Principal's Message

May 19, 2009 

Dear Redwood Heights Community,

I am extremely excited to have the opportunity to work with you and your children! I am writing to introduce myself to you and share a little about my vision of education with you.

My vision for education comes from my experiences as a former Oakland student, an urban educator for the past 13 years, and as the mother of two sons: a seven year old and a one year old. As an educator and leader I strive to create the school environment that I want for my own children. I look forward to working with you to continue to create a place where each child is supported, valued, has opportunities for enrichment, and is able to as the Redwood Heights school vision states, "widely spread roots, achieve great heights, and be able to weather storms."

After two years of living in Boston (a move my family made for my husband's career), I am looking forward to coming back to Oakland and once again working to support Oakland students. My heart belongs to Oakland. I grew up in Oakland and attended Oakland public schools. As a student, I was able to witness first hand the importance of a strong equitable education. I was fortunate to have extremely encouraging teachers who challenged me to reach my greatest potential and supported my success. Understanding the need for equity in education as well as the positive experiences I had as a student drove me to become an educator and to work with others to form a rigorous environment where students are both challenged and supported to love learning.

As an educator I have worked with teachers, parents, students and district leaders to create a school setting that encourages students to be engaged in active, hands-on learning where they develop their skills as readers, writers, mathematicians, scientists, and artists and then use these skills to learn about the world, social justice, and themselves. I have worked with the school community to create a core set of values that include respect, responsibility for self and the world and value for the community. Together with the school community, I use data about each and every student to make decisions and determine what it is that each child needs in order to be successful.

When I became a parent seven years ago, I was given the gift of a stronger understanding of how important parents are to a school's success in meeting the needs of the students. Parent and family engagement are essential to the achievement of students. As a parent I want to ensure that the school knows my children's strengths and challenges and uses this information to support them. I want the school to care about my children, nurture my children's curiosity about the world and give them exciting enrichment opportunities. I want my children to learn from the other students around them and have opportunities to teach others what they know. I want my children to love to learn and love going to school. As an educator, I want the same for every child in the school community that I want for my own children: I want every child to be nurtured, encouraged, provided with quality learning opportunities, and able to grow to be successful.

These are my experiences and beliefs. I want to work with you to learn your own experiences, beliefs, and vision for Redwood Heights Elementary School. Here is the link to a survey that I have created in an effort to get to know the Redwood Heights community better: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=pMmPzYfM7qjgNBicXOBLaA_3d_3d. Please help me to begin to understand the needs and wants of the community. I believe that together we can continue to create an amazing place for children to learn, to grow, and to triumph. I look forward to our work together. Thank you.

Respectfully,

Sara Stone
Principal
(510) 499-6574
sstone1023@gmail.com