Oakland’s Museum of Children's Art (MOCHA) School Programs bring sequential, standards-based arts learning to students in grades PreK-8 throughout Oakland and the Bay Area. 

 

MOCHA School-based programming students are 24% African American, 41% Latino, 15% Asian/Pacific Islander, 8% Caucasian, 12% identify as biracial, with 55% speaking a language other than English in the home and over 73% having families living at or below the Federal Poverty Level. A large percentage of MOCHA’s School Programs are in Title One schools where many children and families qualify for free or reduced lunch programs and are often located in areas with food deserts and identified by Oakland City Council as in “need of services." In many of these areas, there is limited funding for arts or other enrichment programming despite the fact that research shows that access to arts education is often a key indicator of future success.

 

MOCHA programs emphasize outreach to Oakland neighborhoods and schools where the majority of students are from low resourced communities, perform below academic testing, and are from families with limited resources to procure enrichment services.