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Latitude High: Family Newsletter (September 2019)

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Latitude High: Family Newsletter (September 2019)

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Dear Latitude Families,

Welcome to the inaugural Latitude Family Newsletter for the 2019-2020 School Year. September has been a busy month, as we’ve settled into our space at Merritt College, developed rhythms and rituals for each class, begun digging into our projects, completed fall Student-Led Conferences, and made use of the Bay Area (and beyond) as our extended classroom!

We have our first Family Dinner with Lillian + Christian, followed by a Family Leadership Council Meeting on Thursday, October 10 from 5:00 – 6:30 p.m. ALL families are welcome to join us. We will hold it at Norton Studios (3094 E 10th Street, two doors down from Red Bay Coffee), where we held the 9th Grade Orientation in August, so that families without access to cars can make it. We hope to see you there. Please RSVP USING THIS LINK so we know how much food to prepare. At this meeting, we will share updates on our facilities and mobilize family support on different school needs for this coming year.

Excited to see many of you in the coming weeks!

Warmly,
Lillian and the Latitude team

We the Town Books Published!

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Our sophomores’ published We the Town books were finally delivered to us by the printers this week! These are the Perspectives pieces that our students wrote in Ms. Sara’s Humanities class last spring, in collaboration with KQED. 

All of our students who ordered a book have received a free copy, and we have received additional requests from readers across the city who’d like to order the book!

If you’d like to place an order, the books are $25 each and feature our students’ writing, as well as the full color photographs they took across Oakland on our DSLR cameras. Email Ms. Lillian (lillian.hsu@latitudehigh.org) by Friday, October 4, as she will be putting in another order with the printers.  

Coming Up: Our sophomores will be publishing another book in Humanities class this year, as they investigate the stories of refugees and asylees in the Bay Area, working in collaboration with local non-profit organization Voice of Witness, whose mission is to amplify unheard voices impacted by injustice. Ms. Ria has been honored with the Germanacos Fellowship for Sharing History and recently attended a Voice of Witness event with authors Dave Eggers, Isabel Allende, and Tommy Orange.

10th Graders Step into the Shoes of Scientists at the Tahoe National Forest

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This past week, our tenth graders had the opportunity to work with environmental scientists on a three-night, two-day trip to the Headwaters Science Institute. Our students designed and conducted their own experiments, using the Tahoe National Forest as their living laboratory. They learned how to create scientific presentations of their research, which they delivered at the end of the trip. We look forward to continuing our partnership with the Headwaters Institute, with a follow-up field experience in the spring.

Thank you to Ms. Regina and Mr. Sean for organizing this amazing science experience for our tenth graders, and to Ms. Joi, Ms. Ria, and Mr. John for their work chaperoning this trip. Ms. Joi’s collaboration with Bay Area Wilderness Training enabled us to borrow all of our equipment for free!

9th Graders Dig into Design-Engineering

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So far this semester, in Design-Engineering, our ninth graders have practiced their skills with Autodesk’s Fusion360 software, completing their first mini project: they designed their own personalized Chromebook covers that they laser cut on the Glowforge. (Our freshmen all visited Autodesk during the first week of school, so they could see firsthand what professional designers and engineers can make using Fusion360: from skyscrapers to Mercedes Benz concept cars, the possibilities are endless!) 

Students are currently digging into the steps of the design thinking process, practicing need-finding, ideating, and prototyping, the same steps that professional designers use at the Stanford d. school and IDEO. This past week, our ninth graders conducted empathy interviews with a real client, the XQ Institute, which is commissioning our students to design their annual holiday gift that will be sent to over 700 people across the country! Our students prototyped ideas for XQ this week, and a smaller team of students who choose to commit to this project throughout the semester will see the product from ideation all the way to production in December! They will work together with designers from Fab City Oakland/Elevator Works and produce the final product at Elevator Works’ FabLab in downtown Oakland.

