The OSA Newsletter:
Focus On Community
|
|
A Holiday Reminder:
There is no school on Monday, February 15th due to Presidents' Day.
This also means we will be running a special four-day school week with this schedule for the week of February 16-19th.
|
|
Artist Speaker Series Continues! |
|
Oakland School for the Arts Artist Speaker Series Welcomes
Disney Animator Marlon West
All are welcome!
Date: February 17th
Time: 11 am - 12 pm
This event will include a Q&A session moderated by our students
Also - don't miss it! Just added to our line up on March 31st is
Hip Hop Graffiti Legend Fab 5 Freddy!
As a Linked Learning School, this series of events was created as a part of our commitment to transforming education into a highly relevant and engaging experience. We will be providing our students with the opportunity to connect directly with these, and other, influential working artists.
|
|
Calendar Updates
To keep up with all events, please follow the OSA school calendar!
|
|
Follow OSA on Social Media!
Be sure to follow OSA (@osaschool) on Facebook and Instagram for your daily dose of what's good at OSA! |
|
A Message from Academic Counseling
We are getting closer to the end of quarter 3; please make sure to check PowerSchool to see your student's progress. If you need any help with logging into PowerSchool, you can reach out to studentrecords@oakarts.org. Teachers have office hours if students need help with work, Student Support holds a study hall on Tuesdays from 12-1, and Academic and Wellness Counselors have drop in times available if students or families need some help with getting back or staying on track.
|
|
OSA Student Play Opens Tonight!
Youth Uproar Theatre Company is pleased to welcome you to the inaugural show of our inaugural season, Leela Kiyawat's MAHABHARATA, written by award-winning teen playwright and OSA senior, Leela Kiyawat, with music composed and recorded by OSA senior Malachi Del Rosario, sets designed by OSA junior Rene Jones, and sponsored by Oakland Theatre Project. The Mahabharata is a sweeping Indian epic, as well as a meditation on the universality of storytelling! Leela's version only tells three of these stories, but she strongly encourages everyone to take a deep dive into their own mythological backgrounds--at the end of the day, if anything can bind humanity together, it's the fairy tales we have passed down through the years. Please consider seeing this amazing show created by an all BIPOC cast and crew (including many current OSA students and alumni ), it is something you don't want to miss! More information at www.yutc.org! Tickets available at
Video Interview
Ms. Bradburn happens to be teaching Ancient India and the Mahabharata as part of the 6th grade social science curriculum, so she arranged to interview Leela and Malachai earlier this week to talk about the production. Mrs. Farmer kindly edited the video. Here's a link so you can hear what Leela and Malachai had to say.
|
|
T shirt Update
Hi Parents!! Student leadership has put together some merchandise for each grade level featuring student art. Here are the links for each grade:
All the proceeds will go to funding shirts for kids who can't afford them and funding future (hopefully in-person) student council events!
Thank you!
Nora Cesareo-Dense
OSA Student Council President
|
|
BSU Assembly for Black History Month
Student leaders of the Black Student Union are working hard with Faculty Advisor Solas Lalgee and Dean of Students Ms. DeRoos to put together another amazing Black History Month Assembly on Tuesday February 23rd. In keeping with our OSA tradition, this assembly will feature performances, historical and global context, and each sub-pathway will be represented by Black students sharing personal artwork. The zoom link can be found in grade level google classrooms and will be sent to student emails.
|
|
Black Composers Piano Concert
OSA students, under the direction of Instrumental Music teachers Emily Tian and Kev Choice, held a piano concert with music exclusively by Black composers. This was highlighted recently on our social media, in honor of Black History Month. Here's the link, in case you missed it!
|
|
Student Entrepreneur
Eighth grade student (Dance) Kindal Reddic founded Kakepopilicious, a cake pop/treat business last March, right before everything shut down due to COVID.
For the last year, on top of being an amazing student, Kindal has been working extremely hard, on evenings and weekends, trying to perfect her craft and building brand and clientele. Her website launched last week.
|
|
OSA Students in Great Wall Youth Orchestra
Almost a dozen OSA students are part of the Great Wall Youth Orchestra, featured in this video by KQED. Some of our students, Jiancheng Li and Janice Pang, have been playing in this group for almost their entire lives. If you'd like to hear more music from the Great Wall Youth Orchestra, check out this video of one of our alumni, Alejandro Chavez, Class of 2015- Vocal, soloing on an instrument known as a Sheng back in 2011. |
|
Alumni featured on Vogue
OSA Alumni Tenzin Sia (Class of 2020-Fashion) is a student at Central St. Martins College of Art and Design in London. Recently he had the opportunity to participate in their famed annual White Show, in which students are challenged to create a piece all using the same unadorned white fabric. His piece was one that was featured on Vogue's Instagram coverage of the show.
|
|
Teacher Spotlight: Brenda Wagner |
|
Ms. Wagner joined OSA last year and teaches math classes in both middle and high school.
When did you start at OSA?
I started in March 2020, just a few weeks before Oakland received the shelter-in-place order that propelled us into remote learning mode.
What do you teach?
Math - CC3 (pre-Algebra) and Algebra 1
What led you to teach at OSA?
I had been interested in teaching at OSA for some time. My friend's daughter was a student here. She heard that there was an opening for a math teacher and gave me a call.
What is your favorite part about working at OSA?
