. The majority of families in the neighborhood are native Spanish speakers. Two Oakland Housing Authority projects in this neighborhood have a total of 473 public housing units. The neighborhood lead for Havenscourt is Bay Area Coalition for Equitable Schools (BayCES).

Contact: Brett Bradshaw

Phone: (510) 208-0160 ex. 341

Email: bbradshaw@nationalequityproject.org

East Oakland/Castlemont

Castlemont consists of a 25-square-block area containing hub school East Oakland School for the Arts (EOSA), one of three small high schools on the Castlemont campus, and its PN partner school EC Reems Academy charter school (K-8). It is a predominately African-American residential community with a growing number of Latino families. The neighborhood lead for Castlemont is Youth Uprising (YU).

Contact: Olis Simmons

Phone: (510) 777-9909

Email: olis@youthuprising.org

Advisory Committee

The Advisory Committee (AC) will focus on the systems level reforms and policy changes required to implement our PN effort across the city. It will monitor policy, funding, and reform opportunities pertaining to the implementation of PNs, conduct policy advocacy, and set the stage for implementation and scalability to other neighborhoods. The AC will guide the overall planning process, and receive reports from staff, partners and consultants on a citywide and neighborhood-specific basis to maintain overall accountability to our objectives. It will also review fiscal reports quarterly and ensure that the PN funds and matching allocations are being expended as planned. The AC will review and approve the Strategic Plan for the PNs that is one of the core deliverables of the planning process.

The Advisory Committee is broadly representative of the four target neighborhoods. The AC will include two low-income residents from each PN who are representative of and reflective of the neighborhood and who have a history of community organizing or other service in the PN, as well as key staff members from each PN neighborhood lead agency. The AC will also have high-level representatives from OUSD, the City of Oakland, and the Alameda County government.

To the extent possible, the AC will make decisions based on consensus. We will be conscious of issues of language, race and class, and we will make best efforts to minimize barriers to equal participation, including providing translation services, stipends for low-income community members to defray transportation, and childcare costs.

Timeline for the Planning Process

Oakland has devised a plan to manage the Promise Neighborhood Planning Process. This strategic timeline consists of four Phases with clearly defined milestones and division of responsibilities.