Stories

The story of the San Francisco Beacon Initiative is one of intense collaboration among a large number of public and private funders, community based organizations, schools, and communities. SFBI began over twenty years ago, when a group of visionary San Franciscans came together to form a planning committee to examine Community School models from across the country. They were inspired by the very successful New York City Beacon school sites and imagined vibrant buildings open past instructional hours that would serve as hubs for enriching activities, expanding learning, and community building. They returned to San Francisco with the determination to capitalize on the underutilized value of school sites and subsequently the first Beacon Center (Community School) opened in 1996. Over the next few years, Community Schools spread across San Francisco and were in 8 priority neighborhoods, and now expanded to 27 in 2018.