Civic Center Secondary School

Civic Center Secondary School is one of several San Francisco County Community Schools which provide educational services to students in grades 7-12 who are assigned due to expulsion proceedings, recommended by Juvenile Probation, Foster, Homeless, and/or Social Services, or through truancy or behavioral intervention. The County Community Schools function as an interruption in the educational system, breaking the pipeline to prison design for many underrepresented students. The staff, students, parents and community partners openly struggle to interrupt the cycle of low expectations, neglect and institutionalized racism that is characteristic of the educational experience for at risk students. We strive to create a caring, inclusive, safe educational space where building relationships is the focus.

Instruction is based upon a small classroom cohort model managed by multiple adults including a special education instructor, a general education instructor, and a counselor or social worker. Teaching teams are provided with collaboration time and professional development to support their professional relationship building and planning. This support-enriched classroom experience creates a trauma-sensitive school environment where students, adults and families benefit from healing through utilization of trauma-informed classroom practices. In our support enriched classrooms with our community partners we provide support for job and career readiness, substance use awareness, and individual case management.