Breakthrough Summerbridge 2023 Impact Report

Dear Friends,

FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

In the 45 years since our founding, our purpose has been unwavering. Breakthrough Summerbridge exists to close the opportunity gap for highly motivated middle school youth in San Francisco, and I am proud to share that we have done so for over 1,700 students. There are several factors essential to our success in this mission. One, of course, is the steadfast investment from our generous community of supporters like you. Thank you!

Highlighted in this year’s Impact Report are members of our team who are crucial to creating paths to higher education for our exceptional students. As you know, our program model depends on the skill, commitment, and diversity of college-aged youth who serve as our Teaching Fellows (TFs). This approach allows us to maintain a 3:1 student to staff ratio which encourages the strong mentoring relationships shown to deeply impact student success. I often witness the power of this “near peer” teaching method when students, who clearly see themselves reflected in their teachers, express aspirations to emulate them by attending college.

This past summer, we had a particularly fabulous group of TFs. Three were returning for a second year after serving with us in 2022 and three were former BTSB students, which is especially gratifying. In addition, nearly all of our Instructional Coaches (who mentor and guide our TFs) were returners; including one former TF and one former student. To me, along with our high-student retention rate, this desire to repeatedly give back to BTSB is one of the strongest testaments to the quality and efficacy of our program. I hope you enjoy reading more about our TFs and getting to know Luqmaan—who has a wonderful history with BTSB— through our profile on page 9.

You’ll also read more about our students and their activities and achievements over that past year. Highlights include our collaboration with Gilead Sciences and the Gilead Foundation, which brought hands-on STEM learning opportunities to our students. I am so grateful for relationships like these—from corporate contributors to our Breakthrough affiliates who collaborate on fundraising and programming—that create the most robust experience possible for students.

Again, I thank you for being a vital part of our community. I always welcome the chance to hear from past students, TFs, staff, and supporters. Please stay in touch!

With Breakthrough Summerbridge Spirit, Dara Northcroft

Dara Northcroft, Executive Director

BREAKTHROUGH SUMMERBRIDGE

...is a tuition-free, year-round, summer-intensive academic enrichment and advocacy program. We support highly motivated, traditionally underrepresented students to achieve post-secondary success, and recruit, inspire, and develop the next generation of educators and youth advocates.

Located within San Francisco University High School (UHS), we are the original site and inspiration for the Breakthrough Collaborative, which now includes a network of 25 affiliates throughout the United States.

PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

• Provide enrichment to support student success in their school-year programming

• Comprehensively assist all students with admission to college preparatory high schools

• Provide guidance, mentoring and skill-building opportunities that encourage Teaching Fellows to pursue careers in youth development and/or education

• Empower and provide resources for parents to support their children on the path to college

100 Students engage in our intensive 6-week summer program

180 Hours of instruction prevent “summer slide” and build academic skills

OUR STUDENTS

“[BTSB was] an academic setting that was supportive and encouraging, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. The community truly changed my life.“

— Katelyn, 9th grade student

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

ON AVERAGE EACH

YEAR...

18 Teaching Fellows

9 Instructional Coaches

participate in intensive internships on their pathway to careers in education

mentor Teaching Fellows on best practices in teaching and lesson planning

Our students reflect the richness and diversity for which San Francisco is proudly known. 76% of our students live in low-income households and over 50% are part of multilingual families.

“All of my years at BTSB have been packed with new concepts, learning materials, and friends. Lots of the memorable experiences for me at BTSB have been from my science class. We do labs, which are hands-on experiments...I am very interested in science, and getting to see substances react, change, or form new things really made me enjoy it and helped me learn a lot...I felt very prepared for the following school year.”

—Tristan, 8th grade student

OUR STUDENTS

98% Average student retention rate over the course of our 3-year summer program

95%

Students enroll in academically rigorous college prep high schools

75%

Students have graduated from a four-year college

Our students start the school year ready to excel:

On average, students lose about two months of reading and math skills during the summer (known as “summer slide”).

Our post-summer academic assessment showed that 62% of Breakthrough Summerbridge students met or exceeded grade level proficiency in reading, compared to 51% nationally and 80% met or exceeded grade level proficiency in math, compared to 47% nationally.

COLLEGE & CAREER DAY

BTSB provides hands-on, real-world experiences that get students inspired about their academic and professional futures. In 2023, our annual College and Career Day included an interactive visit to IDEO, a global design company in San Francisco. Seventh grade students engaged in activities that introduced them to the “workplace of the future”, exploring co-design and AI. On the same day, our Eighth graders visited UC Berkeley, where they learned about life on campus at this prestigious public university. Ninth graders spent a fun and informative afternoon at Oracle Park exploring an array of potential careers in the sports, entertainment, and hospitality fields.

CORPORATE PARTNERSHIPS

As part of our 2022-2023 After-School Enrichment (ASE) programming, scientists from Gilead Sciences volunteered to lead a lab for our students. Through an engaging experiment focused on creating rock candy, students learned about how molecules form together to become crystals, identified the difference between crystalline and amorphous sugars, and discussed how different types of sugars impact how medicine is absorbed into the bloodstream. Experiences like these give students the opportunity to understand the real-world applications of the concepts they are learning, as well as the chance to envision themselves in the role of future scientists.

BTSB gratefully acknowledges Gilead’s generous financial and volunteer support. Would your company be interested in partnering with BTSB? Learn more on page 11 or contact us to learn how you can open doors to possibilities for our students!

