By Brian Anderson
Valley Times

June 26, 2001

OAKLAND -- Students enrolled in Oakland's new and controversial military school marched into the inaugural academic year Monday, launching a new stripe of institution that officials hope will rocket the city's lagging educational image.

Nearly 200 seventh-graders boarded buses early Monday morning in Oakland and traveled to the California National Guard base in San Luis Obispo to spend the next two weeks kayaking, hiking and bonding with school officials at orientation.

Termed a "boot camp" by opponents, the Oakland Military Institute's getaway will be used to academically assess the school's first class of seventh-grade boys and girls, said Oakland city staffer Simon Bryce.

"It is not a boot camp," Bryce said. "It's more like a summer camp that many kids go to every year."

The students will attend three weeks of summer school after returning from camp.

Scheduled to officially open Aug. 13 at the Oakland Army Base, the school will accommodate students in grades seven through 12 with an initial class of 162. Plans are to add a new class of seventh-graders every year until a student body of 972 is reached in six years.

About 190 students are enrolled, but officials expect that number to dwindle due to the rigorous curriculum.

The National Guard will run the operation, but a civilian principal will have immediate control.

Plans call for a 200-day academic year that will put students in class for up to six days each week.

Critics contend the charter school abandons the city's traditional public schools and touts an aggressive military agenda.

"I feel the program is not based on a sound educational approach," said Oakland school board member Dan Siegel. "There is absolutely no research that a military-type school leads to improved achievement."