For Immediate Release: June 17, 2013

New Initiative Aims to Double Percentage of Oakland Youth Reading on Grade Level by End of Third Grade by 2020

City of Oakland, Oakland Unified School District and Nearly 100 Organizations Announce Oakland Reads 2020, An Initiative Aimed at Dramatically Improving Reading Proficiency for Oakland’s Youth

Oakland, CA – When kids read at grade level, especially by the end of third grade, their future is much brighter.  The Mayor, Oakland Unified School District Superintendent, parents, and other community organizations and leaders gathered on  June 17to announce Oakland Reads 2020. This multi-year initiative identifies and supports solutions that increase the percentage of children reading on grade level by the end of third grade.

As its goal, Oakland Reads 2020 will bring the community together to double the percentage of children reading on grade level by the end of third grade from 42% to 85%.

“The current status quo is unacceptable,” stated Jean Quan, Mayor of the City of Oakland.  “Every child in this city deserves an opportunity to learn to read and write, and we have an obligation to support solutions that will assist them. This campaign affects all of us. Successful students can reach their dreams, strengthen our local economy, and help us reduce violence in our community.”

The initiative focuses on helping students read on grade level by the end of third grade because studies show that it is one of the most important predictors for high school graduation and career success. For example, children from low-income families are 13 times less likely to graduate from high school if not reading on grade level by the end of third grade.  Oakland Reads 2020 will address reading proficiency by creating a shared vision and network of early literacy resources that are accessible, collaborative, integrated and supported.

“Children reading on grade level by Grade 3 is critical to a healthy future,” stated Tony Smith, Superintendent of the Oakland Unified School District. “That’s why we have to dedicate more of our efforts to helping kids from an early age. OUSD knows that schools and teachers cannot do it alone, and we welcome the collaborative approach of Oakland Reads 2020.”

With less than half of its third graders reading on grade level, Oakland leaders decided take action and develop an effort to engage students and parents beyond the classroom.  Oakland Reads 2020 focuses its efforts on four areas they believe will help increase the percentage of students reading on grade level by the end of third grade:

• School Readiness:  Oakland Reads 2020 will support community-driven efforts to ensure that every child enters kindergarten ready to learn and has quality early learning opportunities.
• School Attendance: Oakland Reads 2020 will support strategies to increase school attendance and reduce chronic absence.
• Summer Learning: Oakland Reads 2020 will support access to summer activities that help Oakland’s students not to lose ground in the summer months.
• Family Engagement:  Oakland Reads 2020 will support parents, grandparents and caregivers because they are the first and most important teachers and advocates for children.

“Beginning this summer, our community-driven network will build on Oakland’s collaborative spirit and identify strategies to help children read on grade level,” stated Brian Rogers, Executive Director of the Rogers Family Foundation. “We are committed to working collectively over the next seven years and to continuing to share strategies, goals and metrics for success with the community.”

Oakland Reads 2020 will also work with the National Campaign for Grade-Level Reading to strengthen its work. The national campaign is comprised of 124 communities committed to improving reading proficiency.

“The City of Oakland, like communities all over the United States, is showing what is possible when people come together to help children read proficiently by improving school readiness, attendance and summer learning,” stated Ralph Smith, Senior Vice President of the Annie E. Casey Foundation. “I am excited to see how Oakland innovates, particularly in relation to family engagement. The city can be a model for other communities.”

While Oakland Reads 2020 is focused on early childhood education, the initiative envisions their work leading to an Oakland where students will continue to be supported until they graduate from high school and will be fully prepared for the 21^st century economy.

To learn more about Oakland Reads 2020, visit www.oaklandreads.org.

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About Oakland Reads 2020: Oakland Reads 2020 is a community initiative aimed at dramatically increasing the number of Oakland students reading on grade level by the end of the third grade.  The network is comprised of the City of Oakland, the Oakland Unified School District and nearly 100 public and private organizations.  Oakland Reads 2020 is a chapter of the National Campaign for Grade-Level Reading (http://gradelevelreading.net/).

Oakland Reads 2020 is currently supported by a collaborative group of funders that includes the Rogers Family Foundation, the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, and the East Bay Community Foundation.  Oakland Reads 2020 seeks to leverage and maximize resources, and welcomes participation and matching funds from other foundations and corporations.

