A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

"Building Bridges With Relationships"
Carmichael, California

The San Juan Unified School District is a suburban district located in northeastern Sacramento County. It is the ninth largest district in California and serves more than 54,500 PreK-Adult students and another 5,300 special education students. The number of non-English speaking students has increased by 300% with a current enrollment of almost 3,000 limited English proficient K-12 students representing 66 different languages. Thirty of the district?s schools have poverty rates over 50%. The community is highly transitory, increasing students? sense of insecurity. The level of substance abuse is high, and arrests related to drugs have tripled over the last ten years. Rates of suspension and expulsion continue to grow. Last year at the elementary grades there were over 3,700 days of suspension. At the middle and high school grades, these rates ballooned to over 20,000 total days.

Collaborating with the lead partners are the Department of Health and Human Services, The Alliance for Excellence, Sacramento Parent Educators Consortium, Youth Challenge Mentoring Program, and many other community agencies that serve youth.

The comprehensive plan for Building Bridges with Relationships emphasizes community partnerships to implement a strength-based, asset building model. Because the district covers 75 square miles, it will be divided into four service centers with four multi-disciplinary teams providing regionalized service delivery to up to 400 families. A home visitation model will be expanded throughout the district to help families learn developmental strategies to enable their children to grow up healthy and resilient and to reach out to recent immigrant populations who are often isolated from the mainstream. These services will be coordinated with existing Head Start and Teen Parenting Programs. The district will also provide broad-based drug and violence prevention education to schools and expand existing mentoring programs to serve an additional 100 students per year. A Teen Council with representatives from the nine high schools will serve as a formalized mechanism for leadership as well as community service. The unmet needs of families in terms of mental health and health will be provided through a wrap-around service process. Assessments, therapy, parenting training and intensive teacher training regarding positive discipline will be implemented. Two middle schools will be sites for an after school alternative to suspension program for students exhibiting inappropriate and potentially violent behaviors. Law enforcement officers will help schools address issues of violence, substance abuse, and school safety.

Duerr Evaluation Resources will examine both product and process outcomes. The plan will concentrate on program improvement and provide key information to stakeholders for long-term community planning.

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