Social- Justice Education

The Academy of Alameda is a free, TK-8 public charter school where all students meet their full potential and become socially conscious leaders through rigorous academics, pathways to advanced math, and an inclusive, empowering, age-appropriate social justice-focused curriculum focused on community, advocacy, and multiple perspectives.

 

Age-Appropriate Curriculum

AoA’s social justice curriculum – focused on community, advocacy, and multiple perspectives – is integrated into core subjects through projects, interactive activities, and field trips that introduce social justice principles in age-appropriate manners.

 

TK

TK students focus on the social justice elements of “Who Am I,” and “How Can I Take Care of Myself?” They will partake in a community potluck and create a family tree.

Kindergarten

Kindergarten students focus on the social justice elements of “Who Am I” and family. During Kindness Week, students serve as “kindness ambassadors,” and students will create an “Around the World” passport during the school year.

Grade 1

First grade students focus on the social justice elements of communities, fairness, leadership, and service. They will learn about helpers in our Alameda and East Bay communities and hold an election during the school year.

Grade 2

Second grade students focus on the social justice elements of allyship, challenging gender stereotypes, and respect for diversity, houselessness, and civil rights heroes. Students will embark on a food bank field trip and conduct their very own food drive.

Grade 3

Third grade students focus on the social justice elements of personal identity and immigration. They will create identity posters, interview a family member about how their family came to California and showcase the journey on a class map, and write letters to individuals who have immigrated to the U.S.

Grade 4

Fourth grade students focus on the social justice elements of native Californians, state history, understanding all sides of a story, and what a “great heart” means at AoA. Students will learn about and educate fellow AoA students on how to properly sort trash, recycling, and compost on our school’s campus. Students will also partake in a beach cleanup and sell cards to raise donation funds for a cause they believe in.

Grade 5

Fifth grade students focus on the social justice elements of changemakers, cultures in conflict, and leaders of social change. They will embark on field trips to Angel Island and the Marin Headlands to practice environmental stewardship. Students will also research changemakers before creating and implementing a plan for making change in their community.

Grade 6

Sixth grade students focus on the social justice elements of identity, safety, and belonging. Students will take a field trip to Crab Cove for community building, conduct a redlining project about how math can be used to help and/or harm, and use percentages to share identities through Underground Railroad quilts.

Grade 7

Seventh grade students focus on the social justice elements of tolerance and acceptance. They will advocate for a change for their community through a John Lewis Argumentative Speech project, partake in gender and identity lessons discussing stereotypes, and learn about multiple perspectives. Students will also join a Socratic seminar on “The Danger of a Single Story,” create resistance artwork challenging settler colonialism, and work on two projects: an abolition memorial project and a letter to Congress or graphic novel panel for immigration advocacy.

Grade 8

Eighth grade students focus on the social justice elements of gender and women's roles in society and modern history, social movements, and environmental justice. Students will partake in lessons that focus on a variety of history curriculum: reconstruction, social movements, a local environmental justice debate, a U.S. Senate simulation, and government simulations analyzing multiple perspectives. They will also embark on a field trip to the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA).