The OSA Newsletter:
April 2021 Focus on Community
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Newsletter Contents:
- School News
- Student Activities
- Alumni Update
- Update from Parent Volunteer Groups
- Student Opportunities
If your email provider cuts off the newsletter mid-way, be sure to click and expand!
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Upcoming Performances
Springtime at OSA means performances! Please mark your calendars for all of these upcoming events, for your student's sub-pathway and also to support all our students! They have been working so hard to create their art in these tumultuous times.
Friday 4/16 at 7:00 pm Theatre Performance of Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead*
Wednesday 4/21 at 6:00 Instrumental - Spring Strings Performance
Friday 4/23 Literary Arts High School Reading
Friday 4/30 and Saturday 5/1 at 7:00 - Theatre Performance of The Addams Family*
Friday 5/14 and Saturday 5/15 - Theatre Performance of Spring Awakening*
*Produced in collaboration with Production Design students
Also, please be extra sure to add the following on your calendar:
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To keep up with all events, please subscribe to the OSA school calendar!
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Heart of Oakland Coming Up Soon!
OSA’s Heart of Oakland is in 2 weeks! Join us on Thursday, April 29th at 6pm for this community celebration and important fundraiser for our school. Thank you to our volunteers and donors who have helped us to procure over 80 items for our auction. And thank you to our sponsors, who have so far helped us to raise $25,000 in sponsorship! Please join us on April 29th to experience the talent and heart at OSA during this night of impressive student performances, a live fund-a-need, and exciting auction. All funds raised go directly to support OSA's unique and robust programming.
You must REGISTER to attend the Heart of Oakland benefit, and to receive important details in advance. And it's not too late to become an event sponsor.
The online silent auction opens next Monday, April 19th and closes on Sunday, May 2nd. This gives you plenty of time to bid on your favorite items!
Order a Delicious Meal Delivered to Your Home to Enjoy During Heart of Oakland!
MARTHA AVENUE Home Cooked Meals is offering a special Heart of Oakland menu with delivery included for the evening of April 29th only! Order Online BEFORE April 27th!
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Upcoming WASC Visit
Hello Community,
All high schools and colleges periodically go through a “WASC Self-Study” (Western Association of Schools and Colleges) process to renew their accreditation. This process involves the writing of a comprehensive report about the school and a follow-up visit from a committee of educators. OSA’s last self-study took place in April 2014 and we were accredited for 6 years at that time. Although we were due for our next visit in Spring 2020, COVID19 delayed many visits – and subsequently all rescheduled visits have been virtual since September. Our school staff, administration, parents and students have been involved in various aspects of our Self-Study process since August 2019. As a community, we have written a report looking at all aspects of our school. We have been in close communication with our Visiting Committee members since January. We are currently preparing for a visit from the WASC Committee and will host the group of five educators from Sunday afternoon, May 2, to Wednesday, May 5. They will be observing classes and will meet with various school community groups while they are virtually “here”. Their goal will be to confirm what we have outlined in our report and then to offer their findings to us at the end of the visit. We are only disappointed that they will not to get to see OSA in full operation as the vibrant, creative school that it is! We will share the outcomes of the visit at the subsequent OSA Board meeting.
Best wishes,
Julie Humphrey, OSA WASC Coordinator and Science Department Chair
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A Message from Academic Counseling:
Early College Credit Summer Classes: Community Colleges will likely open up their summer catalogs in April. If your high school student would like to take a summer Early College Credit (ECC) course, make sure to check those college websites for catalog updates. If you would like to know more about the process of signing up for a community college course, you can visit the Academic Counseling Website's Concurrent Enrollment Page.
Selecting classes for next year: Current 8th-11th graders who plan to go to OSA in 2021/2022 will receive information at the end of April on how to register for next year's courses. Please keep an eye on the Academic Counseling Website for updates to the course catalog and the master schedule. If your student needs advice on course selection, they should visit their grade level counselor's office hours.
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Follow OSA on Social Media!
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During the lockdown experience of Covid, OSA IM teacher Daniel Parenti, his wife, and their son, OSA student Luca Parenti used the time to produce a short film at their home called The 2020 Kid, which covers a day in the life of a kid during Covid. They were so pleased with the final outcome after six months of filming, soundtracking, and editing that they decided to submit the film to film festivals around the world!
It is super exciting to announce that The 2020 Kid is now officially an award winning short film! You can see some of their accolades on the poster below. The film is currently unreleased, but will be available this fall.
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OSA Merchandise For Sale!
Student leadership has put together some merchandise for each grade level featuring student art. Check out our online OSA Merchandise store! Proceeds benefit future student council events, as well as sponsoring shirts for students who may not otherwise have access to purchase them. Thanks to Nora Cesareo-Dense, our OSA Student Council President, and the entire Student Council for all their hard work putting this together!
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Yearbook Update
Hello OSA students and parents,
The OSA 2020-2021 Yearbook is available to buy via TreeRing using this link. Sign into an existing account or create a new one in order to access the purchasing page. Please reach out to us at yearbook@students.oakarts.org if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
The OSA Student Yearbook Team
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OSA Alumna Nyah Ginwright (photo below) was recently interviewed in Shoutout LA. Nyah is in her third year at UCLA, majoring in Costume Design. Check out the article, where she shares her inspiration and how her Fashion Design experience at OSA with Ms. Linda has helped to form her perspective as an artist. Go Nyah - we are so proud of your success!
