On Monday in Sacramento, educators from Oakland celebrated as the California Department of Education named Fremont High School’s Media Academy a Distinguished California Partnership Academy.
This acknowledgment is a product of the academy’s low attrition rates, high graduation rates and industry partnerships that produce career pathways. The academy has a curriculum within itself, where students get exposed to journalism, filmmaking and other forms of storytelling throughout each year of high school.
Fremont High, comprised of a 98% non-white student body, has seen an overall increase in graduation rates over the past decade. The success of the Media Academy is another step in the right direction for the institution.
“Every day, teachers across the state work tirelessly to ensure students have the support they need to become engaged and productive citizens,” reads a statement from the California Department of Education. “It’s clear that the Fremont Media Academy rises above other academies.”
When Jasmene Miranda, a Fremont High graduate and director of the Media Academy, reflects on her decade of working at the school, she often thinks of the proverb, “When the roots of a tree begin to decay, it spreads death to the branches.”
Miranda says, “We were in danger of losing our school site eight years ago. I fought to stop our then administrators from closing our academy seven years ago. The CDE’s designation is a real testament to having a vision, and not giving in to the influence of the doubters. I am grateful for the team I am lucky to build with and learn from daily.”
This is the second honor the academy has received as of late: It also recently became a Certified Silver Linked Learning Pathway.
Fremont High’s Media Academy, founded in 1986, is home to a state-of-the-art multimedia studio, where students get hands-on experience in the art of storytelling. Over the past three years, students have produced a number of notable stories, including pieces for KQED’s Rightnowish podcast and The New York Times.
They’ve also worked on a YouTube series called The Town Talks (with KDOL, Oakland in the Middle, the La Segunda podcast, ChooseOUSD.org), where students host interviews with Oakland staples like filmmaker and musician Boots Riley.
