Oakland Military Institute

OMI was founded in 2001[4] after a two-year campaign led by then Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown. Governor Gray Davis helped secure the charter after local school boards rejected the proposals.[5] OMI is the first charter school sponsored and run by the State of California Military Department and the first public military school sponsored by the National Guard. The school site, at its inception, was located on the Oakland Army Base - 2405 West 14th Street.[6] AC Transit provided a dedicated bus line for student transportation to the base. Hundreds of applications were submitted from all over the East Bay and each prospective student was required to appear with their parent/guardian.

The process for acceptance into OMI consisted of a in-person interview with a panel that included a military member, faculty member, administrator and representative from the Mayor’s Office. There amount of application for entry into OMI's first class, required the staff to hold a lottery for acceptance at the Oakland Army Base Theater to determine which applicants would be allowed to attend a two-week summer camp held in Camp San Luis Obispo (Camp SLO). The first class of 167 seventh-graders enrolled in August 2001, under the direction of then Commandant, Colonel Bradford M. Jones, then Senior Non-Commissioned Officer, Command Sergeant Major Alex Cabassa and then Academic Director, Rick Moniz.

On May 17, 2007, OMI relocated from the Oakland Army Base to their current location at 3877 Lusk Street,Oakland, CA 94608. In August 2012, OMI expanded and opened a 15,000 square foot state of the art facility to serve 6th grade and house science classrooms, music and art classes, and a library and computer lab and virtual learning center.[5][7]