OACE offers educational opportunities all over town to best serve the city’s adult learners
Parker Elementary School served its East Oakland neighborhood for nearly 100 years before declining enrollment forced its closure. Families were so distraught that parents occupied the school for months rather than accept its loss.
Thankfully, in 2022, the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) board voted to repurpose the facility into the Parker Community Resource Center and new home of Oakland Adult and Career Education (OACE).
“We were going to go in there to serve the community,” says Michelle Deiro, OACE principal. “We definitely saw this as a great opportunity to increase our programming and serve more students in East Oakland.”
Today, adult learners can take English as a second language (ESL) and citizenship classes, earn their high school diploma, HSE high school equivalency, or enroll in job training through career technical education (CTE) classes which enable students to get certified and to work within a few months. OACE’s expanding CTE opportunities include construction, healthcare and more.
“We are always looking for opportunities to serve students where they’re at with what they need.”
Michelle Deiro, Principal, Oakland Adult and Career Education
Rather than consolidating classes onto a single campus, OACE offers educational opportunities throughout the Oakland area. For adult learners who often balance jobs and families with schoolwork, multiple locations make adult education accessible.
“Part of OACE’s mission is to be in multiple neighborhoods in Oakland so that as many people as possible can take advantage of our classes,” Deiro says. “Being located throughout Oakland removes barriers that many of our students face in getting to class … [and] allows us to tailor the programming to what that community needs.”
OACE partners with other organizations and OUSD sites to offer classes in many different facilities. High schools, libraries, community colleges, job centers and even a mobile RV serve as class sites. While OACE aims to ensure locations are spread out evenly, some facilities are located in close proximity to other supportive services and community resources, as is the case at Eastmont Town Center.
Rosana Covarrubias, community school manager with Bridges Academy at Melrose—one of many sites that hosts OACE Family Literacy classes—says that offering the program at multiple locations throughout Oakland helps ensure there will be room for everyone.
“More classes across schools means more access for people who need it,” she says. “Providing more access in turn gives people more opportunities overall.”
“We are not a school that is stagnant,” Deiro says. “We are always looking for opportunities to serve students where they’re at with what they need.”
Support, Guidance and Opportunities
Oakland Adult and Career Education is open to anyone, regardless of where they’re starting. Class offerings include high school diploma and equivalency (GED/HiSET), ESL, citizenship pathways, career training, family literacy and college readiness courses.
OACE is headquartered at Parker Community Resource Center, located at 7929 Ney Avenue in Oakland, and offers classes at sites throughout the city. For more information on how OACE can help you, call 510-879-1400 or visit www.ousd.org/adult-and-career-education.
Written by Anne Stokes
| Regions | Classes & Topics |
|---|---|
| Bay Area California | Variety of Classes |
