State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Visits Horace Mann Elementary in Oakland to Celebrate First Day of School

OAKLAND—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond today joined Principal Tammie Adams and Oakland Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Kyla Johnson-Trammell as well as other school and community officials to welcome students and celebrate the first day of in-person instruction at Horace Mann Elementary located in Oakland.

Horace Mann Elementary opened today for the first day of in-person instruction for the 2021–22 school year. State Superintendent Thurmond joined Governing Board members and local officials during his classroom visit and participated in a backpack giveaway.

“We want to transform school culture, and in the last two years, Horace Mann Elementary has been focused on making sure students feel welcome and safe and honing in on academics with grade-level standards,” Thurmond said. “Our foundational principle is that all students must have access to safe and full in-person instruction and to as much instructional time as possible. However, we can’t help our students academically until we make sure they are not only physically healthy through COVID testing and protocols, but socially and emotionally healthy as well. I urge schools in California to utilize the $2.1 billion in CARES Act funding to support Social and Emotional Learning and increased resources for counseling and mental health.”

Along with a focus on school culture, Horace Mann Elementary also has computer science classes, dance classes, a reopened library, a reinstituted student council (in 2019), an after-school program, an Upward Roots program for most fourth and fifth graders, and a racial justice program.

This event at Horace Mann Elementary is part of a series of on-campus visits that the State Superintendent is making to showcase students engaged in safe, in-person learning supported by a multi-layered, whole-child approach that includes implementing safety measures and addressing learning gaps while attending to student mental health and well-being and the needs of families.

School districts can find more information on funding sources for COVID tests on the CDE CARES Act Funding web page. For questions on rapid COVID testing, email RapidTesting@cde.ca.gov.

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Tony Thurmond — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100