Daveed Diggs To E.P. KQED Docuseries On Bay Area High Schoolers

EXCLUSIVE: Public television’s KQED has announced it will present The Class, a documentary series executive produced by Daveed Diggs that explores high schoolers coming of age at the height of Covid.

The six-parter directed and produced by Adam Fenderson and Jaye Fenderson of Three Frame Media is set to air nationwide in the spring of 2025. It was filmed across the 2020-2021 school year in the California East Bay community of Antioch when kids were forced to contend with the immense disruption and social isolation of the pandemic.

“High school has always been a challenging time, but in the age of COVID it took an extra dose of courage and perseverance to succeed,” observed Diggs, the Tony- and Grammy-winning actor, producer and musician (Hamilton, Blindspotting, Snowpiercer). “As an Oakland native and a fierce advocate for expanding opportunities in education, I am proud to be a part of The Class which highlights the stories of six incredible Bay Area teens as they fight to achieve their dreams.”

Along with the half dozen seniors from Deer Valley High School, the series foregrounds college adviser Mister Cam, who helps the students “overcome the challenges they face while ceaselessly fighting for their dreams of a college degree.”

“We hope these students’ stories restore faith in the promise of college and the opportunities it provides for those who came of age during the pandemic,” said filmmakers Jaye and Adam Fenderson. “It has been an incredible journey to make this series, and we’re so grateful to Daveed, KQED, and the extended village that has come alongside to make it possible.”

KQED, which describes itself as “a purpose-bound and mission-aligned organization,” is a PBS and NPR member station.

“It is the stories of change and hope that thread all the hard times together and offer a glimpse at the ability of human compassion to create opportunity for those who need it most,” noted Holly Kernan, chief content officer at KQED. “Covid-19 was neither the first nor the last pandemic to take us by surprise. What The Class aims to do is create comprehension as a framework for the future.”

KQED says the debut of the series will be accompanied by an impact campaign intended to allow audiences “to reflect on the educational inequalities resulting from distance learning, the mental health crises facing students, and a hopeful path forward to create opportunity for the pandemic generation.”

Cinematography for The Class was provided by John Gardiner. Deer Valley H.S., home of the Wolverines, is a public secondary school that opened in 1996. The school’s mission is to develop critical and creative thinkers, effective communicators, and to guide students to becoming people of character who demonstrate “truthfulness, honesty, and integrity in everything they do.”