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Silent Disco at Esther’s Park
First Friday's in Oak Park
Come join us on the First Friday of each month at the beautiful new Esther’s Park with a Silent Disco Party.
Cost: $5/person
Corner of 34th Street ant Third Ave.
Kathy Marshall “Finding Otho: The Search for Our Enslaved Williams Ancestors”
Discussion and Book Signing
Kathy Lynne Marshall’s lifelong infatuation with African culture was challenged when a DNA test revealed just how much European cream was in her African coffee. That sent her on an intensive search to find out more about her family’s diverse ancestry. Focusing on her maternal great-great-grandfather, Otho Williams, Kathy only knew he was born a slave in 1834 in Maryland. But who were his parents and his owner? Exactly where was his home?
2019 Black Book Fair
Featured Speakers include:
Bill Fletcher and Christene Brown
Events include:
Opening Reception
Friday, May 31
6:00 pm at underground books
Writer’s Circles with featured authors
Books on Parade – Saturday, June 1 at 10:00 am
Kids Zone – Saturday, June 1
from 11:00 am to 5 pm at the Brickhouse Gallery
Entertainment! Vendor Booths!
Food Trucks!
Black Book Drive
Join us for Oak Park’s
Premier Literary Event!
Oldest Suburb of Sacramento
1887
What started as the small vision of developer Edwin K. Alsip and the Oak Park Association, grew into Sacramento’s first full-fledged suburb.
Beginning in 1887, with an initial division of 56 whole or partial lots, Oak Park gained a reputation as a community build by hard-working citizens.
In the early 1900’s, most residents had blue collar jobs working for the railroads, state fair, canneries and the highway commission. During this time most residents were White, with scattered Blacks and Mexican Americans.
40 acres Art & Cultural Center Grand Opening
May 2003
St. HOPE’s largest economic development project opened with Underground Books, Uncle Jed’s Cut Hut, Starbucks and the Guild Theater.
40 Acres is the jewel of the SHDC efforts in the Oak Park community. The building was the historic Woodruff Hotel which was build in 1922 and was renovated by St. HOPE Development company in 2003.
The 23,000 sq. ft. mixed use facility includes:
- Guild Theater
- Underground Books
- Old Soul Coffee House
- Coopers Wine Bar
- Upper Room Apartments
PS7 envisions their future selves!
PS7 Elementary hosted its first ever Career Day on Friday, April 19th! Our students dressed up as their future selves – teachers, pilots, music artists, athletes and more – and were able to explore and hear from professionals in and around the Oak Park community. As part of the learning experience, students had the opportunity to see an actual human brain thanks to researchers from UC Davis; they put in some sweat with a personal trainer; and, listened to each other’s heartbeats with a stethoscope like a pediatric nurse.
Student Diaries: The Impact of Notre Dame
Before winning the Transforming Youth through Travel scholarship by Context Travel, the only country outside of America I had visited was my parents’ homeland, Mexico. Paris is not what the movies or people make it seem to be, and it is certainly very different from both America and Mexico. My recent trip to Paris was amazing and life changing because I learned so much about the city’s history.
2019 Oak Park Block Party and Lottery Recap!
St. HOPE Public Schools recently celebrated its annual Admissions Lottery along with its first ever Oak Park Block Party held at the newly completed Esther’s Park. The Oak Park community gathered for a day of family-friendly fun, food trucks, and a live DJ. Incoming PS7 and Sacramento Charter High School scholars and families also had an opportunity to meet the St. HOPE staff during the Admissions Lottery.
Grand Opening of Esther’s Park
Last month St. HOPE officially launched its newest development, Esther’s Park! The park, located at 3408 Third Avenue, was created after the unfortunate fall of the historic Esther’s Bakery and will serve as an event space for hosting community gatherings. It is home to a beautiful mural done by Sacramento Charter High School alumni, Aizik Brown, which was part of last year’s Sacramento’s Wide Open Wall event.
2019 Best of Sac High
This year marks the 15th year anniversary of The Best of Sac High Student Art Exhibition and we are proud to celebrate it with students, their families and the entire St. HOPE team. Throughout the years we have endeavored to keep this wonderful tradition alive, showcasing the outstanding talents our students possess. We once again present to you the best artistic work from the some of our most expressive students at Sacramento High School.
College Visits Award Real-Life College Experience
Each year, Sac High prides itself in exposing ALL students to college life, and this year was no exception. In December, students were able to select their annual college trip to a vast array of Northern California universities, including UC Berkeley, Chico State, CSU East Bay, UC Merced, Sacramento State, and Sonoma State. By the time a Sac High student graduates, they have been provided with the opportunity to visit at least four different college campuses – those students involved in EAOP and College Track visit far more!
Admissions Lottery Fast Approaching
Although the priority deadline to apply for the St. HOPE Public Schools (SHPS) 2019-2020 Admissions Lottery has passed, the 2019-2020 Admissions Lottery and Oak Park Block Party will take place on Thursday, April 18, 2019 and is sure to be total fun in the sun!