The students at OSA are so engaged and have such passion -- it is pretty rare to come across an indifferent, apathetic teenager here! I love watching my students' performances and seeing their artwork. I'm constantly amazed by the talent in both teachers and students.
What were things that OSA did differently, that you noticed when you started?
The teachers here are so collaborative and have the most amazing can-do attitude.
What are your hopes for the school and students in the future?
The pandemic and the quick switch to distance learning has accentuated inequalities in education. My hope is that our struggles during this time gives us tools and understanding to address those inequalities and that we become stronger because of it.
Do you have an artistic practice?
I don't have an artistic practice... my (previous) professional career was in the world of technology and business. However, I have always enjoyed doing creative things -- I like designing and building things and some of my proudest "creations" have been as a parent volunteer making stage props and backdrops, designing/sewing costumes, and cake/cookie decorating (Ace of Cakes style).
What is something about you that your students may be surprised to learn?
Three little tidbits: I've worked at NASA on a team that was designing remote robot control in space stations, I've been an extra in 3 movies, and I've jumped out of an airplane (on purpose!).
|
|
Updates from Parent Volunteer Groups: |
|
PODS (Parents of Students with Disabilities) continues to work with administration to resolve equity and disability rights concerns presented during the current school year. We are excited to report that our partnership, advocacy and commitment to serve our children with IEPs and 504 plans have yielded tangible results. In our January meeting Ms. Ordaz and Mr. Oz shared that they will be resuming assessment evaluations which may be in various forms in person, on-line, and/or through outside agents that may perform these evaluations when OSA is not able to safely do these evaluations in person. In alliance with APT and POC, PODS will be presenting at POC Equity Town Hall to do a recap of equity challenges and report on progress and victories seen this school year. We invite everyone to join us and be part of the conversation. Zoom Link.
|
|
The POC (People of Color) group composed of parents, students and teachers, has collaborated on a follow up Town Hall event. The event, Fulfilling the Promise: Accountability, Urgency, Impact, is a follow up to the last town hall that we had in June 2020. It will take place next Tuesday 2/16 from 6-7:30 pm. This is a POC event, however all are welcome to attend and listen. POC voices will be centered in this event.
|
|
The OSA Anti-Racist Education & Activism Group is meeting regularly on 2nd and 4th Wednesdays. We have decided to dedicate our 2nd Wednesday meetings to self-education, to further our anti-racist work by addressing it in ourselves and digging deeper. On 4th Wednesdays, we are having our activist meetings. At the moment, we are still gathering information, hoping to support the great work that others at OSA are already doing to improve equity and access. We invite all parents to join us on Konstella!
|
|
The Advocacy Committee loves to network with other volunteer leaders and faculty. Want to connect for a virtual coffee or phone chat? Send an email!
|
|
The Alliance of Parents & Teachers (APT) is committed to strengthening communication & fostering collaboration within the OSA community. We invite all OSA families - especially new families - to follow this link https://www.konstella.com/cd/h9yisM and join our private, online network. This information-sharing space serves OSA families as the only platform where members can have interactive discussions online.
In lieu of the February APT Meeting, all OSA families are encouraged to support the work of the school-wide People of Color (POC) and Parents of Students with Disabilities (PODS) groups by attending the POC "Fulfilling the Promise" Town Hall meeting on Tuesday, February 16th at 6pm. This meeting is open to all but will center the voices and experiences of POC.
|
|
The OSA Ambassadors Parent Volunteer Committee would like to extend an invitation to all families, especially new ones, to our monthly Family Mixer on Friday, February 19th at 6:00 PM. RSVP here for the zoom link! Topics for discussion include safe summer plans for kids, and self-care for parents during a pandemic.
|
|
The Senior Parents Volunteer Committee has been hard at work with College Counselor Wendy Snyder, coordinating senior photos, cap and gown orders, and collecting funds to ensure all seniors have equitable access to these materials and activities. Dinah Mattick (parent of Beatrice Miller, Class of 2022-Dance), has been attending these meetings and taking notes to ensure the continuing legacy of ideas and resources for next year's senior class. Much brainstorming is taking place around what a graduation ceremony could look like in these times of changing safety tiers and restrictions on gathering, and the community will be kept in the loop as we know more.
|
|
Want to get involved at OSA?
There are over twenty different parent volunteer groups at OSA, each with a different focus on supporting our students and teachers. More than 250 sign-ups have come through OSA Connects - check it out to find your way to connect!
|
|
⬇︎ Keep scrolling for more! ⬇︎ |
|
Attention OSA Families!
If you move, change your email or phone number - let us know! It is important for us to be able to reach you, especially in these socially distant times. Please update your information by emailing studentrecords@oakarts.org
|
|
City of Oakland Now Providing Free WiFi! |
|
What is OAK-WiFi?
OAK WiFi is a free city service that provides internet access to residents of Oakland.
When will OAK-WiFi be available?
The service will provide free wifi to all residents, 24 hours a day beginning in Zones 1, 18, & 2 starting mid November 2020 and in the remaining Zones (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, & 13) in late December 2020. Check out this map for more details or look up your area!
How can I access OAK-WiFi?
Easily! Just go into the wifi settings on your mobile phone, laptop, or desktop computer, select OAK-WIFI and get connected!
|
|
Thank you for your support of OSA!
|
|
|
|
Oakland School for the Arts
510-873-8800
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
