Central Elementary staff told the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District Board of Trustees about campus programs and recent recognitions, including the school’s designation as a California Distinguished School.

Principal Donovan introduced Danielle Kim, the school’s full-time counselor, and described a year of instructional work and community events that staff said produced strong student engagement. Central staff told trustees they partnered with Fox for a yearlong writing professional-development program that used lab-classroom demonstrations, cross-site collaboration and coaching cycles to strengthen elementary writing instruction.

Staff also described social-emotional learning (SEL) integrated across grade-level instruction and Miss Kim’s model of visiting classrooms every other week so SEL lessons align with ongoing academic projects. Donovan and Kim said SEL topics are reinforced in project-based work and that the counselor now pushes into classrooms and into recess to support real-time behavior and collaboration skills.

Trustees heard about the junior coaches program, funded through Schoolforce with Playworks support, which trains older students to lead recess activities for younger peers. Staff said the pilot began in late January, used a Playworks coach for training and aims for a fuller rollout next school year. Central described a weekly “lunch bunch” staffed by the counselor that uses a ticket/pass system to limit numbers and foster inclusion for students who do not gravitate to traditional playground options.

The principal credited teachers, volunteers and Schoolforce fundraising for sustaining extracurricular events — family reading nights, fall fun day and a multicultural festival at Sandpiper — and said staff value cross-site collaboration. The presentation included photos of recent school events and a summary of writing-PD activities that the principal characterized as yielding both instructional and community benefits.

Clarifying details: Staff said Playworks provided a coach for a one-week training late January and that Schoolforce contributed funding from its gala proceeds. The junior coaches effort is a pilot this year with a planned fuller year in 2025–26. The counselor’s classroom schedule is every other week so SEL can be tied to academic projects; the lunch-bunch uses a limited-pass system to keep groups manageable.

Speakers in the school highlight included Principal Donovan; Danielle Kim, school counselor; teacher Caster Wood (science teacher cited); and Talia Carter (partner from Fox, named by staff).

Ending: Trustees congratulated Central on the California Distinguished School recognition and asked follow-up questions about program scaling, junior-coach selection and how writing-PD results will be assessed; staff said they expect qualitative gains now and more measurable data over time.