San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative: Citywide Summary Prepared by Public Profit | September 2023
6 San Pablo
school sites in
Initiative 2,543
Youth served in
SPBCSI schools 13,270
Community
members
benefited
About SPBCSI
For the 2022-23 school year, the City of San Pablo granted a mix of staffing and program funding to community -based organizations (lead agencies) to support the implementation of community schools at all San Pablo schools through the San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative (SPBCSI) (Figure 1, next page).
About
the Evaluation
The City contracted with Public Profit to serve as the SPBCSI external evaluator. The evaluation holistically examined the alignment between initiative implementation, site-specific goals, and the City’s youth outcome goals.
Key Findings
As the connective tissue at the center of community schools, Beacon Directors coordinated, partnered, and collaborated with the City, District, community organizations, and service providers to ensure that students and families furthest from opportunities were connected to critical academic, social, and emotional resources and supports, despite ongoing transitions, involving teachers, administrators, counselors, other community school staff, throughout the school year at almost all six school sites.
Citywide Summary 2022-23
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative (SPBCSI) Vision Statement:
With great schools at the center, the children and families of San Pablo thrive in a safe, diverse, and inclusive community.
The City of San Pablo is a member of the Beacon National Network, whose mission is to transform public schools into youth, family, and community centers. The City invests in community schools at all six San Pablo schools and at Richmond High.
99%
of youth surveyed
feel safe in their
program
92%
of youth say they try
harder at school
85%
of youth say they are
better at setting
goals
SAN PABLO BEACON COMMUNITY
SCHOOLS INITIATIVE
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative: Citywide Summary Prepared by Public Profit | September 2023
Figure 1
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative: Citywide Summary Prepared by Public Profit | September 2023
School Success & Community Well-Being
The City of San Pablo uses school- and population-level data as indicators of the community’s well- being. These data are used to provide context, inform resource allocation decisions, and evaluate the trajectory of the community. The San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative , along with other initiatives, is designed to have a positive impact on the following indicators over time.
School Attendance Rates
San Pablo schools have had high and relatively consistent attendance rates. 1 Despite small fluctuations, San Pablo schools had high and relatively consistent attendance rates over the past several years (Figure 2). In the 2018-19 school year, almost all San Pablo schools had attendance rates that were equal to or slightly higher attendance than the West Contra Costa Unified School District (the District) average attendance rate for their corresponding grade level . Bayview (92%), on the other hand, had an attendance rate just below the elementary school average (94%).
In the 2019 -20 school year, all San Pablo schools had attendance rates that were equal or slightly higher than the previous year of 2018-19, with a small decrease for Richmond (95% to 94%). In the 2020-21 school ye ar, which was almost entirely conducted through distance learning, attendance rates declined for Helms (9 5% to 8 9%) and Richmond (94% to 9 2%). This was consistent with district trends at the corresponding grade levels. Attendance rates for the San Pablo elementary schools stayed relatively consistent with the previous year, except for E.M. Downer (94% to 96%) and Bayview (93% to 91%).
Figure 2: San Pablo schools attendance rates stayed consistent for most schools across the 2018-19, 2019- 20, and 2020-21 school years.
Sources: 2018-19 average attendance rates are approximated based on reported School Attendance Rates by Year, WCCUSD Data Dashboards retrieved from: https://www.wccusd.net/Page/8103, July 2020. 2019 -20 and 2020 -21 average attendance rates are approximated based o n preliminary data provided by WCCUSD. The 2020 -21 attendance rates are based on attendance from September 2020 through April 2021. Attendance data for the 2021-2022 school year was not available at the time of this report.
1 Attendance data for the 2022-2023 school year is not currently available. 90% 86% 90% 90% 91% 87% 86% 88%
0%
50%
100%
Downer Bayview Riverside Dover Lake Helms Richmond San Pablo Average
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative: Citywide Summary Prepared by Public Profit | September 2023
Chronic Absenteeism Rates
San Pablo’s chronic absenteeism rate has remained higher than the county’s and slightly higher compared to the District’s rate.
