SCHOOL HIGHLIGHT: Bayside MLK Jr. Academy

Hi All! Wow! We have all made it to the end of the school year! In reflection, I am both humbled by- and proud of the work we all have done, despite the challenges we faced – and to honor that I would like to highlight one of our newer partnerships.

I’m not sure if you know this, but we have expanded our Unconditional Education reach and have partnered with an amazing school in Marin City called Bayside MLK Jr. Academy. Bayside serves about 110 predominantly African American and Latinx students ranging in grades from TK – 8 and is the only public district school in the Sausalito Marin City School District. We are currently in our 2nd year of partnership and we are feeling so proud of what the school has been able to accomplish thus far 😊.

Bayside, a known landmark for Marin City, has faced many changes, systemic and educational oppressions, yet much like the community that surrounds it, they have shown great perseverance and strength in ensuring they always strive to meet the needs of their students and families.
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*To read more about the history of Marin City,  check out this article Marin City: The Rebirth of a Community.

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Image Credit: The Organic & Non-GMO Report

As Bayside’s mission is to bring together and align essential resources to support students and their families in a safe, healthy and culturally relevant environment (by balancing and focusing on social emotional, creative, physical, and academic skills to ensure that our students have all the tools they need to be successful throughout their lives), it’s no wonder they sought out an Unconditional Education partnership with us.
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Our partnership consists of supporting them through the role of our UE Coach, Kelsey Corrales, and it has been invigorating to support their work and witness the many positive changes that they have created. To highlight a few of those changes, I’d like to share that they have:

• Fully implemented PBIS at the tier 1 level, focusing on “Panther PRIDE”: Pride; Respect; Integrity; Determination; Excellence.
• Created a robust and effective Coordination of Services Team “COST.”
• Began making huge strides toward their tier 2 interventions in all strands.
• Engaged staff to create a Culture and Climate Committee “C3” which uses data to identify goals and objectives to improve the overall culture and climate of the school.
• Have undergone several trainings throughout our partnership, supporting in being more trauma-informed and forming ability to more often utilize trauma-informed approaches in their work.

Bayside has made huge strides in providing Unconditional Education, doing “whatever it takes” to ensure their students receive the education they deserve, such as creating safe and socially-distanced classrooms during this time for students who are not able to access their education at home due to the shelter in place. The principal, Mr. David Finnane, with support from school staff, was able to identify the students and families most in need of support and, all working together, created individual plans for about 6-10 students who came to school every day, in person, to get their academic needs met (this was all done in agreement with families and ensuring proper safety, sanitation, and PPE was in place). This, for me, demonstrates the commitment Bayside has to its students and serves as a beautiful reminder of my “why” for doing this work. 

Blog Post Written By: Amber Fretwell, Senior Director of School Partnerships