Today we are stepping out of our usual routine to bring you the first Kenneth Rainin Foundation arts blog post. These are exciting times at KRF! We just launched a new website and our giving is expanding across all program areas.

In the process of setting up our blog, we’ve learned that very few foundations have “jumped into that world.” One report states that among the country’s largest 100 foundations, only 15% are blogging. We’re not intimidated by this statistic. We welcome the opportunity to share our work. Our first round of Impact Grants and a fantastic group of Spring 2013 Visibility Awards recipients have just been announced, and many of our grantees are enlivening the Bay Area summer performance calendar with affecting productions.

What do foundations blog about?

Good question. We’ll primarily use our blog to share information about the incredible work of our grantees. We’ll post occasional updates on the state of the foundation, application deadlines, and relevant research in the field. We’re also interested in helping connect artists and peer organizations, especially among small and mid-size dance, theater, and multidisciplinary performing arts groups. Those familiar with our arts funding know we’re enthusiastic about the Bay Area, and that we value our role as champions of the performing arts and film communities. We are particularly passionate about experimental, site-specific performances and dynamic, multidisciplinary collaborations as well as films that bring social justice issues to the fore. We like to test the boundaries, and so do our grantees! Speaking of grantees…

Here are some upcoming performances that are sure to intrigue:

June 13 – June 16

LEVYdance “Spring Season at Home”
Photo by David DeSilva

LEVYdance – “Spring Season at Home,” a selection of favorite freshly re-imagined works from the company’s first decade programmed as an evening-length experience, and presented on custom-built stages and catwalks on Heron Street, the South of Market alley where LEVYstudio is located.

May 22 – June 16

Magic Theatre – “Terminus,” Irish playwright Mark O’Rowe’s lyrical and lacerating poetic language takes you on a visceral ride from the bustling streets to the skies above Dublin, then deep into the bowels of the earth, as three people are ripped from their daily lives and thrown into a fantastical world of singing serial killers, avenging angels and lovesick demons. Read Sam Hurwitt’s KQED Arts review.

June 6 – June 29

Crowded Fire Theater Company – “410 [GONE]” Where do we go when we die? In Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig’s “410 [GONE]” that depends on how you play the game. The stakes are high when a young woman goes in search of her lost brother. On this fantastical journey into the underworld—a land ruled by the Chinese Goddess of Mercy and the Monkey King, where time is suspended, and Dance Dance Revolution holds the key to Transmigration—a sister and brother must face the ultimate question: if there is no love without pain, what does it mean to love? Directed by Evren Odcikin.

June 1 – July 6

Queer Cultural Center (QCC) – “National Queer Arts Festival,” Since 1998, QCC has organized an annual month-long multidisciplinary National Queer Arts Festival.  To date, these Festivals have presented more than 400 different events featuring over 1000 Queer artists.

And we hope you caught these recent performances:

May 15 – June 7

KUNST-STOFF & [ABC] Arts Building Consortium – “KUNST-STOFF arts fest,” included morning classes, workshops, dance performances, film, and music. Featured artists: Sara Shelton Mann, Constantine Baecher, Yannis Adoniou, Linsdans, Erin Malley, [RAD] artist Christine Bonansea, Kathleen Hermesdorf, Albert Mathias, Laura Arrington, Dance Elixir, and many more. Read Rita Felciano’s SF Bay Guardian review.

May 24 – 26

“Performance Research Experiment #2″
Jess Curtis/Gravity with Jörg Müller

Jess Curtis/Gravity with Jörg Müller – “Performance Research Experiment #2,” What can a performance make you feel (and how)? Performance Research Experiment #2, aimed to answer just that question. Live performance events crashed into a scientific experiment. Jess Curtis, French/German performer Jörg Müller and Iranian neuroscientist Ida Mommenejad, investigated the workings of live art on the human body. Read Allan Ulrich’s SF Chronicle review.

