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

"East San Jose Safe Schools Initiative"
San Jose, CA

San Jose has a total population of 264,319 of diverse ethnicity, with one of the largest high school districts in California. The city experiences continuous demographic flux, being a major destination for immigrants from both Central American and the Pacific Rim. Four high schools and their feeder schools—five middle and 13 elementary schools—are part of the target group, along with children ages 0-5 living in specific areas. The median household income in the target area is half that of the rest of the county, or $14,402 (1997). Within the target schools, 34% of the high school students and 50% of elementary and middle school students are Limited English Proficient. A combination of factors including limited economic prospects, limited parental support, and ethnic and gender discrimination place students at high risk for educational failure.

The East Side Union High School District, Franklin McKinley School District, and the City of San Jose have a long history of collaboration which will be continued in this project. The City?s police department has operated cooperative programs with all involved in the partnership.

Early childhood interventions will focus on early parenting and family strengthening programs. A violence prevention curriculum will be conducted at all elementary and middle schools in the target area. Training will be provided to increase parental involvement throughout the school district and outreach recruitment for school volunteers will involve parents and the community in these prevention efforts. Parents will be involved in all aspects of program design and oversight. Early intervention plans are in place for middle and high schools, involving reading and literacy programs, truancy prevention, and gang interventions. The initiative will also work to integrate an existing mixture of services into an integrated continuum with strong assessment, individualized care, and a well-articulated system of referral and follow up. Crisis counseling, violence mediation, and response planning for high schools will be enhanced in the middle schools through the addition of a second crisis intervention team. School reform is a focus throughout the planned prevention and early intervention projects. Student-driven teams will identify environmental school security issues and oversee implementation of strategies to address them.

The evaluation of this project will be conducted by the Child Services Research Group of the University of California and overseen by an Evaluation Committee, which will be a standing committee of the School Safety Oversight Council.

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