Rain to Renewal at Urban Promise Academy

Oakland, California | Project Manager

Context: "The mission of Urban Promise Academy (UPA) is to develop scholars, warriors, and artists." UPA is a unique small public school that prioritizes project-based, personalized and social-emotional learning. When the academy was first founded in 2001, many Oakland schools with high populations of Black and Latino/a students were severely underfunded and filled with low-performing students. Frustrated by the lack of quality education, parents and community leaders partnered with the National Equity Project to create the "New Small Autonomous Schools" initiative. One of the schools created with funding from this program was the UPA. With a student body consisting of 90% on free or reduced lunch, 85% Latino/a, and 50% English language learners, UPA tailors its education approach to its community.

Task: A paved school in Fruitvale, sitting atop Sausal Creek, the project in collaboration with Wholly H2o aims to raise watershed awareness, promote ecological stormwater management, and bridge the creek-school neighborhood gap.

Approach:

• Conducted site visits and GIS assessment to understand hydrological conditions

• Delivered watershed care presentations to students, introducing ecological stormwater concepts

• Surveyed students and staff to gauge interest and spark critical thinking

• Designed rainwater-to-garden irrigation system construction documents for permit submittal

• Analyzed greening E 18th street with bioretention, rain gardens, and planting areas