Bright Star Schools Now a State-Recognized Network of Community Schools!

In 2025, after two years of committed work with our communities, all nine of Bright Star’s schools received a 5-year grant to become Community Schools and continue to provide robust, wraparound support for our students, families, and communities.

From our founding in 2003, Bright Star Schools has believed in the power of the whole-child approach. We provide our students with robust support and care that includes:

• Low student-to-counselor ratios at every grade level so every student has an advocate at school;
• Robust social-emotional learning;
• Inclusive education;
• Multilingual learner support;
• Up to six years of free, individualized higher education support for alumni;
• Programs and resources for families;
• and more.

The truth is that since day one, Bright Star Schools has been planting seeds for transformation into Community Schools since day one by providing students and families with robust support.

An initial planning grant in 2023 from the California Community School Partnership Program gave us the opportunity to expand our offerings and partnerships to become official Community Schools so that we can deepen the support we offer entire communities.

For the past two years, our Bright Star team has worked tirelessly to amplify the voices of the entire community, co-created comprehensive plans that reflect our communities' greatest assets and needs, and established new partnerships, initiatives, and systems that are already making an impact on students' and families' lives.

Our impact over the past two years alone includes:

• Establishing over 50 partnerships,
• Receiving over 3,000 donated books,
• Providing free eye exams and over 200 pairs of free eyeglasses to our students,
• Connecting families with over $5,000 in financial assistance,
• Providing free medical exams to our students,
• Providing new shoes, backpacks full of school supplies, holiday toys, and laptops to students and families,
• Facilitating Community School Advisory Councils at each site where students, families, staff, and partners collaborate,
• And more.

We continue to embed community voice and collaboration into every aspect of our goals so that we can amplify our communities’ assets and meet their needs.

As the National Center for Community Schools describes, “The community schools strategy transforms a school into a place where educators, local community members, families, and students work together to strengthen conditions for student learning and healthy development. As partners, they organize in- and out-of-school resources, supports, and opportunities so that young people thrive.”

We want our young people, families, and communities to thrive. We look forward to the next five years of deepening our work and impact. And we hope you’ll join us in this transformative work.