Park Day School

Clubs are in full swing at Park Day, and our middle schoolers are having a blast! From mastering their throws in Disc Golf to solving puzzles in Mathletes, crafting storyboards in Podcast club, and creating stunning art in Watercolor club, there's no shortage of fun and creativity. Whether they're hitting the courts in Volleyball, perfecting their penmanship in Calligraphy club, or strategizing in Chess and Magic the Gathering, students are finding their passions and building community across Middle School grade levels.

We spotted Head of Lower School, Azureé, sharing a story from our Book Swap with some delighted young readers during lunch recess. Building connections and sparking curiosity— just another day in the life at Park Day!

Our community showed up in full force for Oakland Pride this year! It was a joy to march in the parade, literally marching to the beat of our own drums with Head of School Angela, Director of Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Arjuna, and students taking turns leading the chants. It was wonderful to see so many members of our community, including the Heads of Lower and Middle School, joining the celebration. And check out our fresh new Pride tees! Thank you for the spirited showing, Park Day! Happy Pride!

Fall Sports have kicked off at Park Day! Our middle school teams are already looking strong after the first week of practices in Cross Country, Flag Football, and Soccer. Plus, check out our new jerseys, designed with the help of our middle schoolers! Thank you to for our fresh new look. It's not too late to get in on the action—sign up by September 13th via CampBrain!

First week of school highlights:

*Creating a rainbow from nature in kindergarten Learning Garden
*Going on our first Middle School Service Learning Day out in the community
*After reading The First Day Jitters in 2nd grade, designing inventions to help the main character feel better about the first day of school
*Painting our first self portraits throughout the grades and beginning to talk about identity
*Decorating crowns in kindergarten after reading The Queen of Kindergarten to remind us that we can all be leaders
*Building community and class norms
*Our first all-school assembly
*And so much more!

We hope you all have a great 3 day weekend and we already can't wait to see what next week has in store!

It was such a treat to welcome new students and families to campus last week! New students had the chance to meet their teachers, parents learned the ropes about how to navigate Park Day School, and we all came together for a wonderful community dinner created by the fabulous .

We're so looking forward to starting out the new school year tomorrow. Be sure to introduce yourself to the new faces you see around campus and help us welcome these new members of our community!

We're back in action & ready to kick off Park Day School's 49th year. We've been busy at work these last couple of weeks reconnecting, reflecting, and getting ready for students to join us in just over a week! A special thank you to Allie from for facilitating another fantastic workshop on project based learning and sustained inquiry in the classroom.

What an incredible first year of Park Day Summer Camp! From imaginative art projects and exciting sports to our unique “Choose Your Own Adventure” afternoons, campers explored, created, built, cooked, and so much more. A huge thank you to our dedicated teaching artists, ASAP staff, counselors, and CITs for building such a great summer.

We are so excited to welcome Azureé Harrison to the Park Day School community as the new Head of Lower School! Azureé has been busy getting ready for the 24-25 school year and is so excited to welcome students and families back to campus in just a few weeks. If you really knew Azureé you'd know that they are a very adventurous and creative person and that they love to connect with nature. Azureé has taught many grades, but spent the most time teaching 2nd grade! Their leadership philosophy is guided by two African principles: Ubuntu and Sankofa. Ubuntu, meaning “I am because we are,” emphasizes our interconnectedness. Sankofa, meaning “it is not taboo to fetch what is at risk of being left behind,” reminds us that our personal stories and the stories of those who have come before us are immensely valuable as we co-construct and design for our future as a school, and as those who are inheriting the legacy of Oakland and its rich history. Their primary goal for their first year at Park is to build authentic relationships with students, families, and staff.

Welcome, Azureé, we're so glad you're here!

The school year's over, but camp is just getting started! We're excited to welcome all of our campers to Park Day's inaugural year of camp in just over a week. Our summer staff have been busy preparing to make this the best summer ever. Meanwhile, the rest of our faculty & staff are engaged in professional development, facilities projects, and some well-deserved rest! Our administrative offices will be closed for the month of July, and our social media will be taking a vacation too. We'll see you back here in August. Wishing everyone a joyous and rejuvenating break!