Next up: our ninth graders will begin digging into their self-driving car project for the remainder of the semester. To kick off the project, students will be visiting Nuro, a robotics company in Mountain View. Students will then interview the elderly population at an Oakland retirement home/assisted living facility and design models of self-driving cars that would best serve this user group.

If you have a connection to a specific retirement home, nursing home, or assisted living facility in the Bay Area, we would love for you to make an introduction for us. We hope to bring small groups of students (4-6 at a time, working in pairs) to interview a senior citizen who can no longer drive. Please email Ms. Lex (lex.schoenberg@latitudehigh.org) if you might have a connection for our ninth grade designers! 

9th Graders Dig into Design-Engineering

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In Math class across both Algebra and Geometry, our students have been working hard at making their thinking visible and demonstrating mathematical modeling. Illustrative Math, the rigorous problem-based curriculum Latitude uses, is designed to foster mathematical discussion by having students construct mathematical arguments and defend their thinking through oral, visual and written communication.

Our math practices at Latitude focus on the following Mathematical Competencies:

  • I can make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
  • I can construct viable arguments and justify my reasoning with evidence.
  • I can make use of structure to solve mathematical problems.
  • I can model with mathematics.
  • I can engage in powerful math conversations using the Latitude Math norms.

Habits of Heart & Mind in Humanities Class

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In Math class across both Algebra and Geometry, our students have been working hard at making their thinking visible and demonstrating mathematical modeling. Illustrative Math, the rigorous problem-based curriculum Latitude uses, is designed to foster mathematical discussion by having students construct mathematical arguments and defend their thinking through oral, visual and written communication.

Our math practices at Latitude focus on the following Mathematical Competencies:

  • I can make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
  • I can construct viable arguments and justify my reasoning with evidence.
  • I can make use of structure to solve mathematical problems.
  • I can model with mathematics.
  • I can engage in powerful math conversations using the Latitude Math norms.

September Advisory Site Visits

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 First ELO visit of freshman year for Ms. Monica and Mr. Sean’s advisory to Pandora Headquarters in downtown Oakland, learning from sound engineers and product designers what it’s like to work for a media company.

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 On their first ELO visit, Mr. Tim and Ms. Ria’s advisory received a personal tour of the new Red Bay Coffee Headquarters to learn about the intersection of entrepreneurialism and social activism.

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 Ms. Lex and Ms. Regina’s advisory visited Elevator Works and Fab City Oakland at Portworks in downtown Oakland to learn about business incubators and co-working spaces. The Fab City team even laser cut a photo of this advisory for Latitude!

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 Learning from the team at Mozilla Firefox, our students asked thoughtful questions about the anthropology of the workplace and what drives the folks who work there.

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 Latitude ninth graders on their site visit to San Francisco web start-up Seesaw, interviewing graphic designers, product managers, software engineers, operations leads, and the business team.

Our first ELO (Extended Learning Opportunity) site visits of the year gave our ninth graders an opportunity to begin exploring the anthropology of different workplaces, starting with companies in Oakland and then San Francisco. Ninth grade advisory is about building community and expanding students’ sense of possibility for the future.

Our tenth graders are working on their bios and resumes, as they prepare for Fall Shadow Days of their own choosing.

Afterschool Programs Start Week of October 7th

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 The launch of our men’s and women’s basketball teams! Club soccer will also start this fall. It’s not too late to sign up for both.

A message from Latitude’s New Extended Programs Director:
 
Latitude families,

I’m proud to announce that we will be rolling out our After School Program activities the week of October 7! Our initial offerings include visual arts, dance, rowing, sports, and fashion design! You can visit Latitudehighasp.org for the latest updates, including the schedule. We will be offering a second bus service that departs Merritt for the Latitude campus at 5:15, Tuesday-Thursday.