Chronic absenteeism can negatively impact student learning and school climate. Students are considered chronically absent if they are absent for at least 10% of the instructional days for which they were enrolled. From school years 2018-19 to 2021-22, chronic absenteeism rates have increased across San Pablo schools from 32% to 47%. Statewide, chronic absenteeism at public schools has risen to an all -time high of 30%, three times higher than before the COVID -19 pandemic ( Gee, Hough, & Chavez, 2023).2 Researchers, advocates, and others cite a myriad of reasons for this increase, which they do not expect to decrease soon, including lack of transportation, students caring for younger siblings, and some families becoming overly cautious after the pandemic. Across the state, districts are adopting new strategies and campaigns to address this issue, such as providing bus passes to students and partnering with community organizations to directly reach out to families (Jones, 2023).3
Figure 3: San Pablo schools chronic absenteeism rates varied by school across the 2018-19, 2020-21, and 2021-2022 school years.
Source: Absenteeism data retrieved from: http://data1.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/ July 2023.
English Language Arts/Literacy Benchmarks
The County, District, and San Pablo schools all experienced a drop from 2021-2022 to 2022-2022 The 2022-23 Smarter Balanced assessment system showed that 77% of Contra Costa County (CCC) and over half ( 64%) of WCCUSD students were assessed to be “near” or “above” grade level standards for reading. Similarly, less students at all except one San Pablo school (Bayview) were near
2 Gee, K., Hough, H. & Chavez, B. (2023). Chronic absenteeism post-pandemic: Let’s not make this our “new normal” [Commentary]. Policy Analysis for California Education. https://edpolicyinca.org/newsroom/chronic-absenteeism-post-pandemic 3 Jones, C. (2023). Soaring chronic absenteeism in California schools is at ‘pivotal moment.’ Cal Matters. https://calmatters.org/education/k-12-education/2023/09/soaring-chronic-absenteeism-in-california-schools-is-at-pivotal- moment/
27%
40%
58%
48%
58%
47% 49%
43% 43%
0%
50%
100%
CCC WCCUSD Bayview Dover Downer Helms Lake Riverside Richmond San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative: Citywide Summary Prepared by Public Profit | September 2023
or above reading standards (Figure 4). The City of San Pablo has identified improving literacy as a citywide priority. In response to this priority, in 2022-23, Beacon Directors held read-ins, facilitated book giveaways, and coordinated spellathons. However, many Beacon Directors and site administrators stressed the importance of additional literacy support to ensure that students meet or exceed reading literacy benchmarks.
Figure 4: San Pablo schools had smaller proportions of students near or above grade-level literacy benchmarks compared to Contra Costa County (CCC) and the District (WCCUSD) in the 2018-19 and 2022-23 school years.
Source: California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) Test Results for English Language Arts/Literacy for 2018-19, 2021-22, and 2022-23 school years retrieved from: https://caaspp.cde.ca.gov/ October 2023. Due to COVID 19, no data is available for 2019-2020.
High School Graduation Rate
The graduation rate at Richmond High increased over the last decade.4 San Pablo elementary and middle schools feed into Richmond High School. Richmond High School’s graduation rate has increased in the past decade from 80% in the 2010-11 school year, to a high of 89% from 201 3-15, followed by a decline to 84% in 2021-22. Richmond’s change in graduation rates over time largely mirrors the District and county trajectories.
4 Graduation data for the 2022-2023 school year is not currently available.
79%
66% 62%
57%
51% 55%
49%
45%
0%
50%
100%
CCC WCCUSD Riverside Dover Downer Lake Helms Bayview
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative: Citywide Summary Prepared by Public Profit | September 2023
Figure 5: Richmond High graduation rates have increased and followed the County and District’s trends over time.
Source: 4-year Graduation Rate data retrieved from: http://data1.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/ July 2023.
