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July 27-30, 2026  |  Oakland, CA

ABOUT OUSD EXl

Summer institute

Purpose

The purpose of the Expanded Learning Summer Institute is to build community, share best practices and opportunities, and work together to offer impactful experiences for youth.

The Expanded Learning Summer Institute elevates our focus and illuminates our path to better support up to 18,000 students daily, 1000+ youth development practitioners & instructors, and other key stakeholders.

We engage leaders as learners and celebrate being in community!

GOALS AND OUTCOMES

LEARN

Grow our awareness of promising practices and district protocols for safe, engaging, and impactful programming.

Alignment in understanding and implementing district practices and protocols. Clarification of roles and responsibilities as youth providers.

FEEL

Feel connected and embrace joy as a part of the OUSD expanded learning community.

A community of youth practitioners who feel empowered to shape the OUSD expanded learning landscape. Infuse joyful experiences and beyond-the-bell opportunities for youth participants.

DO

Engage and collaborate to identify tools and resources to be implemented in programming.

Leaders will utilize tools to inform strategic decisions, designing programs that enhance expanded learning opportunities to best benefit youth participants.

ABOUT OUSD Expanded learning

Serving up to 18,000 students daily, the OUSD Expanded Learning Programs include morning-care, after-school, summer, and intercession / Saturday programs spanning across 84 sites with 10+ expanded learning providers.

In community, we cultivate transformative experiences for youth on their journey as they become thriving productive leaders.

OUSD Expanded Learning Mission

Our Partners

OUR Approach

During the OUSD Expanded Learning Summer Institute, we hope to model and inspire the ongoing use of this holistic approach to learning and youth development; We Nurture, Grow, Adapt, Lead. This approach represents a reflection, a current reality, and a prediction of what is ahead. It encapsulates our collective, present, and hopeful journey. It

The “WE” reminds us to continually operate as a community of intentional practice, striving to provide meaningful opportunities and exceptional experiences for and with OUSD students.

The verbs—nurture, grow, adapt, and lead—may be meaningful to each of us differently.

These words can serve as a mirror, a way to ground ourselves, or an activation to reset, or recommit to our why. When activated in real-time, these verbs catalyze transformative experiences with our students and staff to identify, release, navigate, and/or stand up to obstacles or to explore, embrace, and engage.

Nuture

We tend to the foundational systems that support how we care for and encourage the growth and development of ourselves, our teams, our school community, and the youth we serve.

Grow

We acquire essential information and tools that increase our capacity to provide engaging, impactful, and sustainable youth-centered programs.

Adapt

We identify and employ systems, methods, and supports that create the flexibility required for responsive and healthy program structures for youth participants.

Lead

We navigate with purpose and intention utilizing valuable knowledge, tools, and resources that empower our ability to direct meaningful impact that benefits Oakland youth.

At the OUSD Expanded Learning Office (ExLO), we are thankful to embark with you, students, staff, and families as the school year is launched. By elevating ExLO values of liberation and joy, we nurture, grow, adapt, and lead.

Meet the Expanded Learning Team

MARTHA PENA

Expanded Learning Coordinator