Leadership magazine Nov/Dec 2014 V 44 No 2 | Page 28

Vallejo USD’s community
schools model helps
students reach their full
potential academically,
socially and emotionally, and
graduate from high school
college- and career-ready.

C

alifornia is the most populous
and diverse state in the nation,
with more than 43 percent of
residents speaking a language
other than English at home. Individual students come to our schools with diverse experiences based on the construct and historical
context of their families. Students’ learning
needs are as diverse as their experiences,
which makes ensuring that all students meet
our high academic expectations of them a
particular challenge for all educators.
In California, educators must go the extra
mile to ensure that all students, including
those whose home language is not English,
those who live in poverty and those from
multiple racial/ethnic backgrounds, thrive.

Vallejo’s rich diversity
Vallejo has a population of 115,942 and
has been spotlighted as the most diverse city
in the nation (Vallejo Times Herald, 2013).
More than 70 percent of our students are
from low-income families as measured by
eligibility for free or reduced price meals,
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Leadership

as a consequence of some unique factors.
In 1993, Congress approved a plan to close
the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, the largest
employer in Solano County and the largest
industrial plant in California. Then, in 2008
the city filed bankruptcy, at the time the
largest city in the state to do so. The rest of
the state and nation also experienced a significant economic downturn, which made
for some particularly difficult times.
Vallejo City USD’s enrollment is about
14,500 students, with nearly 90 percent students of color: 35 percent Hispanic or Latino; 31 percent black; 17 percent Filipino;
10 percent white; and 3 percent Asian. Approximately 20 percent are English learners.
Of those, 85 percent speak Spanish and the
rest speaking Filipino and Punjabi.

Turning the corner
The mission of Vallejo’s district-wide Full
Service Community Schools model is to cre-

By Ramona E. Bishop and Alana J. Shackelford