Suspension Rates
Suspension rates at Helms Middle and Richmond High have followed the Districtwide trend of decreasing over time until 2021-2022.5
The City works to support the District’s Positive School Climate Policy, which includes efforts to reduce suspension rates. Over the past nine years, suspension rates at Helms Middle School have decreased considerably, from 26 % in school year 2011-12 to 5% in school year 2019-20. This decrease follows seventh to eighth grade trends at the District level. There were zero suspensions in school year 2020-21 because of distance learning. In 2021 -2022, there was a slight increase in suspension rates at Helms from 5% in 2019-2020 to 10% in 2021-2022, which followed the District trend.
Figure 6: Helms suspension rates have followed District trends over time.
Source: Suspension rate data retrieved from: http://data1.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/ July 2023.
5 Suspension data for the 2022-2023 school year is not currently available.
0%
50%
100%
10-11 11-12 12-13 13-14 14-15 15-16 16-17 17-18 18-19 19-20 21-22 CCC WCCUSD Richmond
0%
50%
100%
11-12 12-13 13-14 14-15 15-16 16-17 17-18 18-19 19-20 20-21 21-22 CCC WCCUSD Helms
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative: Citywide Summary Prepared by Public Profit | September 2023
Over the past nine years, suspension rates across Richmond High have decreased from 13% in the 2011-12 school year to 5% in 2019-20. Richmond High’s suspension rates have been similar to the average for high schools in the District since 2017-18.
Figure 7: Richmond High suspension rates have mirrored District trends since 2017-18.
Source: Suspension rate data retrieved from: http://data1.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/ July 2023.
Crime Rates
Violent crime offenses in San Pablo have decreased over time.
The City’s Violence Prevention and Intervention strategy aims to decrease crime in San Pablo. Data provided by the San Pablo Poli ce Department shows that violent crime offenses have gradually decreased over time, from 242 offenses in 2014 to 170 offenses in 2021. Juvenile felony arrests have not followed a consistent trend; they ranged from 20 to 39 annually between 2014-2020 and dropped to four in 2021, then increased to 15 in 2023.6 The San Pablo Police Department switched last year to the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS), which is a more comprehensive reporting system that tracks multiple crimes per incident instead of one case and crime at a time.
Because of this, there were some fluctuations in violent crime reporting for the year 2022-2023.
6 Crime rates provided by the San Pablo Police Department. 0%
50%
100%
11-12 12-13 13-14 14-15 15-16 16-17 17-18 18-19 19-20 20-21 21-22 CCC WCCUSD Richmond
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative: Citywide Summary Prepared by Public Profit | September 2023
San Pablo Residents Served
All 2,543 youth at San Pablo schools and 1,431 youth at Richmond High School benefited from the San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative.
The San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative intends to have a positive impact on all students by enhancing each school’s culture and climate, family engagement, and health and wellness services. All San Pablo schools had Beacon Directors who coordinated services and events schoolwide. Additionally, some youth received more intensive supports through targeted programing and services. Partner organizations often had a school-wide presence, and youth who participate in SPBCSI programs interacted with their peers at school, both of which influenced the overall school climate and culture.
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative indirectly benefited approximately 13,270 San Pablo community members.7
Since services to youth likely have a benefit on their families and households, we expect that the reach of the San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative goes beyond the young people enrolled in the schools. Benefits have the potential to ripple out to the estimated 13,270 community members who are, or live with, youth in San Pablo schools: and ultimately to all 31,389 residents of San Pablo.
Figure 8: San Pablo programs benefited 13,270 community members.
7 We calculated 1 3,270 community members by multiplying the number of youths in San Pablo schools ( 3,974) by the average household size in San Pablo (3.34 individuals per family). Data limitations include: the average household size might be different for families with children; youth may share households with other youth; and youth may live in multiple households. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Census via Quick Facts https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/sanpablocitycalifornia. 31,389
San Pablo
Residents
13,270
Community
Members
Benefited
3,974
Youth
Benefited
at Schools
82 Youth in
Programs
SPBCSI
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative: Citywide Summary Prepared by Public Profit | September 2023
82 youth were served by SPBCSI programs.8
Programs funded by SPBCSI, including those at Richmond High , directly served 82 youth.9 This included leadership-focused programs, afterschool sports and clubs, and affinity groups that support young people’s social, emotional, behavioral, and academic needs . See Appendix A for a complete list of program names and descriptions.
