San Francisco Beacon Initiative

Have you RSVPed for the Beacon Spring Event yet? Be sure to sign up before heading out for spring break!

Don’t miss your chance to meet two of the San Francisco Zoo’s adorable animals, Petunia and Waffles, plus enjoy delicious food, win wellness prizes, and so much more fun!

The SF Beacon Initiative, Beacon schools and community based organizations have been working together for 30 years to create powerful solutions for San Francisco communities. These communities include the very Beacon staff that work within them, which brings us to the Beacon network’s newest innovation, the Expanded Learning Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP).

After Covid, we saw our workforce struggling. Beacons were starting the year without a full team, hiring folks with entry level experience, and seeing staff move on after only 1-2 years. At the same time, Beacon staff are known for being strong relationship builders with students and coming from the same communities and demographics as the young people they work with. To increase pathways for staff into our Beacon programs and strengthen skills of early career program leaders, SFBI worked in partnership with Early Care and Education Pathways to Success (ECEPTS), Partnership for Children and Youth (PCY), and City College of San Francisco (CCSF), to design and launch the first ever Expanded Learning Registered Apprenticeship in San Francisco.

Registered Apprenticeship Programs (RAPs) employ a well-established model that has a long history of success. In recent years, apprenticeships have expanded to non-traditional industries with a focus on BIPOC, LGBTQ, and female identifying community members. This two-year “earn and learn” model provides Beacon staff with structured career pathways that combine paid work, mentorship, professional development, and free CCSF college coursework to earn 51 credits towards their AA degree.👏

Stay tuned!

📣 Beacon Network Staff: Join us for our Beacon Spring Event at the San Francisco Zoo on Friday, April 10th. Please check your emails or check in with your Beacon Directors to RSVP.

See you there!

We asked members of the Beacon Community, “When was the moment you knew you belonged in the Beacon Network?”

It was 2016 and Sally, SFBI Director of Operational Learning, was facilitating her very first Beacon Director Retreat in a borrowed corporate meeting space with a small group of Beacon Directors.

There were only eight Beacons then; Mission, Bayview-Hunters Point, Outer Mission/Excelsior, North Beach/Chinatown, Sunset, Richmond, Western Addition, and Visitacion Valley. As part of their day-long leadership retreat, Sally asked Beacon Directors to envision a future newspaper headline that would capture the impact they had on their students, and then tie their futures together with a human knot activity. It was a risk as a new SFBI staff member; it required Beacon Directors to be curious, physically close, and willing to bring a sense of humor for it to succeed.

As she observed Beacon Directors like Chris Tsukida, Joni Chu and Jora Atienza Washington wiggle their way through the activity, she was struck by how these high level leaders were so comfortable being silly and experimenting. Sally had previously worked in government and public schools where systems tended to be more rigid. These leaders and the systems they oversaw felt so much more fluid and responsive. Watching everyone take their long-term visions seriously but also engage in the learning process with laughter and silliness, Sally knew she was in the right place.

Today, after 10 years of work with SFBI, Sally is now the Executive Director and the leadership summit has evolved into a three day transformational experience in Sonoma, attended by 27 Beacon Directors.

Also, 👀 peep that old school Beacon Bridge photo from our 90s Nom Nom event! 🤗

Stay tuned for more stories of Beacon Belonging. 🫶

We deeply appreciate our incredible Beacon Way Day 2026 workshop presenters! The success of our conference would not have been possible without all of you. We hope to work with you all again in the future.

✨Congratulations to our Beacon Way Day 2026 Awards of Recognition nominees! You are the pillars of our community, inspiring excellence, leadership, and service in all that you do.

-Afu Luatutu, Site Coordinator at Bret Harte Elementary School
-Tyler Miller, Site Coordinator at Bryant Elementary School
-Zoila Bonilla, Beacon Director at Leonard R. Flynn Elementary School
-Candace Ashley, Site Coordinator at Sanchez Elementary School
-Rae O'Reilly, Wellness Coordinator at Marina Middle School
-Nick Rodriguez, Site Coordinator at Francisco Middle School

Thank you for all you do! ❤

One of the qualities we often celebrate about Beacons is their ability to recognize a challenge and respond quickly and creatively. During COVID, they launched learning hubs in record time. When there were concerns about increased ICE presence, they organized Know Your Rights workshops and ensured families received clear, timely communication.

Now with schools closed and the SFUSD teachers’ union on strike for the first time in 50 years, Beacons have once again mobilized swiftly; this time to provide full-day extended programming for students with the highest needs.

In community based organization offices, housing community rooms, parks and a variety of other quickly sourced locations, Beacons are doing their best to create some normalcy for students. Staff spent the days leading up to the strike, last weekend, and this week preparing activities, coordinating meals, and communicating with families. By our count Beacons have over 250 students in programming and hundreds more receiving meals from pick-up spots across the city.

We appreciate every Beacon team member for stepping up to care for our city’s most vulnerable youth with food, safety, community and joy! 👏

After a year of program design and strong thought-partnership, our Beacon Expanded Learning Apprenticeship officially launched in January! The first of it's kind in San Francisco, this apprenticeship employs a well-established, successful model, supporting apprentices through on-the-job training, related instruction, and mentorship. Our amazing cohort of 10 Beacon staff are already hard at work attending City College of San Francisco classes, continuing the great work at their sites, and building community with each other and their mentors. Our kick-off event was full of connection, joyful conversation, and powerful career pathway visioning. Congratulations to our 2026-2028 apprenticeship cohort, this is just the beginning! 👏

Say hello to the apprentices:
- Allison Niue, Marjorie Afoa, Shavanna Alesana of
- Zuly Azam, Jalissa James of Paul Revere K-8
- Ellie Bonilla, Liliana Ochoa of El Dorado ES
- Maritza Estanislao of
- Will Navarez of
- Evelyn Castanon of

And their amazing mentors (not all pictured):
- Sherry Galdamez, Beth Guy, Reggie Valenzuela, Adria de Stefano, Samm McCrary of
- Hayley Walker, Cassandra Hodges of
- Esme Acosta, Christina Lopez of

After a year of program design and strong thought-partnership, our Beacon Expanded Learning Apprenticeship officially launched in January! The first of it's kind in San Francisco, this apprenticeship employs a well-established, successful model, supporting apprentices through on-the-job training, related instruction, and mentorship. Our amazing cohort of 10 Beacon staff are already hard at work attending City College of San Francisco classes, continuing the great work at their sites, and building community with each other and their mentors. Our kick-off event was full of connection, joyful conversation, and powerful career pathway visioning. Congratulations to our 2026-2028 apprenticeship cohort, this is just the beginning! 👏

Say hello to the apprentices:
- Allison Niue, Marjorie Afoa, Shavanna Alesana of Bret Harte ES
- Zuly Azam, Jalissa James of Paul Revere K-8
- Ellie Bonilla, Liliana Ochoa of El Dorado ES
- Maritza Estanislao of Everett MS
- Will Navarez of Bessie Carmichael K-8
- Evelyn Castanon of Sanchez ES

And their amazing mentors (not all pictured):
- Sherry Galdamez, Beth Guy, Reggie Valenzuela, Adria de Stefano, Samm McCrary of Bay Area Community Resources
- Hayley Walker, Cassandra Hodges of Real Options for City Kids (ROCK)
- Esme Acosta, Christina Lopez of Mission Graduates