Urban Promise Academy

"The mission of Urban Promise Academy (UPA) is to develop scholars, warriors, and artists." What a goal! Promise Academy is a unique small public school that prioritizes project-based, personalized and social-emotional learning. When the academy was first founded in 2001, many Oakland schools with high populations of Black and Latino/a students were severely underfunded and filled with low-performing students. Frustrated by the lack of quality education, parents and community leaders partnered with the National Equity Project to create the "New Small Autonomous Schools" initiative. One of the schools created with funding from this program was the Urban Promise Academy. With a student body consisting of 90% on free or reduced lunch, 85% Latino/a, and 50% English language learners, UPA tailors its education approach to its community.

Much of UPA's campus is covered with pavement and impermeable surfaces, including a 50,000 sq. ft. roof and 120,000 sq. ft. of hardscape. While these areas are great for activities like basketball, they prevent water from soaking into the ground, leading to large amounts of untreated stormwater runoff. During an average rain year, the UPA campus generates about 2.13 million gallons (or 6.5 acre-feet) of stormwater. Unfortunately, this runoff flows directly into drains that lead to Sausal Creek immediately below, carrying debris, trash, and other pollutants from the streets and roof. You may notice a faded blue band running across the paved area — it represents Sausal Creek's underground path, which is open to the sky just east of campus but buried in a culvert to the west of campus. Both can be seen, but not accessed, from the school property.

There are many ways to manage stormwater more effectively called Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI), as well as Low Impact Design (LID). For example, rain barrels can be installed to collect roof water, and permeable pavers can replace paved areas, allowing water to soak into the ground. This is especially important for this neighborhood, which has some of the city's most polluted storm drains, flowing directly into Sausal Creek untreated.