8 For the 2022-2023 year, we did not receive program enrollment data for all schools. This number accounts for only three programs, Richmond High’s Youth Matters/Proyecto Bienstar, Lake’s Student Council, and Dover Leaders. 9 Count of youth enrolled in San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative Programs . Due to data limitations, there could be duplication if students attend multiple programs.
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative: Citywide Summary Prepared by Public Profit | September 2023
267 youth were referred to services through CARE Teams.
As part of their role, Beacon Directors at San Pablo Beacon Community Schools coordinate critical services for youth, often through their school’s Crisis Assessment and Referral Evaluation (CARE) teams. In the 2022-23 school year , 267 youth were referred to services, most often for academic/school needs, including academic concerns, learning difficulties, and truancy. Most youth referred were Latinx (76%), which reflects the overall population of San Pablo schools (80%). About 1 in 6 students referred were African American (1 6%) even though they only represent 9% of the school population. Middle school students were more likely to be referred than elementary students; more than 3 in 10 referred students were in seventh or eighth grade (34%) even though middle school students only make up one -quarter (23%) of San Pablo students. The absence of a Beacon Director at Helms made the coordination of services challenging and created a backlog of referrals, which may have contributed to the increase of middle school students being referred. About half of the students referred were female (54%), which is slightly higher than the overall population in San Pablo schools (48%).
Figure 9: CARE referrals
Students referred
◼◼◼◼◼◼◼◼◼◼
School overall
◼◼◼◼◼◼◼◼◼◼
285 referrals for 267 unduplicated
students
Nearly 8 out of 10 (76%) students
referred were Latinx.
Academic/Emotional Needs
referrals were most common.
10% of the student
population was referred.
Nearly 3 out of 10 (34%) students
referred were in 7th or 8th grade.
Over half (54%) of students
referred were female.
Sources: Cityspan Crisis Assessment and Referral Evaluation (CARE) data, July 2023; CDE, DataQuest 2022 -23 Enrollment Data, accessed July 2023.
10%
15%
24%
51%
Health
Social
Emotional
Academic
10%
9% 10% 14%
8%
12%
3%
8%
16% 18%
K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Students referred Schools overall
54%
48%
46%
52%
Students
referred
Schools
overall
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative: Citywide Summary Prepared by Public Profit | September 2023
Students and families attended 86 events hosted across all six SPBSCI schools.
Beacon Directors organized 74 events throughout the school year to improve school culture and climate and to engage with caregivers and families. All SPBSCI schools reported hosting at least three events this year. 10
74 Events
183
Average
Student Attendance*
47 Average
Family Attendance*
Sample of 2022-23 SPBSCI Events
22-23 Field Day
(Bayview Elementary)
This event celebrated all students for their completion of state testing. Stations included bubble soccer, slip and slide, water balloon toss, bubble gum challenge, and henna tattoos. Parents volunteered and facilitated stations, including a fruit stand, horchata, and popcorn. 22-23 Stress Free PD
(Bayview Elementary)
A stress-free professional developement opportunity for teachers and staff. This was a community event followed by a 10 -minute chair massage. Activities were selected based on a staff wellness survey allowing staff to pick three activities they would like to participate in. Activities included a painting class, calming room with vision board materials, small snacks, and refreshments.
Multicultural Fair
(Dover Elementary)
This event celebrated diversity through the arts, performances, and activities that engaged students, staff, and parent volunteers.
Ruby Bridges Walk
(E.M. Downer Elementary)
Student Ambassadors read the Ruby Bridges and students by grade level were invited to walk in an organized parade style. After the walk, they received Ruby Bridges swag donated by the sponsor AAA.
