Oakland Unified School District
Service Area: Community Engagement
Project: Glenview Elementary School Reconstruction
CIC was brought in to facilitate dialogue between neighbors, families, and staff of a school reconstruction project in a tightly built Oakland neighborhood. The multi-year engagement included developing structures for regular communication between stakeholders; codifying the needs of neighbors and commitments of the school district and construction team to meet those needs; and facilitating a multi-tiered process to bring to light priorities around the relocation of students and staff during the multi-year reconstruction. Oakland Unified recently celebrated the new school facility with a ribbon cutting.
Accomplishments
Unstuck a construction project mired in contention between neighbors, preservationists, the school district, and school families
Found consensus on a temporary school site among parents and staff
Met neighbor needs in updated school design, without compromising school functionality or construction budget
Before
After
“Heather did an amazing job of holding space for multiple perspectives during a complicated and controversial school construction process. Her role as a bridge between the community, the parents, and the district helped make sure all voices were heard and valued while freeing up school staff to stay focused on educating students.”
“Heather’s calm, sensible, and solution-driven demeanor always managed to comfort our team. I know for a fact that we all inherited a level of peace of mind knowing that Heather was at the helm of the community engagement, allowing us to extend our bandwidth and complete the project successfully as a team. Our gratitude is abundant!”