Our Impact

Since 2015, we have served as the backbone of Oakland's early childhood ecosystem, driving its shift from a deeply siloed and politicized system to one that works together towards shared goals.​
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We build bridges between systems and communities that transform power dynamics and lift up community-driven policy and priorities. ​
Some of our key accomplishments include:
  • Scaling developmental screenings to include all 1,000 OUSD preschoolers 
  • Providing professional development to hundreds of early educators annually 
  • Incubating the Oakland Family Resource Center Network
  • Organizing Family Child Care providers to advocate for their needs 
A Decade of Partnerships
Engage R&D conducted this retrospective of ten years of OSSS’s work and concluded the following: ​ 
  • The early learning system was transformed from the ground up. Over 10 years, OSSS built a fully coordinated early childhood ecosystem with aligned community partners, data-sharing agreements, family navigators, and dedicated data analysts where little infrastructure existed before.  
  • ​The quality of OUSD’s early childhood classrooms measurably improved. More OSSS-partnered sites earned 4 or 5-star QRIS (Quality Rating Improvement System) ratings over time, and the report directly links those improvements starting in 2016–2018 to when OSSS coaching and professional development came online. 
  • Despite the pandemic,  Oakland's children held steady while other communities declined. The pandemic had a devastating impact on early learning nationwide.  However, Oakland children's outcomes on the DRDP (Desired Results Development Profile) and the EDI (Early Development Instrument) remained relatively flat when many comparable communities saw much steeper drops. 
  • ​Children showed consistent growth within the school year, year after year. The data shows that children maintained steady fall-to-spring growth across DRDP domains throughout the 10 years. 
Year in Review
As we reflect on 2025, we do so with gratitude for the community of partners who make progress possible, even during tough times. Our 2025 Year in Review shares bright points from the past year as well as what we're planning for the future.

Thank you to all of our collaborative partners and community members who are working together to ensure that all children, families, and early educators flourish in Oakland - in 2026 and beyond. 
Past Annual Reports
2024 OSSS Year in Review
2023 OSSS Year in Review
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2022 OSSS Year in Review
2021 OSSS Year in Review
2020 OSSS Year in Review
2019 OSSS Report on Accomplishments
Many of the photos on this site appear courtesy of Hasain Rasheed Photography