Family Movie Night
(E.M. Downer Elementary)
Families were invited to watch "Coco" during a week-long celebration of Día de Los Muertos. Our event included healthy concession snacks and a brief parent update. 8th grade field trip
(Helms Middle)
8th grade student graduates were invited to Kennedy Grove to play sports and games and have a cookout. Students and staff played board games, volleyball, football, and soccer. "Spa Water Tasting" Event
(Riverside Elementary)
In Celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, Riverside staff set up "spa water stations" for students to sample different flavored water options- Refreshingly Spicy; Citrus Burst; Color Me Happy. *Averages calculated across events that provided attendance data. Source: Cityspan Events data, June 2023.
10 City of San Pablo hosted seven events not included above due to data limitations regarding student and family attendance.
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative: Citywide Summary Prepared by Public Profit | September 2023
Youth Outcomes
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative programs are rooted in positive youth development practices. Youth survey data suggests programs are helping youth build personal and social competencies.
Figure 10: Youth felt empowered and supported.
96%
96%
99%
100%
In this program I can go to an adult for advice if I have a serious problem.
In this program the adults care about me.
In this program I feel safe.
I like this program.
Making sure that we are safe at the
school.
I like that we take time for
ourselves, and it makes me feel a
part of middle school. This is a
program that helps students feel
like someone gets them.
I like how by participating in this
club we help our school and plan
fun thing for our school.
What I like about this program is
we show kids how to be
Ambassadors.
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative: Citywide Summary Prepared by Public Profit | September 2023
Figure 11: Youth developed social competencies.
85%
86%
90%
91%
92%
In this program I am better at setting goals.
This program has helped me to care more about my school.
This program has helped me to stay away from violence and fighting.
This program has helped me to say “no” to things I know are wrong.
This program has helped me to try harder in school.
It helps me by teaching me how
to balance my responsibilities. It helps me with planning better.
I learned how to be more kind
with other kids.
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative: Citywide Summary Prepared by Public Profit | September 2023
Figure 12: Youth demonstrated commitment to learning.
Source for Figures 12-14 and quotes: Youth Surveys (N= 73), 2022-23 surveys. Surveys are from programs directly funded by the SPBCSI or led by a Beacon Director. This represents a subset of the total programs offered at the school.
77%
79%
79%
85%
This program has helped me to become more interested in going to school.
This program has helped me to participate more in class activities.
In this program I am better at taking care of problems without violence or fighting.
In this program I am better at planning ahead.
It makes me learn.
I can help others, and I learn
new things in this program.
It helps you learn how to help
people and plan things.
I like this program because I
have fun, learn new things, and
everyone in the program is very
kind to me.
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative: Citywide Summary Prepared by Public Profit | September 2023
Community Schools Coordination
The San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative promote s a whole-child approach to ensure the success of children and youth in the City. Beacon Directors are foundational to the implementation and coordination of the initiative at Beacon Community school sites throughout San Pablo. They work closely with administrators, teachers, and staff; city and community partners; and families to support students. Despite unprecedented staff transition across the six school sites during the 2022-23 school year, the Beacon Directors prioritized and advanced the initiative’s three areas of focus : health and wellness, family engagement, and school culture and climate . In this section, we summarize findings from interviews with key participants; document reviews of site- level materials and reports; students surveys; and analysis of event data.
Common Themes Across San Pablo Schools
San Pablo schools affected by the nationwide shortage of teachers, administrators, and staff.
Frequently throughout the school year, community schools had to adapt to changes in staffing. Four out of six schools experienced a one- to four -month period without a Beacon Director on site.
Another school did not have a principal for the last three months of school. When available, Beacon Directors filled in many gaps by mobilizing staff and community partners, connecting families a nd students with local resources, and organizing functions and activities that maintained school morale.
Their key role in community school implementation and coor dination was recognized and appreciated.
