We hope this finds you all doing well amidst the ever-changing ebb and flow of our world nowadays.  First of all, we want to thank those of you who for registered for our 2020-2021 program.  We are grateful that you all assumed positive intent that we would still be able to remain a consistent component in your student’s daily life, not entirely knowing how we could do that.  You have given us hope that we can continue to serve our community of incredible families and provide earned income for our amazing, talented, and dedicated teachers.     Esperamos que esto lo encuentre a todos bien en medio del flujo y reflujo en constante cambio de nuestro mundo hoy en día. En primer lugar, queremos agradecer a aquellos de ustedes que se inscribieron en nuestro programa 2020-2021. Estamos agradecidos de que todos hayan asumido la intención positiva de que aún podamos seguir siendo un componente constante en la vida diaria de sus estudiantes, sin saber del todo cómo podríamos hacer eso. Nos ha dado la esperanza de que podamos continuar sirviendo a nuestra comunidad de familias increíbles y proporcionar ingresos ganados para nuestros maestros increíbles, talentosos y dedicados. Continue reading

Dear UMCS Community, It has been a little over a week since we shared our first-draft plans for reopening school August 17th. In that time we have seen many changes in local and national news, transmission rates and new cases of COVID-19, and many other schools and districts have shared their plans for safely teaching students in the upcoming school year, primarily through full distance learning programs. We are carefully tracking all of these developments and continually revising and refining our plans while focusing on our ultimate goal of having as many students and staff working and learning on campus as is safely possible. This goal is in alignment with what we know is best for student learning and new language in California Ed Code that states that LEAs (Local Educational Agencies) must “offer in-person instruction to the greatest extent possible” (EC Section 43504(b).  Though we look forward to the time when we can have all students back on campus, student, staff and community safety is our top priority. We are prepared to start the year in full distance learning if that is the safest option and will be sharing more soon about the improvements we are implementing to better support students in a “Learning Anywhere” scenario. As a small school we are also looking for creative ways to think outside the box and pilot other solutions that larger schools and district systems would struggle to support.  We know from our staff and community survey data that we have a range of comfort levels that include families and staff that would prefer a “Learning Anywhere” Model, others who are ready to be back on campus immediately, and many that fall on the spectrum between. With the impossibility of full consensus, we are putting our energy into exploring how to meet as many stakeholders’ needs as possible by creating multiple options for staff and families. This week we will be holding two Community Listening Sessions to collect more information from you about our initial draft plan, your needs and the needs of your students. These sessions will be primarily focused on information gathering and collecting questions. We will answer what questions we can, but mainly take note of all questions, comments and concerns to inform our next steps.  Please join us Thursday July 16, 3-4pm (Zoom Link) or Friday July 17, 9:30-10:30am (Zoom Link). You can also find these events and more on our public calendar here! Thank you for your continued patience and support as we all navigate these unprecedented times. We are so glad to be working together with you!  

Dear UMCS Community, I am happy to inform you that our Facilities Use Agreement (FUA) with OUSD was approved at last night’s OUSD Board meeting (June 24th)! Though our FUA does not currently specify which site we will occupy, OUSD has shared their intention to prepare an addendum to our FUA before July 1 that confirms 4551 Steele St. (known as the Tilden campus) as our facility for the 2020/2021 school year! Thank you so much for your patience throughout this long and uncertain process. We are planning our move now and are looking forward to sharing the new space with the community soon after final confirmation of our occupancy and the move is completed!   Best, Krishna Feeney     Estimada comunidad de UMCS: ¡Me complace informarle que nuestro Acuerdo de Uso de Instalaciones (FUA) con OUSD fue aprobado en la reunión de la Junta de OUSD de anoche (24 de junio)! Aunque nuestro FUA no especifica actualmente qué sitio ocuparemos, el OUSD ha compartido su intención de preparar un anexo a nuestro FUA antes del 1 de julio que confirme 4551 Steele St. (conocido como el campus de Tilden) como nuestras instalaciones para la escuela 2020/2021 ¡año! Muchas gracias por su paciencia durante este largo e incierto proceso. Estamos planeando nuestra mudanza ahora y esperamos compartir el nuevo espacio con la comunidad poco después de la confirmación final de nuestra ocupación y la mudanza se haya completado.   Mejor, Krishna Feeney

Tomorrow, Friday, May 29th, we will be holding a special board meeting to review the Facilities Use Agreement (FUA) that OUSD has provided us for one of the two possible sites we may hold next year. Though we still do not have certainty on whether we will be moving to the Tilden or the Santa Fe Campus, we are excited to have an FUA provided to us at this time!  We hope our next update will include a final home for our school community!

