Principal's Message
Welcome to Horace Mann Elementary School. My name is Tammie Adams and I have been the principal since 2018. I have been in Oakland Unified School District for 28 years and served as a teacher for 19 years, and an Instructional Coach, an Elementary Literacy Specialist, and a School Improvement Coach for 4 years. I am truly thankful for the opportunity to serve the families and community of Horace Mann.
During my first year students, teachers, families and community members worked diligently and collaboratively to rebuild the climate and culture of our school. With the help of our partnership with the Restorative Justice Department as well as Seneca Family of Agencies, we have worked to build our Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports throughout our school in order to meet the needs of all of our students. We have incorporated dance into our program, as well as a Student Leadership team to ensure the voices of students are heard in order to improve our school. We are working diligently to address the Social Emotional, Safety and Academic needs of our students through weekly check-ins, classroom and monthly school wide morning meetings. Our weekly Jaguar Card Raffle, Star Student, Monthly Perfect Attendance Awards, and Trimester Award Assemblies are just a couple of the ways we support and celebrate the hard work of our scholars.
While building the early literacy skills of our K-3rd grade students to ensure they are able to read by 3rd grade, we are also taking the time to ensure our 4th and 5th graders have the skills they need to be able to comprehend what they read. As we work to build our multi-tiered systems of support, we provide grade level standards aligned instruction to all of our students. For students who need additional academic support, we include in our schedule times for small group instruction to give students the opportunity to receive individualized support as well as 1:1 reading support for students who need more intense support.
As stated in our Vision Statement, we are a school that includes all stakeholders in the learning process, which includes our families as well. We hold monthly Principal Cafe's that provide families with opportunities to learn about our goals, review our data, learn strategies to support student's learning at home, what to expect during Report Card Conferences and ways to support students on the State Assessment. Additionally, we host several Family Night Events including: Literacy Night, Math Night, Health Night, and Science Night. During these events, parents participate in activities with their child and receive materials and resources to extend the learning into their home. It is also a great opportunity for our entire community to come together to learn from one another.
Horace Mann is a great community where all staff, students and families are loved, appreciated and expected to thrive.