Beacon Directors are attuned with the community. They know what is important from a student perspective and from a parent perspective. That insight is helpful in identifying root causes and the right solutions. They are also critical in ensuring that our students and our families have access to resources when needed. – District partner
Community school directors are so embedded in terms of
managing partners and the climate of the school. It's difficult to maintain outreach in a very intentional way [at a community school]. You really need a person to ensure that outreach is part of the strategy. – District partner
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative: Citywide Summary Prepared by Public Profit | September 2023
Health and Wellness
Beacon Directors coordinated mental health services, connected students and families to resources, and encouraged health and wellness practices for all at community schools, including students, teachers, and staff.
Beacon Directors continued to lead their school’s Crisis Assessment and Referral Evaluation (CARE) team to connect students to supports such as individual therapy, enrichment opportunities, support groups, mentors, Student Success Teams, and outside community services and resources .
Most of the CARE teams continued to remain small but focused on communicating regularly with one another and following up with teachers, administrators, and others who submitted referrals for students. Beacon Directors served a s a main conduit for information between administrators, teachers, families, mental health providers, and staff. They also worked directly with community partner agencies to ensure that referred students and their families had access to supports. In addition to supporting student wellness, Beacon Directors supported staff wellness with appreciation weeks and restorative activities. With funding support from the City, Beacon Directors collaborated with teachers and school staff to coordinate organized games during recess and introduce students to new sports and physical activity opportunities such as Girls Who Run.
School Spotlights:
• At Dover, the Beacon Director created and distributed cards that outlined the CARE referral process and included a QR code linked to the school’s referral form. The Beacon Director also helped guide the CARE team to proactively revise its crisis protocol to better align with county and district requirements.
• For Valentine’s Day, the Riverside Beacon Director held a Cupid Shuffle Walk/Run for students and their families. For a Fun Friday event, students sampled fruit smoothies made by bike-powered blenders.
• The Beacon Director at E.M. Downer organized a teacher appreciation week in the winter that included calming and breathing activities and chair massages, as well as a luncheon in the spring.
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative: Citywide Summary Prepared by Public Profit | September 2023
One of the Beacon Directors core roles is managing our CARE teams, which is our coordination of services teams for all the partnerships that are on site. They provide training to staff around how to complete a CARE team referral, signs to look for, and when it's appropriate to complete a CARE team referral. They know what the well-being needs are for students that a teacher might not be able to identify. – District partner
Family Engagement
Beacon Directors and school staff prioritized welcoming families back to campus and building connections.
All San Pablo schools explicitly focused on supporting
youth by engaging their families. Beacon Director s
planned a range of functions and gatherings to increase the presence and participation of parents, caregivers, and other family members, such as Family Math and Literacy
Nights. The Beacon Director also hosted multiple events for families to learn how to support their students, ask questions, and meet school staff, including monthly
wellness chats, coffee with the principal, and information nights about attending middle school and learning about San Pablo community schools. Newer Beacon Directors
asked families to complete surveys to hear how to
improve access to the school after the COVID -19
pandemic interrupted in -person learning . While others who had worked at their site for an extensive period,
organized in-person events that helped families navigate ParentSquare and complete online forms.
School Spotlights:
• At Bayview, the Beacon Director organized a family walk-through. They invited families to visit classrooms and complete a survey based on their observation of interactions between teachers and students. Families appreciated the chance to observe classes and share their perceptions of teacher-student interactions. • The Beacon Directors at E.M. Downer and Dover greeted families every morning to share information about upcoming school events and be available for any questions or concerns.
• The new Lake Beacon Director introduced themselves to families and distributed a survey for parents and caregivers to understand how to better engage them and regularly communicate with them.
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative: Citywide Summary Prepared by Public Profit | September 2023
My admin asked me to increase this year specifically with family engagement since we’re still coming out of the pandemic. Last year we had a closed campus, so we didn't really have a lot of opportunities for families to come on campus to see the class, even just to see the school. – Beacon Director
School Culture and Climate
Beacon Directors brought positivity to the culture and climate of their school through community building events, student clubs, and enrichment opportunities.