[Emailed to UMCS families on 4/10/2020] Dear UMCS Families, On Wednesday we received our final facilities offer from OUSD for the Tilden Campus with space at the Santa Fe Campus as a backup in the event that Tilden is not still not available by July 9, 2020. We are excited that both of these offers allow us to bring our community back onto one campus! This will be wonderful for both our staff and our students allowing us to build even stronger communities across levels. We will also have work to do to meet our neighbors and listen. Roses in Concrete currently resides at the Tilden campus and is appealing to the State Board of Education to renew their charter. We support their right to appeal and while they pursue the process, we are happy to have a named backup option at the Sante Fe Campus. Please join me next Wednesday morning at an informal Zoom morning coffee to share thoughts, feelings or questions about facilities. Also feel free to reach out to me directly at any time! Best, Krishna Feeney Head of School   "Zoom Coffee" Details: Krishna Feeney is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Morning Coffee with Krishna Time: Apr 15, 2020 09:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)   Join Zoom Meeting https://us04web.zoom.us/j/171104943?pwd=Qmp4aHE1VGpOVndhNVR1MjIwR1l6UT09   Meeting ID: 171 104 943 Password: 8NJqkP       [Enviado por correo electrónico a las familias de UMCS el 10/04/2020] Estimadas familias de UMCS: El miércoles recibimos nuestra oferta final de instalaciones de OUSD para el campus de Tilden con espacio en el campus de Santa Fe como respaldo en caso de que Tilden aún no esté disponible para el 9 de julio de 2020. Estamos entusiasmados de que ambas ofertas nos permitan para traer nuestra comunidad de vuelta a un campus! Esto será maravilloso tanto para nuestro personal como para nuestros estudiantes, ya que nos permitirá construir comunidades aún más fuertes en todos los niveles. También tendremos trabajo que hacer para encontrarnos con nuestros vecinos y escucharlos. Roses in Concrete actualmente reside en el campus de Tilden y hace un llamamiento a la Junta de Educación del Estado para renovar sus estatutos. Apoyamos su derecho a apelar y, mientras siguen el proceso, nos complace tener una opción de respaldo con nombre en el campus de Sante Fe. Únase a mí el próximo miércoles por la mañana en un café informal de Zoom por la mañana para compartir pensamientos, sentimientos o preguntas sobre las instalaciones. ¡No dude en comunicarse conmigo directamente en cualquier momento! Mejor, Krishna Feeney Jefe de escuela   Detalles de "Zoom Coffee": Krishna Feeney te invita a una reunión programada de Zoom. Tema: café de la mañana con Krishna Hora: 15 de abril de 2020 09:00 a.m., hora del Pacífico (EE. UU. Y Canadá)   Unirse a la reunión de Zoom https://us04web.zoom.us/j/171104943?pwd=Qmp4aHE1VGpOVndhNVR1MjIwR1l6UT09   ID de la reunión: 171 104 943 Contraseña: 8NJqkP

On Feb 1st, OUSD offered UMCS Exclusive use of the Tilden Campus for the 2020/2021 school year through Prop 39. This site, however, currently houses Roses in Concrete, another public Charter School, who are in the appeals process to get their Charter renewed. Although Roses in Concrete's appeal was denied by Alameda County Office of Education, they have the option to pursue an appeal with the California Department of Education. While they are in the appeal process, Urban Montessori is exploring other facilities options and continuing to work with OUSD on an alternative offer. We will continue to update the community as new information becomes available!

Thank you to those of you who joined me at Morning coffee on Wednesday and at our community engagement Thursday evening to learn more about our Prop 39 Preliminary Facilities offer from OUSD and other possible solutions for our facility needs! If you were unable to make it to either of these meetings, you can view all of the offers here and you can see UMCS’s presentation for community here. As we learn more we will keep you all updated through community messaging and updates to our Facilities blog on the website. Regardless of the address of our campus, we are excited to continue to bring Montessori learning to Oakland students and we are thankful to all of you for making our school an amazing learning community.

Welcome back to School UMCS Families! We are off to a great start sharing space with Melrose Leadership Academy at the Brann campus (Referred to as the Sherman Campus by OUSD). We wanted to let you know that we are in conversation with OUSD officials regarding our facilities needs for next year and future years. You may have heard about the OUSD Blueprint process where OUSD is proposing several options for their schools that would potentially require UMCS to relocate to another site. We are exploring all of our options looking for a home for our community where we can come back together on a single campus.  We will keep you updated here on our Facilities Blog as additional information becomes available!

