Oakland Unified School District is a public education school district that operates a total of 80 elementary schools (TK–5), middle schools (6–8), and high schools (9–12). There are also 28 district-authorized charter schools in Oakland, California, United States, serving a total of 48,704 students across both district-run and district-authorized charter schools (as of census day in 2020–21, with 35,489 of those students served by district-run schools).
Located in California's most diverse city, OUSD serves a diverse population of students. Nearly half of the students in district and charter schools speak a non-English language at home. For the school year 2016–17, 31 percent of OUSD students were English-language learners. OUSD also serves a large population of newcomer students. Seventy-three percent of students receive free or reduced-price meals.
OUSD was among the first school districts in the country to implement restorative justice practices to limit or eliminate suspensions. During the 2015 school year, 96.1 percent of students were not suspended.
Started in 2010, OUSD's African American Male Achievement Initiative enrolls more than 400 students. Students in the program have experienced success, including higher GPAs, higher graduation rates (up over 10 percent), and lower suspension rates (with a decrease of ⅓ for students enrolled in the program). In 2016, OUSD launched an African American Girls and Young Women Achievement Program.
In 2015 and 2016, OUSD forged partnerships with and secured grants from a number of technology companies, including Salesforce, Intel, Code.org, and Google, and set a goal to make computer science a graduation requirement for the freshman class that begins school in 2017.
History
The first school in Oakland opened in the 1850s and was located in a rented room in the back of a fandango at Second and Washington Streets. On July 12, 1853, the city held a parade to the first official school building. The schoolhouse was at the corner of Fifth and Clay and cost $1,000 to construct. The first school house had 16 students and was taught by a woman named Hannah Jayne. She was the only teacher in Oakland until 1855. Franklin Warner was hired soon after as Oakland's first principal. Frederick M. Campbell was hired as Oakland's first Superintendent. Reading, writing and arithmetic were stressed, as well as American history. Paper and books were scarce, so a lot of learning was done out loud.
In 1860, there were about 400 students in one-room schoolhouses taught by one teacher, and another school building at Fifth and Broadway taught older students. The first public high school opened in 1869 with 29 students. By the end of the 1870s, there was a public high school and nine public grade schools. In the 1880s, the first kindergarten and the first night school in Oakland opened.
A 1909 Chamber of Commerce guide to the city includes this description of Oakland public schools: "Oakland's chief pride is its public school system and the fact that her schools rank among the highest in the United States. No more modern school buildings can be found in any city in the United States than in Oakland. There are twenty-two public school buildings, and according to the figures of the City Assessor (which, upon municipal property are naturally low) the school land valuations amount to One Million, Ninety-three Thousand, Two Hundred Seventy-five Dollars … Connected with the High School is a completely equipped observatory, in which the study of astronomy is made effective and interesting with the aid of the most modern instruments."
A City of Oakland Chamber of Commerce brochure from 1915, which includes a photo of Oakland Technical High School, states: "The pride of Oakland is its schools. This, the Technical High School, with forges, machine shops, a great auditorium seating 1600 people, chemical laboratories and many other education features which prepare young men and women for an active and useful life, is one of the finest structures of its kind in the United States."
A 1915 Board of Education guide to Oakland schools included 46 schools, many of which are still open today. They include Allendale, Claremont, Cleveland, Dewey, Elmhurst, Emerson, Franklin, Frick, Fruitvale, Lincoln, Manzanita, McClymonds, Melrose, Peralta, Piedmont, Prescott, Sequoia, Santa Fe, Fremont High, Oakland High, and Oakland Tech. High school departments included English, History, Foreign Languages, Mathematics, Science, Commercial, Home Economics, Physical Training, Shop and Drawing.