48 Students
referred
through CARE 579
Youth benefited
from the SPBCSI 26
Youth in
SPBCSI programs
Health &
Wellness
The Beacon Director coordinated a robust CARE team system at Helms. They collaborated with mental health providers to provide direct services to support students. They worked closely with the CARE team to create tracking forms to encourage more staff follow-up and understanding of a student’s case.
Family
Engagement
Helms staff continued to hold in -person parent coffee chats twice a month. These parent chats were successful and they doubled caregiver attendance from the previous year. The Beacon Director coordinated fun-filled family events, including a Black Family Night where students showcased their talent.
School
Culture &
Climate
The Beacon Director worked closely with the Climate Coach to ensure Helms students had a trusted adult on campus. They hosted a variety of student focused events and programs like the Black Student Union, which provided Black students a space to build community.
Helms Middle School
2023-24 School Profile
Lead Agency: Bay Area Community Resources (BACR)
100%
of youth surveyed
feel safe in their
program
100%
of youth say they
care more about
their school
100%
of youth report they
participate more in
class activities
SAN PABLO BEACON COMMUNITY
SCHOOLS INITIATIVE
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative Page 2
Helms Middle 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 Helms Middle.
1 Full-time position
Grant Strategy: Coordination of Community Schools
Agency: Bay Area Community Resources (BACR)
Programs
Student Leadership
The leadership club supported the planning and implementation of school wide activities. 12 Grant Strategy: Youth Development & Leadership
Agency: Bay Area Community Resources (BACR)
“This program helps me by getting out of my comfort zone, like talking in front of people.” — Helms student1
“I like best about this program is that I get to engage with other people and build new relationships.” — Helms student
Black Student Union
The BSU was a student leadership group that uplifted the Black student population at Helms. 14 Grant Strategy: Youth Development & Leadership
Agency: Bay Area Community Resources (BACR)
1 Youth quotes are modified in length and for clarity.
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative Page 3
Helms Middle School Profile
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.
7 Events
275
Average
Student Attendance*
14 Average
Family Attendance*
2023-24 Helms Events
AAPAC Holiday
Open House
Family Night
This event was a special family night to build community and share about Kwanzaa. During the event, families had craft activities, games, and raffles.
The raffle prizes consisted of books and gift cards from the Multicultural Bookstore.
Black Parent
Family Night/BSU
Talent Night
At this event, families were informed about the importance of African American Parent Advisory Council (AAPAC) a nd were encouraged to participate. The meeting included a presentation on data related to Black student achievement and their sense of connection at school . It served as the kick -off meeting for the Black Student Union with student performances and invited parents to join the School Site Council meetings.
College and Career
The College and Career event featured various career representatives in themed classrooms and interactive activities, engaging 200 students who rotated through stations. Students used a passport to enter a raffle, received a tote bag with books, and enjoyed pizza served by parent volunteers. This event was partially funded by the Stucent Led Unity Grant from the San Pablo Youth Commision.
Source: Cityspan Events data, August 2024. *Averages calculated across events that provided attendance data.
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative Page 4
Helms Middle 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), 2023-24. 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. 93%
93%
100%
100%
In this program the adults care about me.
In this program I can go to an adult for advice if I have a serious problem.
I like this program.
In this program I feel safe.
85%
86%
93%
100%
100%
This program has helped me to stay away from violence and fighting.
In this program I am better at setting goals.
This program has helped me to say “no” to things I know are wrong.
This program has helped me to try harder in school.
This program has helped me to care more about my school. 77%
85%
100%
100%
Because of this program I am better at planning ahead.
In this program I am better at taking care of problems without violence or fighting.
This program has helped me to care more about my school.
This program has helped me to participate more in class activities.
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative Page 5
Helms Middle School Profile
Community Schools Coordination
For the 2023-24 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.
The new Beacon Director prioritized high quality family engagement at Helms by using their previous professional experience. They hosted fun-filled family events, like a Family Banquet Night to bring together diverse families and celebrate their unique cultural heritages. They also worked closely with the mental health providers, Climate Coach, and school administration to better serve students and families. Over the course of the year, the Beacon Director’s goal was to invite more families on campus to actively participate in events, while building authentic community.
Health and Wellness
"Our Beacon director is basically the facilitator of our CARE team and she's the onsite facilitator of all of our health and wellness services, as well.” — Principal
The Beacon Director was onsite for the full school year, unlike in 2022 -23. This helped reinforce a strong CARE team at Helms. The Beacon Director facilitated the successful implementation of CARE systems and communication with staff. During the year, the CARE team met once a week with regular staff attendance. The staff collaborated and created a student tracker to better understand each mental health provider’s case load. The student trackers helped the CARE team know which students’ staff were seeing, how often, and if the staff person hosted any mental health groups. The Beacon Director collaborated with external partners like Studio 5.0 , which provided direct student check-ins and wellness programming. Helms also had two mental health interns who provided services and attended CARE meetings.
Although Helms had a strong CARE team and coordination during the school year, they will be facing significant staff transitions next year. Due to budget cuts, n ext year Helms will lose their SCOW, two full-time therapists, a County therapist, and Social -Emotional Learning Coordinator.
