Enrolling Students from Across the World
Oakland Schools are proud to enroll and support ever growing numbers of immigrant students from across the world. These students, commonly referred to as newcomers, bring tremendous assets into our schools — language, culture, resilience, and a determination to leverage education to advance themselves and their community. Many of these students also experienced significant trauma in their home countries as well as on the journey to Oakland, and many also did not have full access to schooling in their home countries. As a Sanctuary District, OUSD understands our obligation to these students to be doing everything within our means to enable their success in our schools.
More Newcomers
The newcomer population continues to grow rapidly in OUSD, and has more than doubled in the last five years. If current trends continue, we may end the 2020-21 school year with 1 in 5 high school students being newcomers. In August 2019, more than twice the average number of new newcomers entered OUSD for the first time. Many of our schools have enrollment that is more than 20% newcomer, in some cases as many as 1 in 3 students at a school came to the US in the last three years.
We Rely on Your Support
Our district relies on generous outside support to enhance our support for these students. Gifts small and large make a big difference, from small cash donations that allow purchasing of school supplies and backpacks to large grants that allow us to provide newcomer social workers at many sites. Your donation will support our efforts to provide resources to newcomer teachers and students on a variety of levels to meet the unique needs of the newest Oaklanders.