Park Day School is closed today in honor of Juneteenth. Juneteenth is a celebration of Black freedom and liberation, values expressed in countless ways in the African American experience through arts, culture, food, and activism. Our 3rd graders spent time this spring learning about freedom fighters right here in Oakland through their study of the Black Panther Party. Through their studies, they began to link how different liberation movements have built on each other and how they can further contribute to the fight for freedom and liberation. We visited .books and learned about how the bookstore was established for and about Black people, and how back in the '60s and '70s, The Black Panther Party gathered there to meet and make plans. Blanche and Bill of Marcus Books even brought out original BPP newspapers with many of Emory's original drawings and artwork on them for students to look at. We learned all about message music, and the ways that music (and albums as visual art) and social change are intertwined. Students created their own album art, and wrote liner notes all about the social programs of the BPP. We visited the Women of the Black Panther Party Mural & mini museum & learned so much from Jilchristina about the creation of the mural and the inspiration behind it.

As we celebrate & honor Juneteenth, we're reminded that oppressive systems can still be upheld even while they're formally dismantled. We remain committed to truth telling in the classroom and creating a culture committed to fighting for freedom & liberation for all.

At the end of the year, 6th graders explored the science of genetics by simulating meiosis to create marshmallow baby "Fun Bugs." Through the flip of a coin, they explored how traits are inherited through dominant and recessive genes. This fun (and unfortunately for our students, inedible) project illustrated the principles of heredity and genetic variation, like how specific traits like nose color, leg length, and number of wings are passed down and expressed in Fun Bug offspring.

The end of the school year was full of opportunities to share out what we've been working on in the classroom. Two especially exciting ones were the 2nd-5th grade music concert and the 7th-8th grade drama showcase.

The 2nd-5th grade music concert was a celebration music from all around the world, including a couple of songs written and composed by our own students! Highlights included second graders' vibrant "Funga Alafia" and "Si Si Maria," third graders' original compositions “Shapes and Colors” and "Roots of Power," fourth graders' jazz and blues performances, and fifth graders' rendition of "Stand by Me."

The 7th & 8th grade drama performance was a mix of scenes from classic musical theater numbers like Sound of Music and Newsies, as well as monologues and dance numbers. Standout moments included an ensemble performance of a poem, written by PDS 7th grader Sayuri, on the complicated gendered expectations that teenagers have to navigate, and a dynamic Salsa Rueda performance culminating an interdisciplinary project between Drama, Spanish, and PE.

Thank you to Young Whan Choi for the beautiful photos from the music concert!

And just like that, the '23-'24 school year is over! We closed out the year with yearbook signings, appreciations, big hugs, and our traditional "Step Up Day" where lower school students got to meet their new teachers and ask all their burning questions. Have a great summer, Park Day Schoolers!

Throughout May, in honor of AANHPI (Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander) Heritage month, we've taken extra care to highlight and celebrate AANHPI stories, changemakers, history, and culture.

This month was filled with many highlights including our APISA affinity group seeing Kristina Wong's one-woman show Sweatshop Overlord at ACT, APISA affinity group middle schoolers reading to and connecting with asian students in lower school, and in kindergarten, learning about the significance and symbolism of the lotus flower across many different Asian cultures. One particularly rich and deep discussion took place in 2nd grade after learning about changemaker Mamie Tape and reading the book Mamie Tape Fights to go to School by Traci Huahn. We talked about how change takes a long time - and in this case, the fight for access to schools for children of color spanned a very long time and was built on the people who fought for access and gained it in small steps. We thought about the context of learnings from this past year and emphasized the importance of revisiting what we have learned about not just in one month but all throughout the year (ex: Jim Crow Laws (1850s) and Mamie’s case (1885), followed by Sylvia Mendes’s case (1940), Brown vs. Board of Education (1954), and Ruby Bridges (1960)). The students made the connection that learning about your history is important so that we can also learn from the mistakes of the past and continue in our fight for equity and access.

This year's Pride celebration was more colorful and creative than ever! We started the day with an all-school pride assembly where we heard from and learned about LGBTQ+ changemakers and what pride means to different people in our community. As a whole school we also marched around the neighborhood in our very own pride parade, dressed in different colors by grade so that our community made up a real life pride flag! In the lower school, we got a visit from the Out & About mobile bookshop, where Katy & Charlie showed us around their mobile bookshop, sang songs, and read stories. Lower school students also worked on a collaborative art project and visited the pop-up prideful expressions student art gallery. Middle schoolers had the opportunity to watch the documentary Changing the Game or hear from guest drag artists, King Lotus Boy and Queen Lei All Day, on self-expression, identity, performance, and the art of drag. Middle schoolers closed out this joyful day with a dazzling runway and variety show. Happy Pride, Park Day School!

