My children attend a school in our neighborhood. The school, Melrose Leadership Academy, belongs to Oakland Unified School District. Parents and educators have created a supportive community.
So far, so good. Nice simple story.
Except that everything is a little more complicated. MLA has been continually growing and moving. This summer, we have moved to Maxwell Park School after outgrowing our old site at Elizabeth Sherman. Both Elizabeth Sherman and Maxwell Park Elementary have closed in the last ten years, but both buildings are still called by their former names. (I think… it’s complicated.) Melrose Leadership Academy is a K-8 school without 4th and 5th grades. The lower grades are dual Spanish immersion and the higher grades are middle school. When the Spanish immersion program began, we started with kindergarten.
On Saturday, many of our community met for a school work day. Teachers unloaded boxes and set up their rooms again.… Read the rest