At San Pablo Beacon Community Schools, a positive school culture and climate meant that students felt safe and connected to their school. Beacon Directors were critical to ensuring that students experienced this throughout the school day. They built authentic connections with students through the many activities, events, and programs they manage d. These opportunities encouraged students to build leadership skills, organize schoolwide events, and learn from the wider community. At all school sites, Beacon Directors sponsored leadership councils, planned events in honor of heritage and history months, and worked with administrators, teachers, a nd staff to communicate behavior expectations and reinforce positive behavior. Through these efforts, students developed trusting relationships with adults and felt that they helped to shape and maintain the culture and climate at their schools.
School Spotlights:
• The Beacon Director at Dover worked with the English Language Advisory Committee (ELAC) to help families understand the reclassification process, promote students’ transition to a new English Language Learner designation, and celebrate students’ successes at the end of the year.
At Riverside, the Beacon Director built and sustained partnerships with outside service providers to offer enrichment activities that encouraged students to engage in physical activity, healthy choices, and creative expression. They recruited teachers and staff to participate and motivate students.
The Helms Beacon Director helped the student leadership group coordinate and lead tours for rising sixth graders, hosted an information night for families of rising sixth graders, and relaunched the Rainbow Alliance.
The Beacon Director is a big part of our Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports System (PBIS). He does a lot of our staff meetings in terms of looking at the data from surveys and then getting feedback from teachers and then helping to plan best practices to move forward under the culture and climate umbrella.
– Principal
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative: Citywide Summary Prepared by Public Profit | September 2023
Lead Agency and Youth, School, and Community Partnerships (YSCP) Supports Beacon Directors , Principals, and school staff appreciated YSCP’s advocacy, capacity building, and support. All the Beacon Directors expressed gratitude for the guidance , management, and coordination they received from the lead agency, Bay Area Community Resources (BACR), and the City of San Pablo and its YSCP division. They commended the organizations’ commitment to continuous improvement and high-quality assistance to ensure the Beacon Directors meaningfully accomplish their work.
BACR and YSCP were accessible and highly responsive to the needs of Beacon Directors.
In their interviews, m any Beacon Directors cited YSCP’s decision to revise the regular meeting structure and cadence from monthly to bimonthly as a key example of the City’s willingness to listen to their input and adjust accordingly. Beacon Directors found the extended time and the opportunity to 1) raise questions , 2) brainstorm among themselves , and 3) to collaborate with their site leadership, who were invited during the second half of the meetings, invaluable. They also praised the tailored and timely support they received from both BACR and YSCP staff whenever they had questions or concerns.
At our last City of San Pablo meeting, my Vice Principal came, and we were able to talk about things that we want to possibly have in the future. That’s beneficial to have dedicated time to plan that out and talk about what that may look like. We even had an opportunity to talk about what we think would be best for the start of next year and what folks could be potentially doing during the summer months. – Beacon Director I do feel like I've been supported even more this year than past years. Specifically from the City of San Pablo.
Just having regular check-in meetings and space to discuss challenges that I'm having and successes and possible ways to collaborate. The City lends me additional help with some of the programs or services I have going at my school. So that's been a tremendous help. And that help has now led me trying to complete my needs and asset assessment this year. I actually have time with one of the City’s interns from UC Berkeley to help me with the data collection of all the surveys that I'm collecting and getting vital information based on the data collection. – Beacon Director
Beacon Directors found the collaboration between YSCP and BACR greatly beneficial.
In addition to listening to Beacon Directors’ feedback about updating their regular meetings, YSCP responded to their request that the City and BACR work more closely to provide comprehensive
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative: Citywide Summary Prepared by Public Profit | September 2023
and aligned capacity building, SPBCSI guidance, and supervision. Beacon Directors found this partnership approach helped them receive clear and current information about the SPBCSI. As the main coordinator of the SPBCSI, Beacon Directors worked with multiple partners, including the District’s Full Service Community School Department and its technical assistance provider. As such, they relied on YSCP and BACR to share updates about reporting requirements, funding opportunities, statewide policy changes, and other pertinent news. The Beacon Directors had access to relevant information and support to help them perform their important roles.