Breakthrough Summerbridge at San Francisco University

SCHOOL YEAR PROGRAMS

In addition to our summer-intensive programming, Breakthrough Summerbridge continues our connection to students and commitment to leadership development throughout the academic year via our AfterSchool Enrichment (ASE) programming.

In the 2022-2023 school year, we piloted Boom Dynamite (named after one of our spirited cheers), a UHS class through which selected UHS juniors and seniors are trained to serve as Teaching Fellows in our After School Enrichment (ASE) program. This school-year version of our near-peer teaching model is another way we support our students on their path to college preparatory high schools. Teaching Fellows from Boom Dynamite teach project based literacy STEM units.

Additionally, we provide High School advising, family resources, and counseling throughout the school year.

“The STEM & Literacy Enrichment classes were interactive and the activities were fun. Our TFs were cool, funny and helped a lot.”

– 7th grade student

Breakthrough Summerbridge at San Francisco University High School | Impact Report 2023

“I’ve made some of the most beautiful bonds (with faculty and students alike), refined my career goals, and have grown tremendously in my two summers here at BTSB... I got to not only learn, but also practice so many different teacher skills, get experience teaching different subjects, different class sizes, different grade levels, and strengthen my leadership skills. However, the most impactful lesson I’ve learned is how to make this profession a sustainable one.”

– Crystal, Teaching Fellow

OUR TEACHING FELLOWS

Our Teaching Fellows (TFs) come to us from regions throughout the country—from as near as the Bay Area to as far as the East Coast.

20% Are returning TFs or BTSB alumni

80% Plan to pursue a career in education

80% Plan to work or advocate on behalf of youth

Breakthrough

STUDENTS WHO BECOME TEACHING FELLOWS:

Luqmaan Shaikh

BTSB 2015- 2017, UHS alum ‘21, BTSB TF 2023

Luqmaan will graduate from Lehigh University in 2025 with a degree in Civil Engineering and aspires to a career in Geotechnology or Water Resource Management.

Luqmaan Shaikh is a BTSB alumnus (2015-2017) and served as a Teaching Fellow in 2023. Recently, he generously took a break from studying for college midterms to answer a few questions about his unique experience.

Tell us about your experience as a BTSB student?

The hands-on learning and small classes sizes at BTSB were very different from what I was experiencing in middle school at the time. The program opened my eyes to so many possibilities—including the choices I had about where to go to high school. BTSB encouraged me to challenge myself and gave me all the preparation I needed to do so. I remember how much help they provided with the admission process to end up at an amazing high school (UHS) that I didn’t even know existed prior to being a Summerbridge student.

What made you decide to return to BTSB as a Teaching Fellow (TF)?

I visited Summerbridge and UHS while on winter break from my first year at Lehigh University and it really felt like coming back home. I realized how much I appreciate this community and I wanted to give back. Also, because my experience with learning at Summerbridge was so positive, I wanted a chance to practice what it’s like to teach in the program. I knew I would be helping other Summerbridge scholars excel, but I was also curious to explore what being a TF would teach me about myself as a learner. Learning to create lesson plans and researching topics for my classes taught me to be more organized as a teacher. Now, when I prepare for my own tests, I study with

the end goal of really understanding the fundamentals, as if I were planning to teach the subject to someone else.

From your perspective as a student and a TF, what makes BTSB unique?

The trusting relationships that are formed between students and TFs, for sure. The low ratio of students to TFs and the fact that TFs are closer to the middle schoolers in age creates a mentor/mentee dynamic. As TFs, we connect with students in many different spaces— like electives, clubs, and team building activities—so we get to learn about them both inside and outside the classroom. At lunch time, TFs don’t always hang out in the faculty lounge. They often opt in to interact with their students during lunch time activities, and I enjoyed doing that. When I was a student we would sometimes have rap battles at lunchtime, and some of our TFs would even join in. So fun! Working as a TF is only eight weeks, but I learned that if I brought my best self to the job every day, the students would match that energy. I genuinely missed my students at the end of the summer and wish we had longer together to keep learning and growing.

Any final thoughts?

Breakthrough Summerbridge opens doors to new opportunities and alters the trajectory of students’ lives. My life is proof of that.

“It is so heartwarming to have our student alum return as TFs. In addition to drawing from their own experiences as students to motivate the kids that they teach, they help to keep BTSB traditions alive. I was so impressed when Luqmaan and Kaitlin, another former student who returned as a TF, brought back our Stepping class elective, which fell by the wayside during COVID. I loved seeing the kids practice, with older students motivating younger students to come out of their shells. That class is a big confidence builder for some students.”

- Dara Northcroft, Executive Director

Breakthrough Summerbridge at San Francisco University High School | Impact Report 2023

GET INVOLVED!

Invest with a Contribution

Your donation goes directly to support BTSB programming.

Many workplaces have matching gift programs—an opportunity to double your impact!

Donate now by scanning the QR code or visiting www.sfuhs.org/summerbridge/support-summerbridge .

Corporate Volunteerism

Does your employer have a Community Investment or Charitable Giving program?

Would your business host our students or provide volunteers or hands-on learning activities?

To discuss corporate collaboration email Executive Director Dara Northcroft at dara.northcroft@sfuhs.org .

Help Us Recruit Talent from Across the Country Volunteer to host a Teaching Fellow over the summer.

To volunteer and learn more about our Homestay program email Executive Director Dara Northcroft at dara.northcroft@sfuhs.org .

Your involvement positively impacts the lives of the students and teaching fellows in our community.

Thank you!