36 Students
referred
through CARE 362
Youth benefited
from the SPBCSI 30
Youth in
SPBCSI programs
Health &
Wellness
One of two sites that experienced Beacon Director transitions, Lake had a Beacon Director for the first three months of the school year. Following another three months without a Director, a new Beacon Director was hired in January. One of their first areas of focus was facilitation of the CARE team. They worked with the team to prioritize students’ emotional, academic, and social needs.
Family
Engagement
As a previous family liaison, the Beacon Director understood the importance of family participation to support student success. They focused on building relationships with parents by holding several events, including a meet -and-greet to introduce themselves to families, and conducting a family survey.
School
Culture &
Climate
The Beacon Director organized events, such as a read-in during Asian American History Month. They also launched two Student Leadership groups and worked with the site Culture and Climate Committee to promote norms across the school for creating a shared culture.
Lake Elementary School
2022-23 School Profile
Lead Agency: Bay Area Community Resources (BACR)
100%
of youth surveyed feel
safe in their program
93%
of youth report they try
harder in school
92%
of youth say they
learn how to make
goals
SAN PABLO BEACON COMMUNITY
SCHOOLS INITIATIVE
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative Page 2
Lake Elementary School Profile
City Investments
Each San Pablo school worked with a lead agency . The City granted each lead agency staffing and program funding to support the overall implementation of the San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative at that school site.
Staffing
Beacon Director
The Beacon Director provided leadership and implementation of the San Pablo Beacon Community Schools strategy at Lake.
1 Full-time position
Grant Strategy: Coordination of Community Schools
Agency: Bay Area Community Resources (BACR)
Programs
Student Leadership Council
The Student Leadership Council (SLC) was composed of two groups one of which consist of 4th and 5th graders and the second group are 6th grade students. SLC planned school wide events and promoted positive school climate.
30 Youth served
Grant Strategy: Youth Development & Leadership
Agency: Bay Area Community Resources (BACR)
“What I like best about this program is that we can do a lot of activities like Art and all the people here respect each other.” — Lake student
“What I like about this program is that we get to share ideas about what we think and make events for our school.” — Lake student
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative Page 3
Lake Elementary School Profile
Youth Outcomes
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative programs are rooted in positive youth development practice. Youth survey data suggest programs are helping youth build personal and social competencies.
Figure 1: Youth felt empowered and supported.
Figure 2: Youth developed social competencies.
Figure 3: Youth demonstrated commitment to learning.
Source: Youth Surveys (N=14), 2022-23. 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. These figures represent a subset of the items included in the survey.
100%
100%
100%
100%
In this program I can go to an adult for advice.
In this program the adults care about me.
I like this program.
In this program I feel safe.
79%
79%
92%
This program has helped me to like school more.
This program has helped me stay away from fights.
Because of this program, I learn how to make goals.
93%
93%
93%
100%
This program has helped me to care more about my school.
This program has helped me to pay attention in class more.
This program has helped me to try harder in school.
This program has helped me to say “no” to things I know are wrong.
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative Page 4
Lake Elementary School Profile
Community Schools Coordination
For the 2022-23 school year, San Pablo schools focused on implementing the San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative priorities focused on health and wellness, family engagement, and school culture and climate. In this section, we summarize findings drawn from interviews with the school’s Principal, Beacon Director, and lead agency supervisor, as well as documents provided by the City of San Pablo.
As a former family liaison at a different school , the Beacon Director was able to adapt to the Beacon Director role. However, they acknowledged that the extensive support and resources provided by staff from the City of San Pablo, West Contra Costa Unified School District, and Bay Area Community Resourc es, as well as an intern from the University of California, Berkeley’s Public Service Center to support data collection, ensured that they could effectively attend to and coordinate Lake’s priorities as a community school.
Health and Wellness
"All referrals for therapy, academic concerns, or health issues go through the CARE team. There’s a lot of coordinating of meetings with teachers, parents, and other personnel that need to be there. It’s a huge component of how the Beacon Director supports our school." — Principal When the Beacon Director joined in January 2023, they worked closely with the Principal to transition into the coordinator role for the Crisis Assessment and Referral Evaluation (CARE) team. In addition to reviewing referrals and identifying appropriate resources, the Beacon Director focused on developing a systemized approach to tracking and sharing outcomes, which staff at Lake have requested in the past.
Almost three months after joining Lake, the Beacon Director organized a staff wellness event that included breakfast, snacks, and massages. In addition, they started a Girls Who Run program. Students shared with the Beacon Director at the end of the school year that the experience was positive and empowering for them.
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative Page 5
Lake Elementary School Profile
Figure 4: CARE referrals
Students referred
◼◼◼◼◼◼◼◼◼◼
School overall
◼◼◼◼◼◼◼◼◼◼
37 referrals for
36 unduplicated students
8 out of 10 (83%) students referred were
Latinx.
Academic/Emotional Needs referrals
were most common.
10% of the student
population was referred.
Most students referred were in 1st
and 2nd grade.
Nearly 6 out of 10 (58%)
students referred were female.
Sources: Cityspan Crisis Assessment and Referral Evaluation (CARE) data, July 2023; CDE, DataQuest 2022-23 Enrollment Data, accessed July 2023.
Family Engagement
“Family engagement is huge. Having that parent component is really important. Those relationships are crucial to develop.” — Beacon Director
Seeking to learn more about the experiences and perspectives of families at Lake, the Beacon Director conducted a family survey with the support of the Community School Team. The team met four times to review the data and identify areas of need. Based on the findings, the Beacon Director hopes to build relationships with community mental health partners to provide more services to students and families the following school year. They also plan to collaborate more with the School Community Outreach
Worker (SCOW) to encourage families to attend school events and meetings on campus.
School Culture and Climate
“She's been working with student council leadership. That is always a huge hit with the kids. They love being involved. They really take pride in being a part of that and taking ownership of leadership in the school.” — Principal
The Beacon Director established two leadership groups based on student s’ extensive interest at Lake -- one for fourth and fifth grade students and one for sixth graders. They met with students 0%
7%
19%
74%
Health
Social
Emotional
Academic
10%
8%
28% 25%
3%
17%
8% 11%
K 1 2 3 4 5 6
Students referred School overall
58%
52%
42%
48%
Students
referred
School
overall
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative Page 6
Lake Elementary School Profile
after school and worked with them to reflect on their interests and identities and plan various activities for the entire school, such as the Field Day. The Beacon Director ensured that their ideas and input were shared with teachers, administrators, and staff in the Culture and Climate Committee.
The Beacon Director collaborated with Lake administrators and staff to implement a hall pass system to further promote shared norms to improve the school culture and climate. They also ran the Lake Store where students could purchase items using good citizen tickets (Lion Bucks) that they received during the week when teachers observed them showing kindness, cooperating, and supporting others at the school.
Lessons Learned
At the close of the interviews, the Principal and Beacon Director reflected on their experiences from the past year.
• “Patience is a virtue. Sometimes you want 10 people on your team. If you only get two, then you work with it.” – Beacon Director
• “We’re both new. It’s a lot, but we’re working together to support each other.
Because we’re here for the students. That’s our responsibility.” – Principal Plans for Next Year
The Principal and Beacon Director also took time to share their plans for the coming school year.
• Increase family engagement and
participation.
• Access funding for an art teacher and recess
coach to support students.
“We didn't really feel their absence until we didn't have a Beacon Director. Then we realized how much we rely on that person for so many things. I would hate to not have a Beacon Director again. On a daily level they support administration, programs, and students. We rely on them so heavily. They are a huge plus.”
– Principal