For those interested in athletics, we are offering soccer and basketball this semester. Soccer will begin October 8th, and the basketball teams have started their pre-season conditioning. Interested students can still sign up for both. All interested basketball players must complete a physical. More information on our sports programs can be found at Latitudehighathletics.org

As for me, I have nearly 20 years of experience in education, primarily as a social studies teacher and administrator in East Oakland. Most of my experience has been in a small school setting where I oversaw sports programs, advised yearbook, and organized several community partnerships. I’m excited to be working with you and your students this year!

Mr. Daniel D. Zarazua
Athletics and After School Programs
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Finally this month, a glimpse at the newest member of the Latitude family. Baby Ru (Rubén Martín Rodriguez-Islas) was born on Monday, September 23rd. We are delighted for Ms. Sara and our first Latitude baby!

Thank you for your continued support of Latitude 37.8!

With heartfelt appreciation,
Lillian & the Latitude team

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Stephanie Lee

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A Bay Area native, Stephanie Lee has worked in education for the past 13 years at schools in Oakland and Minneapolis, where building strong relationships with students served as the foundation of her work.

Prior to joining Latitude’s team, Stephanie worked at Lighthouse Community Public Schools for 11 years as a high school math teacher, math team lead, and school designer. While there, she helped pilot two interdisciplinary expeditions and conducted action research about how to use alternative forms of assessment to address students’ math anxiety.

OUR TEAM
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David Carter

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David Carter, Math Lead, was a founding teacher at Oakland Unity High School and has continued to work in Oakland schools for the past 15 years as a teacher, math lead, and instructional coach. David served on Elena Aguilar’s instructional coaching team during her years leading coaching work for OUSD. He is also on the National Faculty at the Buck Institute for Education and is a Math for America Fellowship Leader.

 
 
 
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Talia Pines

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Talia has been tutoring middle school students since her Berkeley High days and high school students since her UC Berkeley days. After graduating from UC Berkeley, Talia moved to Portland and continued tutoring high school math and English at an afterschool program. Through her stints at a financial planning startup, travel startup, and as a mayoral campaign manager, Talia has always come back to working with high school students. She specializes in small group support to help give students a curated approach to their learning. She loves to watch as her students gain confidence and take agency over their education in dynamic and meaningful ways.

OUR TEAM
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Regina Kruglyak

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Regina was born in Ukraine and immigrated to the US just months before the fall of the Soviet Union. She arrived the day before Halloween and as an 8-year-old thought that she had moved to the scariest place imaginable. (She is open to share this story since in hindsight it was pretty funny). After years of struggle, her family finally started figuring out how to survive in America and all soon learned English and found jobs. After graduating from UCLA with a degree in Engineering Geology, she went traveling for nearly two years throughout Central and South America as well as Southeast Asia. Regina was in the Peace Corps and lived for two years in a little village on the north coast of Honduras building water treatment systems. She spent a few years working in California as an engineer and spent many years working internationally with a company that takes high school and college students on study abroad trips to the developing world. Her passion for teaching has always been stronger than her will to sit still at an office.

Regina became first a math teacher and soon after a physics and engineering teacher at High Tech High Chula Vista. Regina also got her masters in educational leadership at High Tech High’s Graduate School of Education. Regina moved to Oakland to teach with Latitude High in 2019 where she is excited to bring her passion of integrating hands on learning via building Tiny Homes with NGSS physics.

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Lex Schoenberg

Lex Schoenberg

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Lex grew up in the small, rural town of Tehachapi, California, where she first developed her love of experiential learning. Though it was small, the charter school in her town made it possible to learn through experiences such as week-long sailing trips, large science fairs, and a robotics competition team. Lex feels incredibly lucky to have had a nontraditional journey through the K-12 education system, and believes that all students should have the opportunity to experience high quality project-based learning.