In case you missed it, our middle school GSA made a special episode of the If You Knew Me Mondays podcast, titled Prideful Expressions, about the importance of expansive gender expression. Listen here: https://www.parkdayschool.org/podcast/pridefulexpressions/ !

We're still buzzing over here from Saturday's Family Fest! We welcomed current, alumni, and incoming families onto campus for a fun-filled day. From bouncy obstacle courses, giant trikes, a photo booth, scavenger hunt, glitter tattoos, fantastic music, old friends reuniting, former reading buddies reconnecting, and new friendships forming, endless and , to a community-wide toast to Karen, it's hard to choose a favorite part!

We especially loved reconnecting with Park Day School's class of 2020. Congratulations on graduating high school and reaching this significant milestone! We are incredibly proud of each and every one of you. To all our alumni, remember that Park Day School will always be a place you can call home. And don't forget to visit every once in awhile so we can all marvel at how tall you've gotten and hear about your latest adventures.

On Friday we celebrated Park Day School's 48th annual Read-a-Thon and we spent the entire day in our jammies, snuggled up, simply READING! The Read-a-Thon is one of the most anticipated days of the school year, and it's easy to see why. Besides the joy of reading all day, the Read-a-Thon is also an important fundraiser for our literacy program, funding things like: upgrading classroom libraries, buying books for our Banned Book Library, supporting teachers with new structured literacy materials, and assisting Indexed Tuition program participants with literacy support and/or student evaluations above and beyond tuition.

This year, we hosted storyteller Laura Pershin Raynor and local author Sendy Santamaria, who read her new book Yenebi's Drive to School. We also had youth ambassadors from speak on neurodiversity and read aloud to our middle schoolers. Students had a chance to read with their reading buddies, and middle school affinity group members got to connect with and read to younger students with shared identities. Parents and specialists came in for guest readings and students had time for silent reading. Earlier in the week, our community had an opportunity to stock up on books at our .books pop up shop on campus. We loved having another occasion to partner with and support the oldest Black-owned bookstore in the country!

If you haven't had a chance to show your support for our young readers, you can still do so at: https://parkdayreadathon.dojiggy.io/pds2024/Campaign/Details

Thank you to our Parent Stewardship Chairs, Kim and Alli, our Class Parents, and all of the families who made our teachers and staff feel so special this Teacher Appreciation Week! We were spoiled this week with everything from breakfasts, snacks, and a potluck feast to beautiful bouquets, seeds to plant, handwritten cards, and e-posters.

The Families with Children of Color Affinity Group hosted a beautiful family cultural exchange last week, where our community came together to honor and share our diverse heritages. From vibrant performances to delicious cuisine, it was a joyous occasion filled with learning, connection, and celebration. Families enjoyed a potluck dinner featuring dishes with cultural significance to our community including chaat, lumpia, BBQ, pupusas, kimbap, tacos, bison chili, bagels, and more! There was a mehndi station, a dance performance of Salvadoran folklorico & cumbia, a song share & chat about the history of Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago, and we closed out the evening with an Ewe drumming circle. Special thanks to the FWCOC Chairs Alexis, Latisha, and Reina for organizing this special event!

Have you caught the new display up in Magnolia? In 7th grade Spanish, student architects designed and built the school of their dreams. For "La escuela de mis sueños", in small groups, students thought about architectural style, location, accessibility, community needs, and environmental sustainability. They also had to put together a sample schedule and think about what types of classes they would offer, and what innovative approaches to learning and teaching they might take. Along with putting together a physical model school, students wrote 6 paragraphs in Spanish about their schools, and presented it to their classmates. They learned all sorts of new vocab around geography, sustainability, environmentalism, and schedules, and got lots of practice around public speaking, pronunciation, and fluency. We might just have to take some notes on some of these designs! ¡Bien hecho, 7th grade!

