11 Students
referred
through CARE 310
Youth benefited
from the SPBCSI
Health &
Wellness
The Beacon Director continued to focus on school -wide health and wellness. In addition to leading the Coordination of Services Team (COST) and Student Support Team (SST), they ensured that physical activity, healthy eating, and social-emotional learning were incorporated in schoolwide activities and gatherings.
Family
Engagement
As families were allowed back on campus post-pandemic, the Beacon Director and School Community Outreach Worker (SCOW) reintroduced activities, such as coffee chats and feedback sessions during which families shared ideas for increasing participation among parents, caregivers, and community members.
School
Culture &
Climate
The Beacon Director provided numerous schoolwide opportunities to build a positive school culture and climate with the help of student leaders. They organized Fun Fridays, a school-wide kindness campaign, and an annual walk/run that the Beacon Director led for the past three years. They also arranged enrichment activities that featured cooking, yoga, sports, art, and dance.
Riverside Elementary School
2022-23 School Profile
Lead Agency: Bay Area Community Resources (BACR)
SAN PABLO BEACON COMMUNITY SCHOOLS
INITIATIVE
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative Page 2
Riverside 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 Riverside.
1 Full-time position
Grant Strategy: Coordination of Community Schools
Agency: Bay Area Community Resources (BACR)
Events
The Beacon Director organized a variety of events throughout the school year to improve school culture and climate and engage with parents and families.
9 Events
154
Average
Student Attendance*
55 Average
Family Attendance*
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative Page 3
Riverside Elementary School Profile
Sample of 2022-23 Riverside Events
Spa Water Tasting 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, and Color Me Happy.
Fall Harvest Fest The Beacon Director worked with sixth-grade students to create games and activities for the Fall Harvest Event. Students ran stations for PK-5th grade students.
Special Olympics The Beacon Director worked with sixth-grade students who supported younger students on campus during their adaptive physical education class.
Students also attended a S pecial Olympic event at Helms to coach and support students.
Black History
Month Panel
The Beacon Director collaborated with a sixth-grade teacher to host a Black History Panel for students in fourth to sixth grades . Several community member shared their stories with students during this event.
Source: Cityspan Events data, June 2023. *Averages calculated across events that provided attendance data.
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.
In spring 2023, the Beacon Director left to pursue new professional opportunities.
Administrators and staff were sad to see them go. However, the Beacon Director had established systems to support students, families, and staff at Riverside that minimized any disruption due to their departure.
Health and Wellness
“During one of our many conversations, I said, ‘We're going to tend to people's mental wellbeing. Let's have daily check-ins with students. Let's have check-ins with teachers. These are the things that we're going to do to take care of the adults and kids in the building." — Principal
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative Page 4
Riverside Elementary School Profile
Leadership at Riverside prioritized helping students and staff focus on their health and wellness. The Beacon Director continued to lead COST meetings while navigating staff shortages and similar disruptions. They regularly m et with the school psychologist, School Community Outreach Worker (SCOW) , and Principal outside COST meetings to ensure that students and families were consistently connected to community services and supports. The Beacon Director also helped teachers and staff attend to their health and wellness by introducing breathing exercises and mindfulness practices during staff meetings.
In addition to the coordination of the COST, the Beacon Director elevated health and wellness at Riverside by incorporating physical activity and healthy habits in to all schoolwide events and programs whenever possible. For Valentine’s Day, they held a Cupid Shuffle Walk/Run for students and their families to participate in. Before they left the school, they arranged a party that included fruit smoothies made by bike-powered blenders. During these special gatherings and throughout the regular school day, th e Beacon Director made sure to talk with students to learn how they were doing and how they were dealing with any conflicts. Through these conversations, the Beacon Director checked on students’ sense of safety and belonging and reminded them that adults in the school cared about their emotional and physical health.
