SF: Students First

Supporting Families to Help Students Succeed

We bridge gaps in communication between the district and school sites by listening to and taking guidance from parents and guardians on a case-by-case basis.

Students First - Mission

SF: Students First’s awareness of families’ experience is shaped by our direct work with parents, guardians, and students.
We believe the personal perspective of individual families is fundamental to our overall observations of the SFUSD.

Comprehensive Family Support

SFUSD provides a wide range of academic, behavioral, and safety-centered resources for families.

Navigation

Despite the many resources, families often get lost in a confusing "alphabet soup" of acronyms. We help families cut through the confusion to find the support they need.

School-Level Autonomy

Schools have the freedom to tailor their support to individual students and community needs

Clarification

This school-level autonomy can lead to policies being implemented differently across sites, making it hard to know what to expect. We help families navigate these inconsistencies.

Extensive Administration

The district has a large and interconnected administration staffed with people ready to help.

Communication

Communication from the administration can be protracted and doesn't lead to clear accountability at the campus level. We help connect families directly with the right people.

Ideological Unity

SFUSD is notable for its shared values and unity of purpose compared to other districts.

Confidence

Public distrust undermines the belief that these shared values will actually lead to student success. We help rebuild family confidence in the system

What we do

SF: Students First provides reliable, efficient support to fix core issues and restore families' confidence in SFUSD

Collaboration with school site administrators and staff
Efficient coordination of unaligned schedules
Confirmation of our understanding of information
Observation of privacy and respect for all stakeholders
Comprehensive explanations of how offered services speak to identified needs

How we help

Bridge the Gaps in Communication

We provide parents and guardians:

1. Accurate, confirmed information.

2. Understanding about what services speark to a particular need, and how.

3. Clarification of language specific to education/health/community service agencies.

So parents and guardians can:

1. Bring their insight and experience to the table.

2. Make informed decisions about what’s available.

3. See where multiple assessments can be coordinated.

With the result that:

1. Their voice is incorporated meaningfully into their child/ren’s IEP, Safety Plan, academic goals, behavioral expectations, etc.

2. Goals are clear to all parties. It is clear who is accountable for what part of the plan.

3. Goals are attainable, measurable, and uniformly understood.

SF: Students First does not confine our definition of success to academic outcomes.
We coordinate SFUSD and community supports for the whole family.

For education to provide a reliable foundation for success, skills learned in an educational environment must be relevant to life outside of school.

San Francisco CBOs, City departments, and philanthropic organizations provide a multitude of options to augment networks of support. For students, this means we can connect them with safe spaces where the freedom to make independent choices is supported within a structured, social environment—one where they can master the tools for healthy interpersonal relationships, emotional regulation and distress tolerance, and self-care.

We find this especially important for our Middle School students. This is the time when they are figuring out what skills feel comfortable and reliable in alignment with their identity, place in the world, and inchoate sense of justice.