The Block Party will take place at the newly-opened Esther’s Park located at 3408 3rd Avenue from 4:00pm-7:00pm and is free to attend! There will be a live DJ, BBQ, Face painting and so much more! Come hang out with us!
Oak Park Speakers Series Special Edition: Reverend Al Sharpton
The Oak Park Speaker Series, presented by Underground Books, hosted a special edition of the series featuring Reverend Al Sharpton on March 18, 2019 at The Guild Theater.
Former Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson highlighted the legacy of Stephon Clark – exactly one year after Stephon’s tragic death – along with special guests, Dr. Tecoy Porter, pastor of Genesis Church and President of the Sacramento Chapter of the National Action Network, along with attorney Benjamin Crump, representative for the families of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown.
1st Annual St. HOPE Public Health Fair!
By Katherine Jung - Student Services Coordinator
Since our scholars must be holistically healthy to achieve their optimal academic potential, we launched St. HOPE’s first Public Health Fair to provide resources that could benefit our students and their families’ psychological, physical, nutritional, medical, and emotional health and well-being.
An Oak Park Speaker Series Special Edition
Underground Books and The Guild Theater are proud to present Rev. Al Sharpton on Monday, March 18, 2019.
With over 40 years of experience as a community leader, politician, minister and advocate, the Rev. Al Sharpton is one of America’s most-renowned civil rights leaders. Sharpton’s highly visible career began at the tender age of four when he preached his first sermon.
A Little Dirt Never Hurt Anyone
Since the beginning of Sacramento Charter High School in 2003, biology students have had the opportunity to be involved in St.
Reading Makes Your World BIG!
Each year PS7 Elementary hosts a Family Literacy Night. The night is full of fun literacy games that families can play on their own at home with their scholars, and families have the opportunity to visit the Scholastic Book Fair. This year, PS7 made the event BIGGER and BETTER than ever! With the hope of exposing scholars to a plethora of cultures and diverse reads, the theme was #ReadingMakesYourWorldBIG! …and a BIG week it was!
Dragons Reign through Intense Season
The 2018-19 basketball season has unfortunately come to an end, but it definitely did not go away quietly. Both the boys’ and girls’ teams fought until the end of this grueling season that lasted from October to March.
Zoologists in Training!
PS7 Middle School scholars had the opportunity to learn all about animals in their science classes with the Sacramento Mobile Zoo Program. Scholars attended a one-hour lesson with the Sac Zoo on the PS7M campus, in which they learned about four different animals. They had the opportunity to learn about the history of the animal, how it came to be at the Sac Zoo, and even pet each animal. Our scholars had a great time expanding their knowledge about different animals and were eager to learn more.
Sac High Scholars Dive into the Great Outdoors!
The Sac High Outdoors Club (SHOC) is an effort to introduce our students to the great outdoors where they can find the sort of beauty and peace that urban areas do not offer. So far, we’ve been to Auburn, Clementine Falls, Feather Falls, and most recently Cosumnes Preserve. At Cosumnes Preserve, we were joined by Dr. Castori and her son Sam, who identified for us bald eagles, various water birds, red winged blackbirds, Canadian geese, and many more! It was a great time and the students enjoyed hiking, seeing the Cosumnes River, and learning about the natural environment.
Rob on the Road
Oak Park's Mother Rose
Oak Park’s Mother Rose | Region Rising
Meet the matriarch of Sacramento’s Oak Park neighborhood who is helping our region thrive by ensuring cultural diversity. Mother Rose of Underground Books shares her store and her heart with Rob in this rare interview. Proudly sponsored by Murphy Austin Adams Schoenfeld LLP.
Meeting of the Minds
By Jake Mossawir
Some neighborhoods get pushed to the side, separated (figuratively and sometimes literally) from the heart of a city and left to face growing rates of crime, poverty, unemployment, or other harmful consequences.
For too long, that was the story of the Oak Park neighborhood near downtown Sacramento, California. Through a concerted effort by a local non-profit in the community for the last 30 years, we are seeing real change and an upward trajectory. The Oak Park story provides lessons and hope for similarly situated communities across the country.
HOPE to HOPE: Educator Spotlight
Mr. Cody is one of our newest additions to the St. HOPE team! He received his B.S. in Mathematical Education from California State University, Chico and is now teaching Algebra II at Sac High.
The Guild Theater’s Fresh New Look!
The Guild Theater, originally known as the Victor Theater, was designed and completed in 1915. At that time, it featured movies and vaudeville shows for the community.
The theater eventually fell into a state of disrepair and remained vacant for many years. In 2003, St. HOPE updated and restored the Guild Theater to showcase plays, movies, live performances, and more.
PS7 Pick and Rolls with The Kings!
One of the most exciting perks of being a PS7 scholar and staff member is our community partnership with the Sacramento Kings! Throughout the basketball season, the Kings community program graciously donates tickets to different games to St. HOPE. We are then able to reward staff, scholars and families with FREE KINGS TICKETS! Who doesn’t love a Kings game?! Many times, these tickets are used to incentivize positive behavior, leadership, and perseverance. Other times, these tickets are used as rewards!