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  OCS advanced in the Oakland community, supported by community leaders and families, and became an identifiable and replicable educational model. The school was a critical formulation of the Black Panther Party vision that students would use their education as a stepping-stone to become world changers. Every child was appreciated for her/his innate wisdom and unique talents. A guiding and global principle of the school was The World is Our Classroom. This principle sprung from the school’s philosophy that children at OCS “will learn how, not what, to think”.

Former students of the OCS remember their own experience as a happy and transformative time in their lives. They remember that though their teachers had great academic expectations for them, they were available to speak with them about anything, from curiosity about nature to the challenges of their own families. A young mother of two, speaking about her fourth grade math class at OCS, recalled that she learned to solve Algebraic questions, through a powerful math program called Project Seed. It was at OCS, one young man said, that he learned what it means to be part of a community and be responsible for it. This understanding has remained with him throughout the years wherever he goes.

The students remember starting the day with a ten minute exercise program. Breakfast, followed by a short, school wide interactive check-in preceded the morning classes. A nutritious lunch at midday and ten minutes of meditation in the early afternoon was followed by classes for the older children and rest for the smaller ones. Dinner concluded the day and the school vans transported the children who could not walk to their homes.

Rosa Parks was one of the many special guests who came to witness the Oakland Community School and to inspire and be inspired by the children.

Photo: Donald Cunningham