"Children with birthdays in October and November are almost a whole year behind some of their classmates," Principal Kathleen Lewis explains. "They were just being born when others were learning to walk. We try to keep that sense of development in the forefront of our teaching." Oxford kindergarten and first grade classrooms are organized around stations where children have time and encouragement to work at their own pace.
To build community, encourage tolerance and teach children an appreciation for each other, Oxford has formed a number of partnerships. For the past five years El Cerrito West Coast Children's Center has worked with staff to develop teaching strategies for all kinds of children. A new partnership with Oakland's Child Development Project supports that work, as does a program begun by area therapists, who volunteer time in one-on-one counseling. And the whole school, staff and students alike, follow the practices set forth in Barbara Porro's conflict resolution program, "Talk It Out." "Children learn that there is a time to talk and a time to listen, and they learn to do both effectively," Principal Lewis explains. She adds, "Grown-ups also have to listen, and I think we do that well here. We remember what it's like to be a child, and that helps us to know what to offer, and when and where to set limits to make children feel secure."
That listening goes on both in the classroom and on the playground, where, according to Lewis, the recreational director has a knack for sensing problems before they develop and using humor and understanding to resolve them. In the classroom, according to parent Osborne-Calierno, the same attentiveness is present. "What comes across is that the teachers really do work together and really do know the children."
Oxford takes pride in tackling hard questions, such as how the school needed to change in order to serve the fourth and fifth graders who were added to the school during the past two years. "After years of graduating third graders, we had the opportunity to see what older children need," Principal Lewis explains. "And it wasn't always what we had been giving them. We've learned from our own students, and we've made the changes we need to in order to be sure that our whole program accomplishes what it should."
The school participates in the Writer's Workshop program, which encourages children to write every day. Children at every grade level write stories, which teachers then critique individually. When final drafts are written, children add illustrations, and the pages are laminated, thus turning the stories into real "books," to be added to the library's collection of home-grown authors. Current titles include, the kindergarten's "Book of Trees," "The Three Furry Animals," and "The Best of Friends."
A big part of Oxford's accomplishment is due to terrific parent support. Principal Lewis sums it up: "When something needs to be done, there is always a parent willing to do it, whether it is spending the day with a grieving child, or organizing the troops for the annual wrapping-paper sale. As parents count on us to educate their children, we count on them to help."
At Oxford, the whole school comes together to make sure every child counts.