Skip To Main Content

Our Vision

Our vision of an educated child is one who achieves excellence in developing an active, reflective, and disciplined mind, a healthy body, a centered spirit, and just, caring, and courageous self-conduct. The program is developed around the EnCompass Life Spiral, elements of the cultivation of Self, the guidance and support of Familial networks, the engagement with communities, and the rootedness in Ancestors and ancestral heritage. Student, family, and community well-being are all connected and critical to each student's life success. Academic and behavioral expectations will be modeled for students to develop, strengthen, and be guided by an internal Compass. This internal compass will point children in the four directions/expressions of Personal Power: the Power of Knowledge to create/recall/discern information throughout life, the Power of Courage to pull forth the will to make difficult decisions, the Power of Right Action to act upon them with compassion and clarity, and the Power of Stillness to pause for rest, reflection, and responses to mistakes and to things that are beyond their control. Through Stillness, time can enable the process of renewal: to become new, fresh, and strong again in mind, body, spirit, and emotions. The school name and spelling of "EnCompass" is a play on the word "compass" to capture our emphasis on nurturing children to develop, strengthen, and clarify their internal compass.

EnCompass Academy opened in 2004 after three years of design by a diverse team of educators and East Oakland parents. We began within the Oakland Unified School District's small school reform movement led by a coalition of parents, community organizers, and educators who wanted to counter chronic overcrowding and under-performance of Oakland's flatland schools. To do this, we surveyed and applied the feedback of 200 Elmhurst neighborhood residents about their vision for a school. Our Design Team consisted of educators and neighborhood parents who were of African, Latino, Asian, Indigenous, and Eastern European ancestry, immigrant, and American-born. Through this movement, we sought to institutionalize new perspectives, ethos, and an educational vision that brought the lives of our children and families to the center of school design.  With rolling lawns and pathways lined with native plants, beautiful play structures, garden beds, an outdoor amphitheater, and a state-of-the-art multipurpose room, our campus is truly an oasis for children to learn and develop. The largest branch of the Oakland Public Library opened on our campus in 2011, which our school uses as the school library shared with the community. 

As a Title I school with 100% of students having Free Breakfast/Lunch, our student body is 15.76% African-American, 77.81% Latino, 0.96% Asian/Pacific, 0.32% Filipino, 4.50% Multiracial, 0.64% White." 55.95% of our children are English Language Learners. At EnCompass Academy, we believe that education “Starts with Self, is Guided by Families, Engaged in Community, and Rooted in Ancestors.” Our specialty is in seeing and building upon children’s strengths and supporting adults to hold strong systems and relationships in place in the service of children. We strive to teach and reach the whole child; our students thrive through a safe, vibrant, culturally responsive, and caring school culture. We teach students to use academic language, critical thinking, and traditional and computer-based strategies to maximize their reading and math learning levels.  EnCompass Academy structures the school day in intentional, rigorous, and meaningful ways to develop the whole child:  science-rich learning, authentic family-school partnership, and quality enrichment  (visual arts, singing, mindful drumming, fitness & nutrition, African Dance, technology & engineering, social-emotional skill development). Our beautiful campus oasis - with an award-winning design and green space - has rolling lawns, native plant-lined pathways, garden beds, an outdoor amphitheater, a multipurpose auditorium, and state-of-the-art 81st Avenue Community Library.  

We offer a daily student salad bar lunch option, fruit and vegetable snacks 3x/week, mentoring, and a strong health and fitness program.  Our pursuit of providing a well-rounded TK-5th Grade school experience has yielded the following Special Distinctions and Designations: Arts Learning Anchor School, Reading Reward School, Blended Learning Pilot School, Science and Literacy Cohort School, SEEDS of Early Literacy Initiative TK Cohort, and shared campus California AIR Health “Award of Achievement”! Our vision of an educated child is one who achieves excellence in developing an active, reflective, and disciplined mind, a healthy body, a centered spirit, and just, caring, and courageous self-conduct. The program is developed around the EnCompass Life Spiral elements of the cultivation of Self, the guidance and support of Familial networks, the engagement with Communities, and the rootedness in Ancestors and ancestral heritage. Student, family, and community well-being are all connected and critical to each student's life success. Academic and behavioral expectations will be modeled for students to develop, strengthen, and be guided by an internal Compass. This internal compass will point children in the four directions/expressions of Personal Power: the Power of Knowledge to create/recall/discern information throughout life, the Power of Courage to pull forth the will to make difficult decisions, the Power of Right Action to act upon them with compassion and clarity, and the Power of Stillness to pause for rest, reflection, and responses to mistakes and to things that are beyond their control. Through Stillness, time can enable the process for renewal: to become new, fresh, and strong again in mind, body, spirit, and emotions. The school name and spelling of "EnCompass" is a play on the word "compass" to capture our emphasis on nurturing children to develop, strengthen, and clarify their internal compass.

EnCompass Life Spiral

graphic depiction of the EnCompass logo and it's meaning

The word "encompass" means to encircle, surround, or include. The school name and spelling of "EnCompass" is a play on the word "compass" to capture our emphasis on nurturing children to develop, strengthen, and clarify their internal compass. Children's innate curiosity to learn and explore and their desire to do the "right thing" are examples of how an internal compass can help guide children toward high academic and behavioral expectations. Academic and behavioral expectations are modeled for students to develop, strengthen, and be guided by an internal Compass. This internal compass will point children in the four (4) directions/expressions of Personal Power: 

  • the Power of Knowledge to create, recall, and discern information throughout their life.
  • the Power of Courage to pull forth the will to make difficult decisions.
  • the Power of Compassionate Right Action to act upon them.
  • the Power of Stillness to pause for rest, reflection, and respond to mistakes and to things that are beyond their control. Through Stillness, time can enable the process for renewal: to become new, fresh, and strong again in mind, body, spirit, and emotions.

Student, family, and community well-being are all connected and critical to each student's life success.