All of these positions provided important capacity to meet student’s mental health needs over this year. In preparation for these staff transitions, the Beacon Director aims to engage more community partners, support more mental health group creation, and coordinate a Familias Unidas counselor to provide an extra day of services.
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative Page 6
Helms Middle School Profile
Figure 4: CARE referrals
Students referred
◼◼◼◼◼◼◼◼◼◼
School overall
◼◼◼◼◼◼◼◼◼◼
53 referrals for
48 unduplicated students
8 out of 10 (80%) students referred were
Latinx.
Academic Needs referrals
were most common.
8% of the student
population was referred.
Most students referred were in
8th grade
6 out of 10 students referred were male.
Sources: Cityspan Crisis Assessment and Referral Evaluation (CARE) data, August 2024; CDE, DataQuest 2023-24 Enrollment Data, accessed August 2024.
Family Engagement
“Family engagement has been really great. Parents have been volunteering and coming for the Scholastic book fair and other types of ways that they can volunteer. We're encouraging it and trying to make sure they feel really supported and welcome to be on the campus.” — Beacon Director The Beacon Director worked closely with the school Case Manager to provide engaging family events and a bi-weekly family coffee chat. Family engagement was a priority and outreaching to 13%
14%
32%
41%
Health
Social
Emotional
Academic
8% 46% 54%
7 8
Students referred School overall
60%
53%
40%
47%
Students
referred
School
overall
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative Page 7
Helms Middle School Profile
middle school caregivers. Coffee club parent attendance more than doubled from the past year (from five regular caregivers to about thirty caregivers). Parents connected with the Beacon Director and learned about campus events, volunteer opportunities, and student resources like math or literacy homework help. The Beacon Director also hosted an African American Parent Advisory Council (AAPAC) and English Learner Advisory Council (ELAC) committees to encourage more families to build community with one another and support their students better.
Also, caregivers supported the Scholastic book fair this year and volunteered to support.
At the beginning of the year, the Beacon Director knew parents were not properly engaged through ParentSquare, which is the District’s family communication app . In order to mediate this problem, the Beacon Director called caregivers individually to check -in with them and let them know about campus events and any student updates. The Beacon Director used their previous experiences being a family liaison to create robust family connections and build an even stronger family community.
School Culture and Climate
“Our other two goals as a school site for community schools work is increasing students’ feelings of school connectedness and then them feeling like there's an adult that cares about them at school and been taught. I think for [the Beacon Director] school connectedness has been a really huge lever as well where they talk about the leadership team, they have students lead events, they hold events for the community.”— Principal
At Helms, a positive school culture and climate meant
that every student could identify at least one adult they trust on campus. This year, the district appointed a
climate coach at Helms to support Positive Behavioral
Interventions and Supports (PBIS) initiatives and
building supportive and kind communication amongst
students. The Beacon Director contributed to many
cultural events and led engaging student programming
to improve school connectedness.
The Black Student Union, led by the Beacon Director,
hosted a family and talent night where students
showcased their talents. After the first BSU meeting, the Beacon Director checked in with each student one-on-
one and asked how they could be better supported. The
Beacon Director identified that Black students at Helm
wanted to have a safe and inviting space for them to thrive . They then prioritized high quality programming for students and families to celebrate the students’ unique diversity.
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative Page 8
Helms Middle School Profile
In spring 2024, Helms Student Council were a part of a focus group for the first time to learn more in depth about their program experience. During the focus group, students said they planned events and brainstormed ideas to promote school spirit at Helms in their program. The students shared the Beacon Director helped them communicate and collaborate with one another. Each student then had the opportunity to draw their favorite part of Student Council . Students drew representations of recent school events, happy faces, their friends, and event ideas. One student notably said they did not feel judged when attending the Student Council because it’s a place where they can fully express themselves and their ideas.
Lessons Learned
At the close of the interviews, the Principal and Beacon Director reflected on their experiences from the past year.
• “Where the boundary is and where the capacity is [I] can't do everything. I wanted things to be more purposeful. And I think that dances and rallies are fun and needed, but I feel like I want to put a lot of more focus on things that are going to have student voice and parent voice and building up leadership for parents and students.” – Beacon Director • “We've been talking a lot about it, and I think one big thing that we've been talking about is we've had so much turnover that I personally have been feeling like this next year is a back-to-basics year.” – Principal
Plans for Next Year
The Principal and Beacon Director also took time to share their plans for the coming school year. • Establishing a trusted adult on campus model, so every student feels supported by school staff.
• Creating a leadership club curriculum and continue fostering community through the parent coffee club.
San Pablo Beacon Community Schools Initiative Page 9
Helms Middle School Profile
“I think family engagement was
really great [during the school
year at Helms]. I feel like our
leadership club was successful. I
feel like kids felt very successful
and meaningful. I know we did a
lot of event planning, but I feel
like were able to engage [the
students] as leaders. They did a
great job leading the sixth grade
tours and really being able to
share about the school. And they
also were on a panel for a big
community school statewide
thing. They did great.”
– Beacon Director