Courtesy of the Oakland Unified School District

When Arvella Hayden started working in Oakland Unified School District, it was an entirely different world. That year, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, Martin Luther King Jr. won the Nobel Peace Prize, Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, won the World Heavyweight Championship, Beatlemania was all the rage as the Beatles released “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” the average cost of a house was $13,050, and gasoline cost 30 cents per gallon. 

The year was 1964.

Hayden joined the OUSD family 57 years ago. Now, in 2021, she is retiring from her job as a kindergarten teacher at Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School. “I hate to leave the children,” she said, but she knows the time is right.

Hayden started her career at Arroyo Viejo Child Development Center, then moved on to teach at Lafayette Elementary, before transferring to Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary. She spent almost 40 years at Lafayette. 

She was educated at Huston-Tillotson University in Austin, Texas, and said it was clear early on she was going to be a teacher. “My oldest sister was a teacher, and she taught for 40 years. She was my role model.”

 “Just looking at her and seeing the love she gives the kids, she’s just special… just being a teacher this long, that’s a big gift,” said Dinah Castle, the school’s noon supervisor who has also worked in Hayden’s class for more than 30 years. “This keeps her going. She loves kids. She doesn’t have any kids, but these are her kids. She looks forward to getting up every morning and coming here.”

Over the course of her career, Hayden has counted herself as lucky to have worked at such great schools. “The parents were very nice. I had nice principals, nice teachers, and everyone seemed just like one family.” 

She adds that people were the secret to why she was able to do the job for so long. “Everybody, like I said, was easy to get along with and helping each other… The community, the teachers and everything. It’s my family.”

    “It is an honor and a privilege to work with an educator who has seen many decades of change in how students learn and how the education system operates,” said Roma Groves-Waters, principal of King Elementary. “I am so appreciative to have worked with Arvella Hayden. She will be remembered as an icon for all teachers in America.”
 
Hayden has taught three generations of Oaklanders, saying she has had the grandchildren of some of her original students in her classes. “When I’m out in the community, I love to see and have them come and say, ‘Hi, Ms. Hayden. I remember you when you taught me.’ And that makes me feel real good.”

“We celebrate Arvella Hayden, a true living legend,” said Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell. “I started in education in 1997, and at that point, Ms. Hayden had already been teaching for 33 years – which is itself a remarkable career in education. She has meant as much to the West Oakland community, and Oakland as a whole, as any single person in OUSD, and I cannot thank her enough for impacting the lives of so many students over the last half century plus.”

Arvella Hayden plans to spend her retirement traveling and spending time with her family.

Christy Price

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