San Marcos Unified highlights community schools grants, mobile clinics and attendance gains
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Summary
District staff told the board that community schools work at San Marcos Elementary and La Mirada Academy is expanding supports including mobile health clinics (214 students served) and food distribution (2,064 meals), and that community-school pillars are driving attendance and family engagement improvements.
SAN MARCOS, Calif. — The San Marcos Unified School District presented a progress update Nov. 13 on its community schools initiative, describing how integrated student supports, family engagement and expanded learning are being implemented at San Marcos Elementary (SME) and La Mirada Academy (LMA).
Mandy Bedard, principal on special assignment, described the community schools model and said SME received a planning grant in 2022 and later an implementation grant; she said the district recently won a second implementation grant for La Mirada Academy.
Adelita Gonzalez, community schools coordinator, said the district has partnered with TrueCare to provide on-site monthly mobile health clinics that have served 214 students this school year and reported that SME has distributed 2,064 meals so far this year through partners including Feeding San Diego and North County Food Bank.
Analilia (Analia) Lopez, a parent and community-school volunteer, described how participation in school councils and volunteer roles deepened her engagement with her child’s education and strengthened family leadership capacity.
The presentation emphasized four pillars — integrated student supports, family and community engagement, collaborative leadership and expanded learning time — and cited partnerships with San Marcos Adult School for ESL classes (35 adult learners enrolled) and Cal State San Marcos for expanded STEM programming.
Board members praised the program and asked staff to continue building capacity; staff said community schools work will continue at SME and the newly funded work at LMA.
What’s next: The district will continue implementation with ongoing data tracking (attendance, service counts) and stakeholder engagement; no policy vote occurred at the Nov. 13 meeting.