Lex was the first student from her town to attend Stanford University, where she majored in Product Design Engineering and minored in Human Biology. The Product Design program at Stanford emphasizes the power of taking a human-centered, creative approach to solving problems, which resonates strongly with Lex. In her time at Stanford, she worked on design projects in collaboration with the Palo Alto Children’s Museum, Mercedes-Benz automotive design team, local high school STEM teachers, General Motors’ autonomous vehicle team, and a South African organization called Code for Cape Town. Lex realized that her true passion within the engineering field lies in helping others bring their ideas to life by mastering both the design process and diverse technical skills, and has pursued various teaching opportunities since graduation.

Most recently, Lex completed her Master’s degree in Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. While living in Boston, she student-taught biology classes, where she was able to practice bringing design and engineering concepts into the school by incorporating a prosthetic design project into the curriculum. On Saturdays, she taught an introductory engineering design course to middle schoolers through MIT’s SEED program. In her free time, Lex loves coaching the girl’s basketball team, playing soccer and rugby, and searching for the best boba in the Bay.

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Susana Tinoco

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As our Site Operations Manager, Susana manages our front desk, playing a key role in communicating with our families by phone and in person. She also tackles countless projects behind the scenes, keeping our budget and operations running smoothly.

Susana has been an East Oakland resident ever since her family moved from Michoacan to the States. She was the first person in her family to graduate from high school. Susana worked in retail and hospitality before deciding to return to college. Susana is currently a student at the Peralta Colleges. She hopes to transfer to a four-year university after completing her Associate’s in Communication.

OUR TEAM
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Tim Morrison

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Tim spent the last decade of his life working on statewide campaigns to improve California’s policy landscape for children and young people. He noticed that the best and most creative policy solutions to the challenges and injustices that young folks face tend to come from…young folks. This ultimately motivated his career switch. He returned to the classroom in 2018 where he is now surrounded by more energy and joy and where he hopes to inspire young Oaklanders to go and author the laws and policies that for too long have been crafted by privileged adults that often lack connection to the public systems they influence. 

Prior to Latitude High, Tim taught statistics to college students at Cal-Berkeley and he taught English at Rudsdale Newcomer High in Oakland. In his spare time, he enjoys weekend camping trips and home-cooked meals with his family.

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Sara Islas

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Sara believes that all students have genius to share with the world and that school should be a joy-filled place where students are inspired and supported to unlock their super powers. Education is the ultimate tool to break down inequities and build up community; Sara feels a huge sense of honor to be a part of the educational journey of her students, and seeks to nurture their leadership and continue being a lifelong learner alongside them.

Sara taught Humanities at High Tech High Chula Vista. She led an integrated project where 9th grade students became engineers and authors of custom nightlights and storybooks that celebrated and inspired their “little buddies,” 3rd graders at the Monarch School, which serves students affected by homelessness. She has also led spoken word, filmmaking, and political cartoon projects. Social emotional learning and team building were deeply embedded within all of her projects. Sara also helped create and co-teach an Ethnic Studies class with student leaders.

Sara was an instructor at the High Tech High Graduate School of Education, teaching a course on equity, supporting new teachers, leading professional development, and advising masters students.

Since 2017, Sara served as an English and Ethnic Studies Teacher and Director of Instructional Development at Ceiba College Prep, which supports first generation students to and through college. She coached teachers, designed professional development, and facilitated programs such as Student Government.

Sara is ecstatic to be a part of Latitude, and collaborate on real world projects, build community, and connect students with their passions and career interests.

Sara earned her B.A. in English with an emphasis on creative writing and minors in history and professional writing and her teaching credential from UC Davis. She holds an M.Ed. in teacher leadership from the HTH GSE. She’s written for the California Aggie Newspaper, the Sacramento Press, and Alma.

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Kibos Buscovich

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Kibos is a 4th generation East Bay resident, having attended high school in Oakland and graduated from UC Berkeley. She went on to develop a career in corporate tech & business, managing territories in the Silicon Valley and New York City. Upon recently moving back to the Bay Area, she has stepped into her passion at the intersection of education and professional development for the youth. She has served as an academic coach/tutor at Bishop O’Dowd High School.

 

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