UMCS Students Staying Put I am excited to announce that I received final agreements from OUSD for Urban Montessori to maintain the 9 classrooms that we currently occupy at the Brann Campus.  The UMCS Board will vote on these agreements tomorrow. There is still a strong possibility that we will share (4 Classrooms) our campus with MLA and we will need to come together to figure what that actually looks like everyday.  I will do everything I can to keep this process positive and collaborative. We WILL keep students at the forefront of everything we do! Thank you to all the families that wrote to the OUSD Board.  Your voices made a difference! This is a victory for our community! This victory demonstrates how when the UMCS community pulls together for what is right for children we can accomplish anything.  I encourage us to remember this as we work through our internal transitions. In Solidarity… Ms. Taima UMCS Students Staying Put Me complace anunciar que recibí los acuerdos finales de OUSD para Urban Montessori para mantener las 9 aulas que actualmente ocupamos en el campus de Brann. El Consejo del UMCS votará estos acuerdos mañana. Todavía existe una gran posibilidad de que compartamos (4 aulas) nuestro campus con MLA y tendremos que unirnos para descubrir cómo se ve cada día. Haré todo lo que pueda para mantener este proceso lo más positivo posible a pesar de la negatividad proveniente de la comunidad de MLA. ¡Mantendremos a los estudiantes a la vanguardia de todo lo que hacemos! Gracias a todas las familias que escribieron a la Junta de OUSD. ¡Tus voces hicieron una diferencia! ¡Esta es una victoria para nuestra comunidad! Esta victoria demuestra cómo cuando la comunidad de UMCS se une para lo que es correcto para los niños, podemos lograr cualquier cosa. Nos animo a recordar esto mientras trabajamos a través de nuestras transiciones internas. En solidaridad ... Sra. Taima

We learned last week that OUSD does not plan to offer UMCS any alternative to what they offered in the preliminary Prop 39 facilities offer. Despite deep collaborative honest conversations with district leaders they are moving forward with their plan to expand Melrose Leadership Academy to the Brann/Sherman Campus leaving UMCS with only 6-7 classroom spaces.  The likely scenario is that our Primary Classes will move to the Pleasant Campus with Upper Elementary and Middle School and Lower Elementary will occupy the 6 classrooms they have given us at Brann/Sherman. I encourage all UMCS stakeholders to contact OUSD Representative and share their opinions, thoughts and ideas.  They are still trying to schedule a townhall meeting at the Sherman Campus as well. We expect that UMCS families will also make their voices heard at the OUSD Board Meeting the week of April 22. Here are their contact information Kyla Johnson Trammell (District Superintendent [email protected]) Sonali Murarka (Director, Office of Charter Schools [email protected]) Yvette Renteria (Deputy Chief of Innovation [email protected]) Sondra Aguilera (Deputy Superintendent [email protected]) Jumoke Hinton Hodge ([email protected]) Gary Yee ([email protected]) Aimee Eng ([email protected]) Jody London ([email protected]) James Harris ([email protected]) Shanthi Gonzales ([email protected]) Roseanne Torres ([email protected])   We will host a group from MLA when we return from spring break to get ideas on how to operationalize a shared campus. Campus Compartido Un Escenario Probable La semana pasada nos enteramos de que OUSD no planea ofrecerle a UMCS ninguna alternativa a lo que ofrecieron en la oferta preliminar de la Propuesta 39. A pesar de las conversaciones honestas de colaboración con los líderes del distrito, están avanzando con su plan de expandir la Academia de Liderazgo Melrose al Campus Brann / Sherman, dejando a UMCS con solo 6-7 espacios en el aula. El escenario probable es que nuestras clases de Primaria se mudarán al campus de Pleasant con Upper Elementary, Middle School y Lower Elementary ocuparán las 6 aulas que nos dieron en Brann / Sherman. Aliento a todas las partes interesadas de UMCS a que se comuniquen con el Representante de OUSD y compartan sus opiniones, pensamientos e ideas. Todavía están intentando programar una reunión en el campus de Sherman también. Esperamos que las familias de UMCS también hagan oír su voz en la reunión de la Junta Directiva de OUSD la semana del 22 de abril. Aquí está su información de contacto   Kyla Johnson Trammell (Superintendente del Distrito [email protected]) Sonali Murarka (Directora, Oficina de Escuelas Charter) [email protected]) Yvette Renteria (Jefa Adjunta de Innovación [email protected]) Sondra Aguilera (Superintendente Adjunta [email protected]) Jumoke Hinton Hodge ([email protected]) Gary Yee ([email protected]) Aimee Eng ([email protected]) Jody London ([email protected]) James Harris ([email protected]) Shanthi Gonzales (shanthi.gonzales@ousd .org) Roseanne Torres ([email protected])   Vamos a organizar un grupo de MLA cuandode las vacaciones de primavera para obtener ideas sobre cómo operar un campus compartido.