'I'm Going to Learn a Lot More Here': Oakland's Youngest Public School Students Return to the Classroom

Thousands of Oakland’s youngest public school students returned to their classes on Tuesday, many of them seeing their teachers and classmates in person for the first time in more than a year.

Following months of tense negotiations with the teachers union, the Oakland Unified School District reopened its doors this week to most pre-K through second graders, as well as some of the highest-needs students in older grades.

At Montclair Elementary School in the Oakland Hills, parents and kids were greeted with music, soap bubbles and energetic cheering from teachers welcoming them back. Families in staged drop-off lines approached sign-in tables festooned with small, stuffed animal otters, the school’s mascot.

Classes began in the early afternoon for about 100 students whose families opted for them to return to in-person instruction. They will, however, continue to do distance learning from home in the mornings.

At Montclair, like most other elementary schools in the district, students will only initially attend school in person two days a week, as part of a rotating hybrid model to maintain small class sizes.

Muneer Hassan, who was dropping off his two children in fourth and fifth grades, said rearranging his work schedule to make sure his kids were back in school was a small price to pay. Both of his kids, he said, have been struggling with distance learning and are falling behind.

“I think even with any schedule challenges, getting in here is of the greatest priority because they need that help and assistance,” Hassan said.

Another parent, John Mitchell, also expressed relief to be dropping off his third grader at an actual physical school building.

“I think the screen time has kind of taken over our house a little bit,” he said.

Mitchell said he’s been impressed with how the school and the district have kept parents updated through the constant changes over the last few months.

“They’ve done a really good job and I understand most of the sides of the discussion,” he said. “So, yeah, 100% sympathy for teachers, sympathy for the parents. Like everybody’s got, you know, multiple generations of families living at home. And we just want to go slow and be safe.”

On the ride to school, Mitchell said, his son Duke “was trembling in the car he was so excited.”

“I’ve actually hardly been learning anything at all on Zoom. I feel like I’m going to learn a lot more here at Montclair,” Duke said.

Maite Barloga, the school’s principal, stood outside, enthusiastically greeting the long line of families.

“Welcome to the first day of school like we’ve never seen before!” Barloga said, beaming.

Parents, she said, are being required to use a new health screening app and to fill out a safety agreement as part of the sign-in process.

Barloga said that, unlike in some other district elementary schools, most of her teachers agreed to return to the classroom over the next seven school days — the period during which in-person instruction is voluntary for teachers, per the district’s recently approved agreement with the union.

A truncated reopening timeline and unanswered questions about the process prompted a majority of teachers districtwide to opt out of returning to their classrooms this week, leaving scores of parents in limbo and administrators scrambling to prepare.

According to the district, some 30 pre-K and elementary schools have enough teachers to reopen as planned, while about 30 others will reopen on more limited basis because only a small percentage of teachers have opted in. Meanwhile, 15 other district schools that had planned to open this week will remain shuttered until mid-April due to the lack of teachers currently willing to return in person.

“We know that some parents are going to see how today goes, talk with other parents, and then they’ll decide,” said Montclair fifth grade teacher Jamila Brooks. “Or they may decide they don’t want to do it. This is all optional for parents and teachers right now.”

Brooks is also her school’s union representative, and has been in the thick of negotiations between the district and teachers.

“We’re figuring it out. I’m trying to have a positive attitude,” she said. “I’m just happy to be back in school. Everybody looks very happy. So that’s good. That’s good to feel. And it feels good to be back.”

The new schedule made for a complicated day for Brooks, who taught her morning Zoom class at home until 11:30 a.m., alongside her daughter, who also attends Montclair, before driving to school to greet her students in person — for the first time this year.

Kyle Moss, a fourth grade teacher at Montclair Elementary, wore a double mask, sweating slightly in the hot afternoon sun, as he greeted students on Tuesday. This week, he said, he’ll be teaching a mixed-age cohort of higher-needs students, with lots of outdoor activities planned — including a good chunk of time devoted to practicing how to take bathroom breaks and avoid sharing materials.

“I’m glad that we’re back at school,” Moss said. “I wish that it felt a little bit more organized. I mean, the first day of school always feels a little bit chaotic, and so there’s just kind of some additional pressures and things to worry about here.”

Down the hill, in the flatlands of North Oakland, a similar scene played out on Tuesday at Sankofa United Elementary School, which is located in a less affluent neighborhood and serves a higher percentage of Black and brown students.

For her first day of in-person kindergarten, Latacha Roberson dressed her daughter, Montana, in a special pink T-shirt with white letters that read “Social Distancing Expert.”

“I’m excited because it’s her first time coming into the school,” she said.

Despite still feeling nervous about health conditions, Roberson said school officials have done a good job reassuring her that Montana will be in a safe environment.

“They talked about really keeping things sanitized and making sure that [the kids] stay social distancing,” she said. “I feel safe with her being here, so that’s a good thing.”

About three hours later, students emerged from the building and ran to greet their eagerly awaiting parents.

Sankofa fourth grade teacher Peter Wilson said there were only eight students in his class that day, sitting at desks spaced far apart and separated with plexiglass. He is fully vaccinated and said the school provided enough personal protective equipment for him to feel safe.

“It was a great day,” he said. “No heavy-duty academics, because this is the first time I’ve really seen them. I got to ask, ‘Who are you? What do you like?’ I’m just thrilled to be back in school, you know. I miss them.”

Derrick Wesby, known as Mr. D, who is Sankofa’s after-school program coordinator and safety lead in charge of parent health screenings, said the process went better than he had expected.

“I had a lot of anxiety around it, just thinking leading up to it and just really trying to do a lot of pre-intervention work before this day — reaching out to parents, sending them little tutorials on how to do it. So I really think that worked,” Wesby said.

Every pre-K through second grade teacher at Sankofa, he said, opted to come back to school during this voluntary period.

“We were really lucky and just really blessed to be able to have a 100% teacher return,” Wesby said. “It just shows that the community and the teachers came together and we really tried to pull through for the students.”

For Roberson, bringing her daughter back to school just two half days a week is worth the hassle, but still far from ideal.

“I have to work around it. I’m trying to put it all together right now,” she said after picking up her daughter. “Today was an OK day, but the rest of the time it’s probably going to be a little bit of a struggle for me.”

Roberson asked her daughter what she learned in school that day.

“We learned about and read a book,” Montana answered. They also ate lunch in the school garden, she added, and “went outside and played.”

KQED’s Vanessa Rancaño contributed reporting to this article.