Oakland Freedom School
Academically underserved students from low socio-economic backgrounds face a widening achievement gap during the summer, particularly in reading proficiency.
What We Do
Lincoln Families’ Oakland Freedom School, a six-week summer literacy and cultural pride program, builds strong reading skills and youth self-concept, while closing achievement gaps. Our trained college-aged staff leaders deliver the culturally-integrated curriculum, enrichment activities, educational field trips, parent education workshops, and community outreach events. Programming focuses on five essential components:
High Quality Academic Instruction - Delivering an integrated reading curriculum --- meeting California common core standards --- in which books, activities, and field trips all relate to and reinforce a love of reading;
Inter-Generational Impact - Developing leaders from two generations --- the youth served and the trained college students and recent graduate who teach and serve them;
Family Involvement - Providing family learning to strengthen skills for the healthy educational and social development of their children;
Social Action & Civic Engagement - Teaching youth to engage in community service and social justice advocacy;
Nutrition & Health - Building personal responsibility and skills for healthy living and choices.
Our Why
Summer is a particularly significant time for learning. For some, summer months offer exciting opportunities to learn and explore outside of the traditional classroom. However, for students and families experiencing poverty, limited access to resources and learning materials during the summer can result in students falling academically behind their more affluent peers, especially in reading or English Language Arts. Summer learning loss has been found to be a contributing factor in the achievement gap, disproportionately impacting students of color, and if not addressed, can result in cumulative grade level reading loss over time. OFS provides integral academic interventions for students in high need communities to mitigate this potential loss.
Outcomes
Participants on average gained a six-month increase in instructional reading levels in just six weeks.
100% of parents reported that they plan to be more engaged in their child’s school work next year.
Contact
Ocie Parks
Program Manager
ocieparks@lincolnfamilies.org
510.407.0676
Dynell Garron
Director Family Strengthening & Youth Services
dynellgarron@lincolnfamilies.org
510.237.4700 x4231
“Over the six weeks of programming, I watched him open up like a butterfly. He went from being quiet to singing cheers and chants that reinforce his self-esteem and confidence. And to my surprise, he found a joy for reading and began to identify words he didn’t know before attending Oakland Freedom Schools. I am grateful for this program and look forward to the upcoming summer.” — OFS Parent