As students stepped into the McClymonds High School building bright and early Monday morning, they were immediately greeted by staff, who stopped them from walking any further while holding open small black pouches. The cost of entry? The students’ cellphones.
Some teens balked at locking away their devices, while others coyly claimed they didn’t have one. Once a student’s phone was magnetically sealed, they were free to pick up their class schedule, greet their old classmates and teachers, and go on to class.
The Yondr-brand pouches will be a ubiquitous sight on Oakland Unified School District campuses this year, as the district rolls out a state-mandated policy prohibiting students from accessing their phones during the school day. Middle and high school students will keep the fabric containers with them throughout the day, while elementary school classrooms will be equipped with lock boxes for student phones. Phones will be returned, or unlocked, at the end of the school day.
“This morning, I’ve had about 12 conversations so far with kids who think it’s unfair, but as an educator, I know how important it is for kids not to be distracted,” said Relonda McGhee, a social worker who has worked at McClymonds for more than three decades. “I think they’ll be able to open their minds to real learning and not the microwave learning that the phone gives.”
During a tour across the district Monday morning, The Oaklandside tagged along as Superintendent Denise Saddler visited the West Oakland high school along with a handful of other schools throughout the first day of classes of the 2026-2027 school year. McClymonds doubled as a construction site Monday, as major renovations on the legacy school are underway. McClymonds, which counts athlete Bill Russell, actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen, and rapper M.C. Hammer among its alumni, has been at its current location since 1937.
Sele Nadel-Hayes, OUSD’s executive director of construction, left; Denise Saddler, OUSD superintendent; and VanCedric Williams, board director representing District 3, talk about the construction taking place at McClymonds. Credit: Sarahbeth Maney for The Oaklandside
Thanks to $108 million in Measure Y bond funding, the school is set to get a complete makeover featuring upgraded classrooms, new heating and air conditioning systems, renovated plumbing and a new athletic field. The renovations are expected to be complete in 2029.
Garfield Elementary hasn’t broken ground yet, but it’s another school getting a major overhaul with Measure Y funds. The renovated campus will support a revamped early childhood wing with room for a preschool program, transitional kindergarten and kindergarten classes, and a new family resource center. It’s a $104 million investment, including a $19 million contribution from the Oakland Children’s Initiative, a parcel tax approved in 2018. Alongside upgrades at Roosevelt Middle School down the street that include a brand new science building and revitalized outdoor areas, OUSD’s capital investments in the San Antonio neighborhood will total more than $200 million.
“The idea is we’re going to transform this entire neighborhood,” said Pranita Ranbhise, the executive director of facilities planning in OUSD, motioning to a field where the new early learning buildings will be.
A teacher leads students in an activity on the first day of school at Garfield Elementary School in Oakland on Aug. 10, 2026. Credit: Sarahbeth Maney for The Oaklandside
At Urban Promise Academy, the cell phone prohibition isn’t new, Principal Tierre Mesa said. Before this year, students had to keep their phones turned off and in their backpacks all day. The Yondr pouches at her school are just a new consequence, Mesa said — if students violate the rules, they used to have to turn their phones into the main office; now they’ll be locked in a Yondr pouch.
“A lot of students have forgotten how to have that direct conversation because they’re staring at a screen all the time,” Mesa said. “We’ve always valued not having screens in school.”
Mesa said the Fruitvale school is celebrating its highest enrollment ever this year, with 405 students enrolled on the first day. She attributed that to families in the neighborhood spreading the word about the school and to Urban Promise Academy’s robust newcomer program, for newly arrived immigrant students learning English.
Middle school students at Urban Promise Academy talk during their English language development class on the first day of school in Oakland. Credit: Sarahbeth Maney for The Oaklandside
OUSD expanded its transitional kindergarten classes this year, adding “hub” sites to accommodate the overflow when there aren’t enough school-site classrooms to accommodate the youngest learners, who require specialized classrooms. This year, OUSD’s Kaiser campus, in the Hiller Highlands, Burbank center in the Millsmont neighborhood, and Hintil Kuu Ca preschool near Merritt College will also serve as hubs.
A grade before kindergarten for 4-year-olds that is now universal, studies show transitional kindergarten can have a positive academic impact in later years.
“There’s a new initiative that I’m starting this year called ‘Countdown to Kindergarten,’’’ Saddler told The Oaklandside. “We’ll be having different benchmarks throughout the year to look at the readiness of our TK [students] for kindergarten. This is where we can really have an impact in working with kids at the youngest level.”
Transitional kindergarten students in Meccah Coleman’s class sit and listen. Credit: Sarahbeth Maney for The Oaklandside
Four-year-olds in Meccah Coleman’s transitional kindergarten class at Sankofa United Elementary spent a part of their first day learning about the classroom roles they’ll each get to have for one week: as teacher helper, lights person, the line leader, or the person in charge of composting milk left over after snack time.
Her students sat quietly munching on their morning snack of crackers and milk as a crowd of adults that included the superintendent, senior district staff, and elected officials crammed into their classroom. But Coleman held their attention.
“Who remembers how long we’re going to have that job?” she asks.
After a few seconds of silence, one student speaks up confidently, “One week!”
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