This blog is part of our Rise the Bar series, highlighting schools where Black and Brown students are making significant growth in ELA, math or A-G college eligibility. Learn more about FIA’s Raise the Bar campaign at: https://fiaoakland.org/raise-the-bar/
Alejandra’s daughter loves attending Aspire College Academy. When the fourth-grader walks in the school door in the morning, teachers greet her by name even if she’s not in their class. Her daughter has different teacher mentors, and developed a close bond with her afterschool teacher.
That eases Alejandra’s mind when she drops her daughter off each day: she knows her child is supported, safe and excelling academically.
“My daughter has an IEP, and she gets that extra support which I really do appreciate,” Mom said. “I have seen such good outcomes for her. Her reading level improved, her math improved. And it’s not just her teachers, but all the support staff there that really help her.”
Aspire College Academy (ACA) is a TK-5 school in the heart of East Oakland. It’s a neighborhood school that serves Black and Brown families and shares its campus with a church. It’s a school with a tight community and a family-like environment where teachers and parents have built strong relationships. It’s also a school that is Raising the Bar.
“We are here to change the social and economic trajectory of families,” ACA principal Brian White said.
At ACA, where 93 percent of students are socioeconomically disadvantaged and over 50 percent are English Language Learners, the academic performance numbers have accelerated dramatically in one year: in ELA, African American students improved by 33.5 points, English Language Learner (ELL) students by 29.5 points and Latino students by 27.8 points; in math, Latino students improved by 39.6 points, ELL students by 27.5 points, and African American students by 7 points.
Principal White said there is a lot that has gone into the school’s ascent in academic performance: the commitment of teachers, a multi-tiered support system for students, and more layers of reading interventions for students have all been really important.
The largest factor is probably the school’s culture, though: “a culture of caring, a culture of responsibility, a culture of winning, just a culture of success,” Principal White said.
“The kids expect to do well,” he said. “And you can see their confidence growing.”
Principal White comes from a community organizing background and has 22 years experience as an educator. He said he sees his work as his calling, and “what (he) was put on this earth to do.” A big part of his role has been to “bring the joy back into the building.” He said blending two social-emotional curriculums has worked wonders, with students able to self-regulate better which has led to fewer classroom interruptions. “When more teaching happens, more learning happens,” Principal White said.
Students with IEP’s, like Alejandra’s daughter, spend the majority of their day in general education classes, where they gain full access to their grade level curriculum while also receiving the targeted support and instruction they need. The school’s Education Specialists regularly communicate with parents, and Instructional Aides are bilingual and forge strong relationships with students.
Brian said he reminds ACA teachers that they should be their students’ biggest cheerleaders. “That builds confidence, builds good vibes,” he said. “And when you feel good, you do good.”
Ms. Arce-Chiu is a kindergarten teacher in her sixth year at ACA, and the Teacher of the Year for Aspire Bay Area. She completed her teaching residency at ACA and then joined the team, teaching second grade. When the school had a long waitlist of kindergarten students, Ms. Arce-Chiu stepped up to teach that grade.
Ms. Arce-Chiu’s favorite part of teaching kindergartners is how much growth they show by the end of the year, like putting words together, understanding numbers, how to be a good friend, how to be an independent learner. “Some of them come in not knowing a thing, and they leave knowing so much,” she said.
ACA fosters a community of collaboration, where they have each other’s back and student success is their north star. “It really feels like a family here,” Ms. Arce-Chiu said. “A lot of the siblings of our kiddos go here, and (teachers) can say, ‘I have this student and you have their sibling, what has worked for them?’ We are able to collaborate in that way. I feel like we are more than co-workers, we really care about our school, our students, our community, and also each other.”
Ms. Ramirez has seen ACA’s growth from up close. She’s been at the school for its entire 10 year history. Ms. Ramirez joined the ACA family as a founding parent, each of her children attended ACA, and she’s now an employee. working her way from the Cafeteria Manager to her current role as Family Support Manager.
Ms. Ramirez chose ACA over other district, charter, and private options because she wanted her children to have a better academic experience than she did. “Growing up in Oakland, there was a language barrier between my teachers and my parents and it was a very difficult journey for me,” she said.
“My parents were working more than one job. I didn’t get the help and resources that I needed, and I didn’t want my kids to experience that.”
Ms. Ramirez could see her daughter benefiting from being at ACA right away. Her daughter is now in college, yet Maria said she will never forget her kindergarten teacher. “She is forever engraved in our hearts and our minds,” Maria said of the teacher. “She was very observant about what help my daughter might benefit from, and she was also a lot of fun with the kids.”
Ms. Ramirez cares deeply about the ACA students. She sees all the ACA students as her kids. “They’re my kids until they go home, and then when they come back they’re mine again,” she said. In addition to her main responsibilities as the Family Support Manager, Ms. Ramirez helps some families find food and housing. She keeps extra clothes and a pantry full of food in her office if families need anything. “I stay busy, “ she said.
ACA is facing the second charter renewal in Ms. Ramirez’s time at the school. She shared that the unknown of the renewal is stressful for families and educators. Her hope is that the OUSD board can really see what an important place ACA is for families, students, and the community, and how students are thriving.
“There is no reason to doubt us,” she said. “We are doing really great things.”
