San Francisco Beacon Centers
The Beginning
1994
Inspiration Sparked
SFBI began in 1994 as city leaders examined community school models. Inspiration came from the New York Beacon Effort.
1996
Eight Beacon Centers
Throughout almost two decades, 8 Beacon Centers across the city formed and ran in following neighborhoods:
- Mission
- North Beach-Chinatown
- Outer Mission/Ingleside-Excelsior
- Portola
- Richmond
- Sunset
- Visitacion Valley
- Western Addition
1996
The First Beacon Center
The first center opened in 1996.
Partnership between a CBO and school to provide wraparound services to support the needs of the youth, families, and schools.
2015
The Ninth Beacon Center
After 20 years, a ninth Beacon Center was added. The newly built Willie Brown Middle School implemented the Beacon model.
2016
Strategic Planning
A two year strategic planning process to expand the Beacons across San Francisco was underway.
Beacon Funding and System Partners:
SF Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) – a City department that funds out of school time programs, including providing all Beacon funding
San Francisco Unified School District – Partnered with DCYF to plan Beacon strategy and engage principals, all Beacons receive funding from SFUSD for their afterschool programs.
San Francisco Beacon Initiative – SFBI supports all Beacon Community Schools to have high quality programs, strong leaders, and a connected network to share best practices.
2019
From 9 to 27 Beacon Centers
The Beacon Centers scaled up from 9 to 27 with funding increasing from $3M – $10.4M, and with an increase from 8 to 15 Beacon lead agencies.
DCYF RFP & RFQ – Strategy description, goals, and schools.
Beacon Director Contact List