May 30 – June 1

Joe Goode Performance Group – “Behind the Scenes of Hush,” a weekend of intimate work-in-progress showings and discussion from Joe Goode’s newest project, Hush, set to premiere at Z Space in the fall of this year. A collaboration with sound effects artist Sudhu Tewari and musician/composer Ben Juodvalkis, Hush combines personal stories, dance, visuals, and innovative ambient sound techniques drawn from Foley filmmaking to explore the various ways in which we are “hushed” by society. Goode and Tewari examine the interplay between live and recorded sound effects, external commentary, and song/movement.

May 9 – June 2

EXITheatre – “DIVAfest,” a theater and arts festival of women artists. The 2013 festival featured three premieres: YOU’VE GOT TO BLEED, a contemporary black comedy by Melissa Fall; THE HELEN PROJECT, an experimental play by game show designer Megan Cohen and theater director Amy Clare Tasker; and REBEL WITHOUT A BRA: A BURLESQUE CABARET that looks at the history of the art form from Victorian times to today’s neo-burlesque genre. Read Sam Hurwitt’s KQED Arts review.

For a full list of summer shows, visit the Dancers’ Group and Theatre Bay Area performance calendars.

More soon…

–

Shelley Trott
Senior Program Officer, Arts

Katie Fahey
Program Associate, Arts

Email: arts@krfoundation.org

Above photo: KUNST-STOFF Dance Company’s Artistic Director Yannis Adoniou and Calvin Hilpert
photo credit: Chelsea Rowe

Awards Promote Performing Arts, Support Literacy Programs, and Fund Promising Narrative Films

Oakland, CA — The Board of Directors of the Kenneth Rainin Foundation has approved 28 grants totaling just over $730,000 in support of San Francisco Bay Area non-profit organizations. The Foundation also announced $340,000 in grants through its ongoing partnership with the San Francisco Film Society (SFFS). The Foundation’s mission is to invest in innovative and collaborative programs in the arts, education, and health that improve quality of life.

Arts

The Foundation awarded 14 grants ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 to Bay Area dance, theater and multidisciplinary organizations. Among the projects supported through the Foundation’s Visibility Awards are a theater and arts festival of women artists, new innovative and contemporary dance and theater works, and a program designed exclusively for playwrights that includes housing, workspace and access to a production fund.

The Foundation also approved four awards as part of its new Impact Grant Program to support activities that will strengthen arts organizations. The multi-year grants will fund activities that can occur in every aspect of an organization, including operations, technology, finance, marketing and communications, and leadership. Each year, the Foundation will select a new cohort of organizations for multi-year capacity building grants, helping both emerging and existing organizations, and strengthening the Bay Area performing arts ecosystem.

Dir. Oden Roberts, of “Rosie Got Her Gun”
photo courtesy of San Francisco Film Society

In addition, the Foundation continues its highly successful collaboration with the San Francisco Film Society (SFFS) to support narrative feature films with social justice themes that benefit and uplift the Bay Area filmmaking community. The awards include unparalleled assistance and opportunities, including development assistance and residencies for working filmmakers at all stages of their careers through SFFS’s dynamic Filmmaker360 program.

View the Visibility Awards, Impact Grant Program grantees and SFFS/KRF Grantees.

EDUCATION

Fourteen organizations received a total of $494,000 in education grants to improve literacy skills for children throughout Oakland, CA. Grants will support teacher development, program expansions, and new reading initiatives. View education grantees and learn about the Literacy Symposium in Oakland scheduled for Monday, June 17, 2013.

HEALTH

The Kenneth Rainin Foundation invites you to attend its 2013 Innovations Symposium: Stress Responses, Inflammation & Disease, on Friday, June 12, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago. We are hosting the Symposium due to popular demand, following the success of our first one last year. The Symposium is unique in that it brings together prominent and leading authorities from a variety of fields to promote scientific dialogue and foster collaboration and breakthroughs that will speed innovations and cure Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Get more information and register at rainin-symposium.com. Registration fee is $200; students receive a discounted rate of $100.

Collective Effort = Collective Success: Oakland Reads 2020

What will it take to double the number of students reading on grade-level at the end of third grade by the year 2020? The Oakland Literacy Coalition (OLC) believes it will take the collective efforts of residents, businesses, schools, nonprofit organizations, funders and many others in the city of Oakland.