Figure 4: CARE referrals
Students referred
◼◼◼◼◼◼◼◼◼◼
School overall
◼◼◼◼◼◼◼◼◼◼
11 referrals for
11 unduplicated students
6 out of 10 (64%) students referred were
Latinx.
Academic/Emotional Needs referrals
were most common.
4% of the student
population was referred.
Most students referred were in 3rd
and 4th grade.
5 out of 10 students referred
were male.
Sources: Cityspan Crisis Assessment and Referral Evaluation (CARE) data, July 2023; CDE, DataQuest 2022-23 Enrollment Data, accessed July 2023.
4%
27%
31%
38%
Health
Social
Emotional
Academic
4%
0% 0%
9%
36% 36%
9% 9%
K 1 2 3 4 5 6
Students referred School overall
55%
56%
45%
44%
Students
referred
School
overall
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative Page 5
Riverside Elementary School Profile
Family Engagement
“We really hadn't been having parents on campus much last year. And so this year we were able to start meetings each month. We’ve gotten a nice momentum and parents are wanting to volunteer and be there and giving their input about what they would like to see happening at the site or bringing concerns that they might have.” — Beacon Director
Riverside administrators and staff greatly appreciated having families back on campus. The Beacon Director and SCOW
worked together to distribute tasks and responsibilities to best facilitate family engagement. The SCOW, who had held the position for over a decade, continued to support Spanish - speaking parents and caregivers at Riverside and serve as a liaison between the district and families. The Beacon Director concentrated on reaching out to non-Spanish-speaking families to include the ir perspectives a nd experiences as Riverside coordinated more family -focused activities and volunteer opportunities.
The Principal described the family group created by the Beacon Director as a “parental focus group,” which served as a cross -section of the school community and encouraged members to think broadly and share ideas, strategies, and suggestions for increasing family participation. The family group helped with organizing the Cupid Shuffle Walk/Run and Back to School Night.
School Culture and Climate
“I think that the enrichment we have incorporated as part of the school day is innovative. Kids are getting opportunities not just when they go to an afterschool program, but they get enrichment during their school day.” — Beacon Director
Riverside leadership recognized the importance of embedding enrichment opportunities during the school day to build a positive school culture
and climate. The Beacon Director built and
sustained partnerships with outside service
providers to offer a myriad of activities that
encouraged students to engage in physical
activity, healthy choices, and creative
expression. They recruited teachers and staff
to motivate students and fill in when more
adults were needed to supervise or lead
games. These enrichment opportunities
inspired students to come to school and
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative Page 6
Riverside Elementary School Profile
helped staff build stronger relationships with students.
The Beacon Director also worked with sixth graders to build their leadership skills and contribute to creating a school culture and climate that included all students and their families. The student leaders helped plan game stations during the Fall Harvest Fest and coach their peers in Riverside’s adaptive physical education to participate in Helms Special Olympics. They also created piñatas for younger students in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month and assisted teachers to arrange a panel discussion of community members during Black History Month. Many of the students enjoyed working on Fun Fridays to build a sense of community among teachers, staff, students, and families.
Lessons Learned
At the close of the interviews, the Principal and Beacon Director reflected on their experiences from the past year and shared their plans for the coming school year.
• “Parents appreciate when someone like the Beacon Director brings them in or runs something by them with intention. They can provide feedback. They can give the Beacon Director something back.” – Principal
• “Our enrichments are successes. Anytime kids can find common ality, it makes them more empathetic. ‘We're not exactly alike, but we have more in common than not .’ Those are successes in progress for us.” – Beacon Director Plans for Next Year
• Continue to confront persistent staff shortages with creative and meaningful solutions. • Provide events that make all families feel welcomed and a part of the school community.
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative Page 7
Riverside Elementary School Profile
“Sometimes we need to talk to parents
about a student's behavior, or we need to
have a conversation about academic
goals. We bring families in not to say
what's wrong but to support their
students with counseling support or
academic tutoring. We are building
relationships with families and building
trust with students. I will feel really proud
about that.”
— Beacon Director