In 2018, the new Michelle Obama School community had the opportunity to truly transform the way we prepare students for 21st century learning in the classroom. Our school, located in Richmond, CA, is the first flexible learning environment in the Bay Area, and we wanted our school name to represent and embody our core values: agency, collaboration, community, and joy.
We believed that a prominent school name that aligns with our new 21st century state-of-the-art facility should also inspire the hopes and dreams of our students and community. Thus, with her profound dedication to education and the values she boldly stands for, the parents and families advocated, and the WCCUSD School Board unanimously approved Michelle Obama School, the first in Northern California and second in the state.
Learners at Michelle Obama School develop agency in a learner-focused environment and we believe they should be empowered to be at the center of their own learning. These shared learning experiences include adults with the understanding that we all operate within a learning orientation. Opportunities to acquire deep content knowledge, innovation and collaboration are created within an inclusive community aimed at developing critical thinkers who produce rich, authentic work.
Over the past two years, our school community has been on a deeply transformative journey. We have moved from traditional to innovative learning in our educational philosophy that allows our vision and core values to drive our work. We collaborated as a community with all voices to establish what it means to create a 21st century learning experience, in which, our students thrive to become autonomous learners in a flexible environment.
On October 29, Michelle Obama School learners, staff and administrators will be a part of history, as we present the grand opening of our new campus to the community-- a historical moment that sets the bar of excellence and hope in a community that is underrepresented. We will present a virtual celebration that will emulate pride and dignity, and welcome Michelle Obama School young leaders into the new age of innovative, thought and structure that will ignite promised futures.