We've been so lucky to welcome so many cool visiting artists over the past couple months! This morning, 2nd-4th graders got to hear from author and illustrator Chanel Miller about her brand new children's chapter book Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All. Chanel talked about the importance of representation in literature and how inspiration is all around, even in the seemingly mundane.

Earlier this week, after watching the short film Dynasty and Destiny, 1st and 4th graders got to hear from filmmakers Travis & Brody through the SF Film Festival. The film had students thinking about perseverance, changemakers, being the first of something, and how lighting, color, and film vs digital can express emotions and meaning.

In March, 3rd-5th graders heard from author and illustrator Emma Steinkellner about her career as an author and the inspiration behind her books and fantasy worlds. Students even got to learn how Emma draws a hoofbeast, a native animal of Gumbling. And in 2nd grade art, local collage artist Carolynn Haydu came to share her work and collaborate with 2nd graders on their collage project. Carolynn helped students see how collage pushes the boundaries of what paper can do.

Happy Earth Week! Monday marked the 54th anniversary of Earth Day. When it began in 1970, over 20 million Americans joined together in a movement to care for the environment. This year's theme is Planet vs. Plastics, and we can play an important role. Our Annual Earth Week Green Challenges this year are Conserve Water Monday, Reduce Waste Tuesday, Save Energy Wednesday, Garden Care Thursday, and Fight Fast Fashion Friday!

8th graders recently ventured across the country to Washington DC on a trip designed and led by the 8th grade team to coincide with our classroom learning. We visited iconic sites and landmarks like the White House & the White House visitor center, BLM plaza, Arlington Cemetery, WWI and WWII memorials, and the Library of Congress, among others. We took in local culture by catching a Wizards basketball game and seeing Little Shop of Horrors at Ford's Theater. We explored the Natural History Museum, American History Museum, and the American Indian Museum. Students actively collected research and artifacts for their history research projects as we navigated the museums. On our final day we went to the Holocaust Memorial Museum and the African American History and Culture Museum. Before entering both of these museums, we gathered together as a group and framed what the students were about to experience. Both museums required the students to think deeply, wrestle with difficult history, and look for ​moments ​of perseverance and celebration. Both museums truly pushed our students and their thinking which culminated with a mini harkness-style conversation ​back at the hotel. Students shared everything from their ​learnings to what ​topics the museums inspired them to ​want to continue learning about. It was a trip filled with deep learning, thought provoking questions and discussions, and lots of joy and laughter. Thank you to our brilliant teacher chaperones for creating a fun and enriching experience for our 8th grade historians!

This year's K-5 Project Showcase hit it out of the park! Our Project Showcase evening celebrated and displayed the process of an in-depth, interdisciplinary study on a topic of interest to each grade level. Our projects this year were:
Kindergarten - A Night at the Museum: kindergarten Artivists (Artists + Activists) explored the multiple modalities used to create impactful and powerful social justice messages via art and transformed their classrooms into full-fledged museums!
First Grade - While You Are Sleeping: Students shared (and sang!) what they've learned about nocturnal animals including their habitat, prey, predators, and adaptations that make them nocturnal.
Second Grade - Secrets to Living to 100: Second grade experts turned their corner of the Palm building into a senior center and shared the secrets to living a long and full life, including learnings from field research, examples of Super Agers, resources and ideas for self-care, displays featuring 3-D human body systems, and interactive wellness activities.
Third Grade - Black Panther Arcade: Students created a cardboard arcade, which incorporated principles of magnetism while featuring the Black Panther Party. Parents and kids were quizzed on their knowledge of the BPP, and were also encouraged to donate to the West Oakland Mural Project, benefiting Women of the Black Panther Party.
Fourth Grade - Weathering the Storm and Voices from the Past Impact the Present: From Google slideshows, to recreated artifacts, and educational games using programming of micro:bits, families immersed themselves in the topics explored by our 4th graders. Students also showcased their talents through editorial pieces, informational articles, cartoons, and advertisements, offering glimpses into the diversity of the Gold Rush.
Fifth Grade - Students For Climate Action & Open Mic with Soundtrap Audio Storytelling: Students investigated ways to combat climate change through the construction of passive solar homes using energy-efficient architectural principles. Students also shared pieces of their magazines in the form of an open mic, as well as audio storytelling from their Indigenous/colonization studies.