La Mesa‑Spring Valley officials say grant‑funded community schools served 13 campuses, linked families to health and social services

Roberta Ewing, the district's community schools coordinator, told the La Mesa‑Spring Valley School Board on April 21 that a state Community Schools Partnership grant is supporting facilitators and partnerships at 13 campus sites across the district.

"This year we realized that families really want to engage with their community schools facilitators," Ewing said. "The grant framework provides 13 community school facilitators at 13 of our sites." She said the program centers on four pillars: integrated student supports, expanded learning opportunities, family and community engagement, and collaborative leadership.

The presentation included a short video and several site‑level speakers who described specific results. District nurse Elaine Pandoli said health and wellness partnerships have produced measurable outcomes: Playworks, a recess and social‑emotional program, has reached more than 5,000 students across district sites, and a Lions Club partnership led to nearly 300 vision screenings and glasses distribution for students and some staff.

"Over 5,000 students are impacted by Playworks," Pandoli said. "The Lions Club has provided vision exams and glasses for nearly 300 of our students."

Presenters described school‑level initiatives they said were enabled by the district supports. Dex Harris, community schools facilitator at Loma Elementary, highlighted a multicultural festival that he said engaged roughly half the school's students and many staff and volunteers. Pauline Jimenez, the facilitator at Kempton Elementary, described a junior coaches program with 32 fourth‑ and fifth‑grade students who lead games and help manage recess. David Weinberg, facilitator at Rolando Elementary, described monthly community meetings that include child care and food and said parents told presenters the meetings helped them support their children's literacy.

Nika, a staff member at Sweetwater Springs Elementary, described a series of community donations and events — including a pancake breakfast donated by Blackbird Diner and a shoe drive that grew from a 20‑pair goal to 120 pairs. Ewing said the district reported roughly 150 events this year, had connected more than 1,000 families with resources, and expanded relationships to more than 50 community partners.

The community schools team also emphasized sustainability as a priority once the grant ends. Ewing told the board the program is building partnerships and systems the district hopes will continue beyond the grant period. She said the district will open a Spring Valley community school location co‑located at La Presa Elementary in the fall and maintain the La Mesa Dale community resource center.

Board members thanked presenters and asked for continued reporting. The district noted it trained 43 staff in positive home visits and reached almost 200 families through those visits. The board did not take formal action on the presentation; presenters said they will return with additional outcome data in a future meeting.

The presentation is part of the district's use of the California Community Schools Partnership Program grant to build in‑school supports and community partnerships that the district says help address academic, health and family needs.