I couldn’t agree more. I recently had an opportunity to hear Ralph Smith, managing director of the national Campaign for Grade-Level Reading and senior vice president of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, speak at a conference on this topic. One of the things that really resonated with me from his talk was the fact that schools cannot do it alone–they need you, me and the whole community. Parents and guardians are the first and best teachers to instill a love of books and learning, but others can help, too. I’m reminded of my neighbor who used to give me books. It was a simple gesture, but it fueled my passion for reading and learning. In fact, today I’m a proud member of a great book club, 15+ years and going strong.

Ultimately, we need our community to not only agree that improving literacy is something we should do, but take action toward achieving the shared goal of reading success for all of Oakland’s children. On Monday, June 17, the OLC is hosting a free symposium on community efforts to achieve third grade reading success. The event will also officially launch Oakland Reads 2020, an initiative that aims to double the number of Oakland students reading successfully by the end of third grade. We envision an Oakland where at least 85 percent of our students are reading at grade level by the end of third grade in 2020. There is a role for every person in this community to be part of the solution. I’ll be at the symposium and I invite you to join us to learn more about Oakland Reads 2020 and ways you can help.

Why Focus on Third Grade?

The most important predictor of school success and high school graduation is grade-level reading by the end of third grade. Research shows that proficiency in reading by the end of third grade enables students to shift from learning to read to reading to learn, and to master the more complex subject matter they encounter in the fourth grade curriculum. Most students who do not reach this critical milestone will struggle in school and many often drop out before earning a high school diploma. Yet two-thirds of U.S. fourth graders are not proficient readers, according to national reading assessment data. This disturbing statistic is made even worse by the fact that more than four out of every five low-income students miss this critical milestone.

Symposium Goals

The one-day symposium will engage the Oakland community to:

• Build on a common agenda for grade-level reading success
• Hear examples of successful cross-sector collaborations already underway to support grade-level reading efforts
• Generate actions our city can take to ensure all children in Oakland are reading on grade-level at the end of third grade

Participants will also hear from inspiring grade-level reading champions as they highlight a vision for Oakland Reads 2020:

• The Honorable Jean Quan, Mayor, City of Oakland; Oakland Reads 2020 Champion
• Ralph Smith, Managing Director, Campaign for Grade Level Reading; Senior Vice President, Annie E. Casey Foundation
• Tony Smith, Superintendent, Oakland Unified School District

We hope you will join us in reaffirming Oakland’s commitment to the success of our children.

Event Details

When:  Monday, June 17, 2013, 8:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Where: Oakland Marriott at City Center,  Junior Ballroom, 1001 Broadway, Oakland, CA
Cost: Free!
Register here 

For more information please email info@oaklandreads.org.

Paula

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Paula Ambrose

Program Officer, Education

Email: education@krfoundation.org

It’s apparent that finding tomorrow’s cures for complex human diseases such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) will come from a concerted effort of investigators from broad fields of biology working together.

Rapid scientific progress has been made in the understanding of key etiopathogenic factors underlying IBD, including genetic, microbial, immune system, and environmental. This research progress, while encouraging, also means that there is now a considerable amount of work that needs to be done to further identify and define novel molecular pathways and future drug targets. Unraveling the mass of information that is currently being generated in research labs around the world will require strong collaboration of cross functional research teams with the melding of biology and computer science. Too often, however, investigators working in these diverse fields are intellectually isolated from the scientists and physicians who study and treat IBD, or any other chronic disease for that matter. That is why the Kenneth Rainin Foundation is focusing its efforts on fostering and supporting collaborative research efforts.

The Foundation is hosting its second annual Innovations Symposium on Friday, July 12, 2013, at The Four Seasons Hotel, Chicago. This unique one-day symposium will bring together preeminent investigators from a variety of disciplines to present their cutting-edge research on the molecular and cellular aspects of inflammatory and stress response pathways presented in the context of IBD. The Symposium will provide a think-tank environment to describe and explore recent advances in these diverse areas of research. It is our greatest hope that the Symposium will spark innovative collaborations among a variety of researchers who will be inspired to pursue novel and hopefully game-changing IBD research.