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Our high school Dance students were also able to participate in a Q&A with OSA Alumni Schuyler Wijsen and Océane Hooks-Camilleri (Class of 2008), who received her Bachelors in American Studies with a focus in comparative race and ethnicity, Self Design in Art and Activism from Connecticut College and is currently pursuing a Masters of Science in Global Affairs at NYU. Océane is also a mediator at New York Peace Institute, mediating multi-party community disputes.
Schuyler Wijsen began attending Oakland School for the Arts’ School of Dance under the direction of Mr. Savage and Ms. Hurley in the 6th grade and while at OSA began additional training at San Francisco Ballet School. He attended the 2016 and 2017 summer courses at the School of American Ballet, the official school of the New York City Ballet on full merit scholarships, and in the fall of 2017, at age 14 he moved to NYC and enrolled as a full-time student at SAB. Last year, Schuyler was chosen by SAB’s faculty to be nominated for the Princess Grace Scholarship, a prestigious honor only given to a single student each year.
Our students being able to converse and receive advice from these OSA Alumni and the wide-ranging experiences they bring to the conversation, is truly invaluable.
We are so grateful to our Alumni for sharing their knowledge, life experience, and wisdom with our students!
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OSA Dance Alum Schuyler Wijsen |
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OSA Dance Alum Océane Hooks-Camilleri
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Updates from Parent Volunteer Groups: |
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Dear OSA Parents and Guardians,
Teacher Appreciation Week will be celebrated this year on May 3-7, a national holiday that Eleanor Roosevelt successfully convinced lawmakers to adopt in 1953. It has been an OSA tradition to express our gratitude for teachers and staff during this time – it’s the extra credit they deserve. Second to parenting, teaching is an all-consuming and challenging profession, and this year has been truly extraordinary.
The Hospitality Committee will be preparing Spring Baskets for every teacher and staff member to be gifted on May 3. The theme is Teachers plant the seeds that grow forever, and the basket will include an assortment of goodies that will have Spring blossoming in the home of every teacher!
Please help us create a memorable gift. Suggested donation is $10 per student, and any amount is appreciated. Lola Hanacek, OSA Hospitality Chair, will be collecting donations. It’s easy to give via Venmo, Paypal and Zelle: lubicaq@comcast.net or call 510-289-3073.
Please donate by April 18. If you are interested in helping with the basket assembly, please email Melanie Marcus at melaniemarcus7@gmail.com.
Happy Spring and stay healthy!
Sincerely,
The OSA Hospitality Committee:
Lubica Hanacek, Chair
Brooke Cartolano
Heidi Hartston
TJ Kirke
Melanie Marcus
Jojo Murphy
Alex Wanigtunga
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APT (Alliance of Parents and Teachers)
The Alliance of Parents & Teachers (APT) is committed to the success of OSA as a diverse, equitable and inclusive school community. Please join our next meeting on Wednesday, April 21st at 6:30pm.
(Meeting ID: 935 596 0147, Passcode: OSArocks).
We also invite you to join our online community, Konstella, where you can connect with other parents at OSA. Follow this link to create your account - https://www.konstella.com/cd/h9yisM.
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Mark your calendars! PODS End-of-Year Celebration!
PODS (Parents of Students with Disabilities group) will be hosting an event on May 17th- 6:30 pm. PODS is inviting our exceptional students to be part of this celebration by sharing music, videos, or art pictures created this school year. This will be a night of celebration of students' accomplishments, empowerment for our community, inspiration from panelists, and appreciation to the SPED Team. Should you be willing to share your student's work for this event please contact Karen Morfin, PODS Co-Chair at 925-826-6275, or via email at kmorfn30@gmail.com. PODS also invites parents to join their Konstella Group where you can connect with other parents for support, resources, advocacy tips as well as additional details for this event.
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OSA Anti-Racist Education & Activism Group
The OSA Anti-Racist Education and Activist Group is a group of mostly (though not all) white parents. We have continued to divide our bi-monthly meetings between educating ourselves and working on noticing and dismantling the places where we hold racism and white supremacy in our bodies and minds (on 2nd Wednesdays) and researching and organizing around ways to support people of color doing anti-racist work at OSA (on 4th Wednesdays). We welcome any parents who would like to join us in this work, 7-9pm, 2nd & 4th Wednesdays. You can find us on OSA Connects or Konstella, or reach out directly to Susannah Mackintosh at susannahmackintosh@gmail.com.
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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!
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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!
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Please note that OSA regularly passes along student opportunities which were shared with us. None of these organization(s) are affiliated with nor endorsed implicitly by OSA. |
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An Invitation to OSA from UC Berkeley's College of Environmental Design
Greetings from UC Berkeley!
I'm contacting you from UC Berkeley's College of Environmental Design to let you know that the embARC Summer Design Academy application deadline is approaching.
The application deadline is approaching on May 1, but for Oakland School for the Arts students I could extend it to May 15 if that would be helpful.
The program will be offered remotely again this summer, but we were very pleased with last year's student evaluations of the remote experience, and we're very excited about this summer's curriculum. Like the in-person program, the virtual embARC program offers high school students with an interest in architecture and design the opportunity to:
- explore architecture, urban design and city planning as possible college majors and careers
- develop a design portfolio to use for college applications
- work in a team with peers who have similar interests and ambitions
- earn college credit on an official UC Berkeley transcript
Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
We hope to see Oakland School for the Arts students in our virtual classrooms this year!
Thanks and best,
Chrissie Bradley
College of Environmental Design
University of California, Berkeley
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Thank you for your support of OSA!
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Oakland School for the Arts
510-873-8800
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