About Emeryville

Emeryville is a 1.2 square mile, bustling urban city in the heart of the San Francisco Bay Area, wedged between Berkeley, Oakland, and the Bay. Not unlike most Bay Area cities, the population of 9,000 residents and workforce of 25,000 daily commuters is divided culturally, ethnically, economically, and geographically. West side government offices, police and fire departments, art colony, affluent condo owners, high tech industries and retail developments stand in juxtaposition to the lower income residents on the East Side, a few city blocks away, many of whom are separated not only geographically but also by a lack of opportunity, resources and access to education and meaningful participation.

 

Emery Unified School District (EUSD) has less than 1,000 students at two schools, K-6 and 7-12. Less than 1% of Emery’s students come from the west side; 80% live in poverty and 13% are English learners. Couple our demographics with the recent crisis of bankruptcy and state takeover of EUSD, we were a community with a deep challenge and an exciting opportunity. To seize this opportunity, an unprecedented commitment of city leaders sparked new local partnerships.

 

In 2002, EUSD, the City, and the Bay Area Coalition for Equitable Schools (BayCES) signed a ground-breaking tripartite Memorandum of Understanding to create an Emeryville Citywide Initiative, the primary goals of which are to 1) redesign K-12 education, 2) build strong partnerships across EUSD, the City, and the community and 3) create an exemplary program for educator training and professional development in math, science, and technology. The City and schools came together to support our children and families academically and socially through the Emery Youth Services Advisory Council. A first (2003) and second (2007) parcel tax provided incremental local resources to improve educational outcomes.

 

In the years of implementation, Emery schools have made remarkable academic growth, noted repeatedly as the highest of the 18 districts in Alameda County as measured by the increase in the state Academic Performance Index, which has shot up 68 points, the largest improvement in test scores of any district in Alameda County. Emery has developed academic intervention courses, after school and summer opportunities, and a rich variety of visual and performing arts.

 

Emery Unified’s academic reforms follow research about successful urban schools. However, our frame is broader: our real work is not fixing schools. District and community leaders are looking beyond the boundaries of the schools to embrace a larger vision of holistic change. The community explicitly understands that our children will only fully succeed when we transform the health and well being of the whole community.  To this end the community has committed to develop the Emeryville Center of Community Life. The Center is an educational and community facility focused on supporting the community’s youth and families to academic and social success, greater connectedness, and full participation in the civic life of Emeryville and beyond. Learning centers, educational programs, laboratories, community art and gardens, shared community facilities, and a wellness center focusing on health, mental and other outreach services are some of the resources we envision in the Center.

 

The Emery Ed Fund and its Board, the school board and the city are unified in this vision and this goal. Our small size facilitates collaboration, communication, responsiveness, and agility. Our leadership and our partner organizations inspire confidence and continuing commitment. This vision is made real every day through the District’s motto: “Emery Unified: where partners power student success.”  The Emery Ed Fund serves as the catalyst for these emerging and ongoing partnerships in service of this community’s vision. We mobilize financial support, intellectual connections, and critical human resources to enhance Emeryville’s work in significant ways.