Guest speakers include:

• Hiroshi Ohno, M.D., Ph.D. , RIKEN, Japan – Function and Differentiation of M Cells, a Subset of Intestinal Epithelial Cells Specialized for Mucosal Antigen Uptake
• Richard I. Morimoto, Ph.D., Northwestern University – The Heat Shock Response: Protecting from Cell Stress and Promoting Proteome Health
• Gökhan S. Hotamisligil, M.D., Ph.D., Harvard University – ER Stress and New Ways to Control Chronic Stress and Inflammation
• M. Celeste Simon, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania – Hypoxia, Inflammation and Tumor Progression
• Vishva M. Dixit, M.D., Genentech, Inc. – Signaling Lessons from Death Receptors: The Inflammasome and Beyond
• Herbert W. Virgin IV, M.D., Ph.D. – What Stands Between the Genome and the Disease Phenome

Participants will have ample time throughout the meeting to network with their research colleagues and learn more about Kenneth Rainin Foundation grant opportunities.

Join us and be part of these world-changing conversations!

Event Details

When: Friday, July 12, 2013, 7:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Where: Four Seasons Hotel, Chicago
Cost: $200; Students and Fellows $100

Early registration is recommended, as seating is limited to 150. For questions, please contact Health Program Staff.

REGISTER NOW

–
Kimberly Krivacic, Ph.D.
Program Officer, Health

Email: health@krfoundation.org

The Oakland UnifiedSchool District (OUSD) is offering a free summer Pre-K program for students entering kindergarten in the 2013-14 school year with no prior school experience. Classes are from 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. and will be held June 25 – July 19, 2013.

Sites include:

• Allendale Elementary
• Bella Vista
• Burckhalter Elementary
• Garfield Elementary
• East Oakland Pride
• Manzanita Elementary
• MLK Elementary
• New Highland Academy
• Sobrante Park Elementary

The program is designed to help students transition school ready into kindergarten. Free breakfast and lunch will be provided. For more information, contact Kara Woo or call 510-336-7503.

Stage Left, a film directed by Austin Forbord, was nominated for a Northern California Area EMMY® Award on May 1, 2013, in the category of Arts/Entertainment-Program/Special. The film, produced by RAPT Productions and commissioned by the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, was created to raise local and national awareness of the unique and extraordinary San Francisco arts community. It takes audiences through 60 years of San Francisco’s vibrant theater scene, exploring how the community both reflects and shapes the Bay Area’s unique political and social culture.

The EMMY® award is presented for outstanding achievement in television by The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS). San Francisco/Northern California is one of the twenty chapters awarding regional Emmy® statuettes. Northern California is composed of media companies and individuals from Visalia to the Oregon border and includes Hawaii and Reno, Nevada. Entries were aired during the 2012 calendar year. Winners will be announced on Saturday, June 15.

Photo credit: © Drew Altizer

San Francisco, CA – Jennifer Rainin, President of the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, was honored by the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA), Northern California Chapter, as the 2013 Champion of Hope. She was recognized for her philanthropic leadership in establishing the Center for Colitis and Crohn’s Disease at UCSF with her father, Kenneth Rainin, and for funding transformative research to find a cure for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). The Champion of Hope award honors individuals who have had a positive impact on our society, and through their work, can bring hope to the millions of Americans who suffer from Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. In her acceptance speech, Dr. Rainin proclaimed herself the “Belle of the Bowel.”  View the video tribute to Dr. Rainin, courtesy of CCFA.

April 17, 2013–The San Francisco Film Society (SFFS), in partnership with the Kenneth Rainin Foundation (KRF), is giving away serious money once again, continuing their rapid growth as a prolific funding source in indie cinema. The two organizations announced today the projects that will receive a total of $340,000 in funding—the largest amount disbursed to date—in the latest round of SFFS/KRF Filmmaking Grants. Eight filmmaking teams were granted funding to help with their next stage of production, from screenwriting to post. SFFS/KRF Filmmaking Grants are awarded twice annually to filmmakers for narrative feature films that will have significant economic or professional impact on the Bay Area filmmaking community. More than $2 million has been awarded since the launch of the Film Society’s grant program in 2009.

Press release available at SFFS website.

Read about Arts Grants, Stage Left and the Kenneth Rainin Foundation’s 2013 Innovations Symposium