I just think both BACR and YSCP have done such an amazing job of trying to synthesize the things that we on the ground need to be able to do for the district and giving us ways to get that done. YSCP invites Principals or School Community Outreach Workers (SCOW) to meetings so that you have coordinated time to get some of that work done.
– Beacon Director
I would say that we are the luckiest of the community school directors in comparison to other directors. And the reason I say that is because we've been tasked with a lot from the District, and the City of San Pablo has just been so supportive in helping us understand. San Pablo has been critical in helping us by both creating a space for us to have those conversations and building our capacity to move the work forward. – Beacon Director
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative: Citywide Summary Prepared by Public Profit | September 2023
Reflections and Looking Ahead
The YSCP division continues to refine the SPBCSI based on what they learn from each cycle. We suggest YSCP consider supporting Beacon Directors and schools in the following areas next year:
• Continue to provide funding opportunities. Several
Principals and Beacon Directors praised the City’s
grants that facilitated the hiring of part -time recess coaches to promote health and wellness at their sites.
They shared that these coaches also contributed to
sustaining a positive school culture and climate by
encouraging PBIS . They noted that with additional
streams of funding they could engage much needed
literacy coaches for students. Many of them expressed
concern about the impact of COVID -19 on students’
reading skills and observed that supplementary
support would help many children and youth.
• Assist with recruitment of mental health and enrichment providers. Similar to the previous year, Principals and Beacon Directors said they would value support from the City in connecting their schools to more one-on-one counseling services and small group support opportunities. While there were mental health providers on campus, they were unable to meet with all the students who required counseling services and supports . Principals and Beacon Directors noted they had funds for these resources but could not find available and qualified providers.
• Help Beacon Directors and schools continue to meaningfully engage families in community schools. All Principals and Beacon Directors were knowledgeable about the importance of collaborating with families to sustain community schools. They expressed interest in learning and applying different approaches to increasing family engagment and outreaching to parents and caregivers who did not attend school functions and meetings prior to the pandemic. They hoped that YSCP and its partners could offer additional resources, training, and guidance to leverage this critical population.
The 2023-24 school year will launch a new grant cycle for the SPBCSI. Three schools will have new Beacon Directors, and two schools will have new Principals. As schools nationwide continue to contend with the negative impact of the COVID-19 crisis on students’ mental health, wellness, and learning, the City of San Pablo, BACR, District, and other community partners are well positioned to provide a comprehensive continuum of high quality supports to help the children, youth, and families of San Pablo thrive.
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative: Citywide Summary Prepared by Public Profit | September 2023
Appendix A: City Investments
Source: Cityspan, City of San Pablo Attendance Records, and CDE’s Dataquest, accessed July 2023.
*Youth served numbers for Beacon Director and Case Manager reflect the total number of students enrolled at the school. For the 2022-2023 year, we did not receive program enrollment data for four programs which are N/A.
Strategy Agency Program School Youth
Served Description
Coordination
of
Community
Schools
Bay Area
Community
Resources
(BACR)
Beacon Director*
Dover 530
Beacon staff provided leadership and
implementation of the Beacon
Community Schools strategy.
E.M.
Downer 425
Helms 591
Riverside 310
Bayview 325
Lake 362
Violence
Prevention &
Intervention
Bay Area
Community
Resources
(BACR)
Case Manager*
Dover 530 Provided case management services to
students and families and served on
the school's CARE Team. Bayview 325
Familias
Unidas
Counseling &
Case
Management
Richmond 17
Familias Unidas provided bilingual
(Spanish)/bicultural individual
counseling, family counseling, case
management services, and crisis
intervention to RHS students.
Youth
Development
& Leadership
Bay Area
Community
Resources
(BACR)
Leadership
Club/Student
Council
Helms N/A
Student leadership group that
organizes school-wide activities and
campaigns to build a positive school
culture.
Dover 35
Bayview N/A
Lake 30
Downer N/A
Boys Group Bayview N/A
The spring boys’ group was a
mentoring and life skills group for
young boys.