EXPANDED LEARNING
individuals. families. communities
BACR believes in providing a fun, nurturing environment where students can develop academic and social skills, explore new interests, and foster personal growth. Each day of the school year in five Bay Area counties, more than 15,000 students from kindergarten to high school participate in BACR expanded learning programs during out-of-school time, where they learn to be productive, navigate challenges successfully, and build positive relationships with their peers and adults.
BACR’s expanded learning programs are grounded in the core components of high-quality after school programming: safe and supportive environments, academic support, engaging enrichment, social-emotional learning, youth leadership, family partnership, and strong connections to the school day. Students participate in hands-on projects that build curiosity, creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking. Activities may include STEM exploration, literacy, cooking, art, computer learning, sports, dance, and games that help students practice academic skills in relevant and joyful ways. These experiences expand access to new opportunities, strengthen vocabulary and problem-solving skills, and support educational equity by ensuring that students from historically underserved communities can explore, create, and lead.
Additionally, BACR programs promote social-emotional development by applying youth development principles, including youth voice, belonging, relationship-building, restorative practices, cultural relevance, student choice, leadership opportunities, and opportunities for reflection. Our programs are customized to each school community so students see their identities, interests, and experiences reflected in the program design. BACR staff represent the communities we serve, and we invest in professional development, coaching, observation tools, and resources to support continuous improvement systems and ensure programs remain safe, engaging, inclusive, and high-quality.
PROVIDING LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES AND SUPPORT SO THAT EVERY STUDENT CAN SUCCEED WHERE IT MATTERS MOST
Academic assistance including homework support, academic interventions,
and credit-recovery for high school students
EAST BAY EXPANDED LEARNING
In the East Bay, BACR provides expanded learning opportunities to more than 15,000 students annually through partnerships with schools in Alameda, Antioch, Berkeley, Oakland, Pittsburg, Richmond, San Pablo, and Vallejo.
Rooted in the California Quality Standards and guided by positive youth development principles, our programs empower students by elevating youth voice and creating safe, supportive environments. Serving students from transitional kindergarten through 12th grade, we offer a diverse range of enrichment activities designed to foster social-emotional growth and academic success.
Our programs operate for approximately 200 days per year, providing at least three hours of program during the school year and up to nine hours per day during summer and non-school days.
BACR takes pride in its strong partnerships with the communities we serve. We tailor our services to meet the unique needs of each school community, ensuring that our programs are both responsive and impactful.
INDUSTRY DIRECTOR
MARIANA LOPEZ QUINTANILLA | MESSAGE MARIANA
SAN FRANCISCO
EXPANDED LEARNING
In San Francisco, BACR delivers expanded learning activities and services to more than 3,000 students averaged a year at 15 school-based programs and 4 of the SF Beacon Initiative. These programs help to close the gap between school and community needs by creating partnerships to offer resources and coordinate services that result in positive outcomes for youth and families. These services are made possible thanks to long-standing partnerships with the San Francisco Unified School District and the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth and Their Families (DCYF) and San Francisco Beacon Initiative. Serving a wide range of neighborhoods from the Bayview to the Sunset and Marina, BACR makes every effort to hire staff who are reflective of the communities we serve. Each summer we operate programs at at least 10 sites to keep our youth engaged in fun and enriching activities.
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
KRISTY KENNADY | MESSAGE KRISTY
HOME AWAY FROM HOMELESSNESS
A Home Away From Homelessness seeks to radically alter the trajectory of children's lives by providing safe and supportive environments that foster their strengths, creativity and abilities. By bringing together homeless and previously homeless children in the Marin and San Francisco counties to offer them new experiences, opportunities, and guidance, these children become part of a welcoming community that encourages their personal growth while providing a sense of inclusivity and family. And most importantly, they build lasting relationships with caring adults who guide and mentor them through the unique challenges they face in our community.
INDUSTRY DIRECTOR
MARIANA LOPEZ QUINTANILLA | MESSAGE MARIANA
NORTH BAY
EXPANDED LEARNING
Our BACR program works to deliver expanded learning services to over 1,200 students a day in the school year and over half of that amount of students in the summer programs at 6 school sites in San Rafael. These programs are rooted in equity, promote academic access, and are always implemented with a social-emotional focus. We are fully integrated into the school community and coordinate continually with the administration and site-based family resource centers to ensure that our shared vision is being realized. During most school breaks, BACR offers summer camp style programs for 4 to 14 years old serving up to 650 students per day in the summer months.
INDUSTRY DIRECTOR
MARIANA LOPEZ QUINTANILLA | MESSAGE MARIANA
SAN FRANCISCO BEACON
COMMUNITY SCHOOLS
Our four San Francisco Beacon Community School programs provide powerful learning, integrated health and social supports, and authentic family and community engagement to develop students’ cognitive, social, emotional, and civic capacities. Anchored by our after school programs at the school sites, our Beacons work in collaboration with the school and community partners to create expanded learning opportunities in order for youth to feel safe, gain skills, develop supportive relationships and show growth in youth development and academic measures. Additionally, we ensure that parents and caregivers have a connection to the school and access to community resources at their child’s school to support their child’s success.
INDUSTRY DIRECTOR
MARIANA LOPEZ QUINTANILLA | MESSAGE ADMINISTRATOR
SUNSET MEDIA WAVE
Sunset Media Wave (SMW) amplifies the voices of San Francisco teens by publishing deeply personal art across multiple mediums—online and in high-quality, full-color zines. Our community of artists fosters professional-level work and fulfills a powerful need: ensuring that our youth are seen, heard, and respected by a larger audience. We support our artists through a mosaic of innovative programming that blends decades of experience in media arts, youth development, project-based learning, and community building. Our specialties emphasize the development of 21st-century media skills, including digital illustration, filmmaking, and recording, as well as reimagining traditional art forms such as painting, poetry, and photography. The Wave is application-based and open to artists from all San Francisco high schools.
DIRECTOR OF CREATIVE ARTS
JON BERNSON | MESSAGE JON