The Evaluation of Beacon Community Schools in San Francisco
In 2019, the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth and thier Families hired SPR to conduct a five-year evaluation of the expansion of the Beacon Community Schools model.
Project Highlights
The Beacon model
is designed to strengthen the connection between the schools and their communities through enhanced services for youth and their families, which include family partnership and engagement, behavioral health and wellness, school transitions, and expanded learning.
In June 2020,
SPR produced an Early Implementation Report summarizing interviews with Beacon and school staff at 25 of the 27 Beacon Community Schools for the Department of Children Youth and Families (DCYF).
In response
to the COVID crisis, DCYF paused Beacon expansion (and SPR’s evaluation) and asked SPR to evaluate its Community Hubs Initiative (CHI), an ambitious community-based effort aimed at mitigating learning loss and supporting social and emotional development of the city’s most vulnerable youth during the pandemic-related school closures.
In July 2021,
SPR presented learnings from its evaluations of the Beacon Community Schools and Community Hubs Initiative to SFRISE, a working group established to advise the Board of Supervisors, the Mayor, and SFUSD in the development of a plan to coordinate enrichment and retention services to youth and families affected by the COVID-19 school closures and distance-learning programs.
“I believe this Community Learning Hub was one of the greatest things to come out of the pandemic."
The Beacon Community Schools model is designed to strengthen the connection between the schools and their communities through enhanced services for youth and their families, which include family partnership and engagement, behavioral health and wellness, school transitions, and expanded learning.
The pandemic-inspired Community Hubs Initiative (CHI) stemmed from the same impulse. It created 86 hubs in recreation and community centers, libraries, and nonprofit organizations where students received support for distance learning, socialized with peers, and participated in enrichment activities. The hubs were concentrated in higher-need neighborhoods and prioritized low-income children and families.
In November 2021, SPR produced the Final Report for the Community Hubs Initiative. The report documents the remarkable outcomes and lessons learned from the CHI and provides recommendations for effective school–community partnerships.
Related resource
San Francisco Community Hubs Initiative Final Report
07/05/2022
Related project
Evaluation of the Bridge Initiative’s COVID-19 Response and Recovery Efforts
08/31/2022
Related Resource
San Francisco Community Hubs Initiative Final Report
This final evaluation is informed by observations of CHI planning meetings, interviews with staff from DCYF and CHI city partners, surveys of lead agency staff, two parent surveys, a youth participant survey, CHI attendance data, and data from SFUSD.
Related Resource
San Francisco Community Hubs Initiative Mid-Year Synthesis
This Mid-Year Evaluation Report documents the story of the CHI’s development, emerging outcomes, and lessons learned through the end of 2020. It is informed by observations of CHI program planning meetings, project staff interviews and surveys, a parent survey, and attendance data from SFUSD.
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