​The first Oakland Early Learning Symposium for the 2024-25 year, Baby Steps: Shifting to Care for Younger Children, focused on the changing early learning landscape in Oakland and the Bay as Universal PreK and Transitional Kindergarten roll out across the state. 

​“What does fatherhood mean to you?” and “What do you most want for your child’s education?” These are among the questions that participants in an Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) early learning event recently pondered together. The event, “Fathers and Father Figures Kindergarten Readiness Conversation and Celebration,” was the brainchild of teacher Ms. DaMonica Robinson, and was held at OUSD’s Lockwood Child Development Center.