Belonging. Provision. Trust. Confidence.

Community Meeting Toolkit

Scholarship Prep is making a dramatic and lasting impact on all students, especially those in underserved populations. Our Community Meeting toolkit is a model of innovative practice (MIP) created to better identify, support and serve our student population experiencing homelessness.

See the Benefits of Community Meeting

Meeting the Needs of Students Experiencing Homelessness

As a trauma-informed school, we knew that our students experiencing homelessness needed a welcoming environment, trusted adults and peers, explicit opportunities to learn and practice coping skills, and their basic needs met.

 

The five components of our Community Meeting toolkit are meeting these needs.

Scholarship Prep teacher greets student with a high five.

Threshold Greetings

We consistently greet each student by name when they arrive at school and provide a dependable, emotional connection to a trusted adult. Our students love starting their day with these fun and positive interactions!
Threshold Greetings
Accessing toothpaste supply.

Classroom Resource Center

We equip each of our classrooms with carts stocked with essential, demographic-appropriate supplies, some of which may only be available to students in school. These include hygiene items, snacks, school supplies, and more.
Classroom Resource Center
Teacher works with students on communicating

Designated Daily Meeting Time

We’re intentionally setting aside a specific time each day for Social Emotional Learning and weekly check-ins in our classrooms. Creating routine and consistency is a practice that benefits all students, especially those experiencing homelessness.
Designated Daily Meeting Time
Middle school students practice breathing techniques

Social Emotional Learning Curriculum

Our Community Meeting ensures that students start the day with a grounding, community-building activity that creates physical and emotional safety, shares valuable emotional regulation tools, and teaches social skills.
SEL Curriculum
Student uses laptop to answer questions

Weekly Universal Screener

Our school is equipped with a strategic, intentional method of checking in with the entire student body through an online platform. This tool allows our teachers and school counselors to collaborate to identify students needing extra support.
Weekly Universal Screener

Benefits of Community Meeting

Implementing the Community Meeting toolkit organization-wide has had a significant impact on Scholarship Prep.

Improved Student Outcomes

Implementing our model of innovative practice (MIP) has undeniably played a crucial role in elevating our students’ outcomes.

Academic Performance

Scholarship Prep’s students experiencing homelessness scored higher than the state average in ELA and Math.

Academic Engagement

Scholarship Prep’s youth affected by homelessness have a lower Chronic Absenteeism Rate.

Conditions and Climate

Scholarship Prep’s housing insecure youth have a lower suspension rate and increased student satisfaction with school staff and programs.

Meet the Scholarship Prep Community:

Four Campuses in Three Counties

1600 students across four campuses in three Southern California counties, an overwhelming majority of whom are socioeconomically disadvantaged.

Serving our Students Experiencing Homelessness

22% of students at our flagship campus in Orange County are experiencing homelessness and identified as experiencing homelessness.

Identifying & Supporting Youth Affected by Homelessness

A 10 times higher rate of youth experiencing homelessness attends our Oceanside and Los Angeles/South Bay schools compared to district averages.

Leading with Love

Identifying and Supporting Students and Families Experiencing Homelessness

Scholarship Prep back-to-school supply kit

We Connect Youth Experiencing Homelessness with Wraparound Services

While benefiting from the tools and provisions available through the implementation of Community Meeting, students and families not yet identified as experiencing homelessness began to feel comfortable sharing their experiences with our trusted teachers, administrators, and staff. As a result, the number of students identified as eligible for services skyrocketed.

Source: Data Quest

  • 2018-2019: 1 Homeless Student Identified .2% .2%
  • 2019-2020: 39 Homeless Students Identified 8% 8%
  • 2020-2021: 101 Homeless Students Identified 20% 20%
  • 2021-2022: 111 Homeless Students Identified 21.4% 21.4%

By increasing the identification of housing insecure youth, we provide additional support to families, including medical/dental/vision assistance, food assistance, wifi and internet access, mental health supports, and transportation.

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