Message from the President: Back to School—Promise Amidst Challenges
We have tomorrow
—Langston Hughes, “Youth”
Bright before us
Like a flame
Yesterday
a night-gone thing,
A sun-down name.
And dawn to-day
Broad arch above the road we came.
We march!
Welcome to August, a month full of contradictions.
Just as the San Francisco Bay Area is finally experiencing “summer,” chasing away the unrelenting fog with warm golden afternoons, retailers are already setting up their Halloween displays, wholeheartedly embracing the festivities of fall. In Bakersfield, on the same day that students and staff returned to school for the start of a new academic year, the temperature soared to a blistering 105 degrees—matching the hottest day of 2025 for the Central Valley community. And around the state, “back to school” mirrors this clash of seasons: excitement, new backpacks, and laughter for some, while for others it is marked by anxiety and fear. Alongside the back-to-school jitters of not fitting in or not being accepted, this year brings a new concern for some—fear for their personal safety or that of their friends and family members.
Last week, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) announced it is taking extraordinary steps to protect the rights of all students, regardless of immigration status, to a public education. “There are no sidewalks for immigrants and separate sidewalks for everybody else,” Superintendent Carvalho said. “Everybody walks the same journey to school and everybody walks … back home.” Like Los Angeles, communities around the state are experiencing immigration actions that are casting a shadow over the start of the school year. School districts are seeing and expecting further declines in attendance as a result and are working with families, educators, and community partners to prepare and to mitigate the disruption to student learning.
I think a lot about what it means to be a young person in this moment. While their burdens remain deeply uneven, depending on their backgrounds and circumstances, being a teen and growing up in 2025 means to hold more. How do we support youth to carry the concerns and responsibilities that are their day-to-day realities, while also creating the conditions for them to be lighthearted and hopeful? To be young. This is one of the principal challenges for our public education system today and for the adults working within and alongside our public schools.
Around the state, we see evidence of thriving when systems and practices are designed to meet this challenge. We see the positive impact on young people when resources are employed in ways that align with what the research tells us is critical to adolescent growth and development. We see what’s possible when young people are safe, supported, and engaged to bring their full and brilliant selves to an endeavor—from creating art to rolling up their sleeves through service learning, internships, and other activities to advance a more just and vibrant community. Adolescence is a formative time, primed for meaning making and exploration. We support students in this decisive period by centering their well-being, interests, and curiosity. It’s this vision for what is possible that undergirds the Foundation’s current strategy. We remain clear-eyed about the barriers and committed to advancing just and equitable systems that create the conditions for every young person to thrive.
As we head into the new school year, with all the promise and tests it holds, we wanted to share with you some of what we saw and heard in conversations and in community with partners this summer. These and other examples give us hope and reaffirm our commitment to adolescent thriving. We hope they strike a similar chord for you. Think of them as inspiration—fuel for the journey ahead.
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Redesigning secondary school
Anaheim Union High School District starts the 2025–26 school year with a new grade 7–12 school for students and educators. The reality of declining enrollment prompted the merging of a middle school and a high school into a single redesigned campus that centers student voice and career readiness—two hallmarks of the district’s approach to secondary school. The new Orangeview Western School was designed to integrate research-backed strategies to better support and engage students, including small learning communities, project-based learning and performance assessments, and supports for students’ mental health and social-emotional learning and development.
Advancing academic success for newcomers
The Oakland Unified School District (OUSD), which educates a large and growing population of students new to the United States, including many who are unaccompanied minors, reports a 20% increase in graduation rates among its newcomer students. This increase reflects the impact of the district’s system of support offered to newcomers. It also demonstrates the impact of state policies, such as the 5-year graduation rate, which creates the incentive and opportunity for districts to support students beyond the traditional 4 years of high school; and AB 2121, to which OUSD attributes its ability to be more responsive to the unique needs of newcomers, particularly those who must balance work and school. For newcomers, many of whom arrive in the United States having had their formal education interrupted, the additional supports and expanded opportunities provide the scaffolding and time they need to successfully complete their high school experience.
Journalists for today and tomorrow
Each year, Boyle Heights Beat works with a cohort of student journalists. Throughout the school year, participants hone their ability to identify and tell powerful stories about their communities, expanding the perspectives, voices, and information that contribute to public understanding about critical issues, including education. The Class of 2025 included 19 graduating seniors, and each of these first-generation college students has been accepted to a 4-year university. Building on their training and experience in high school, 31% of the graduates are pursuing journalism and media studies in college.
Investing in apprenticeships
In June, California’s Department of Industrial Relations awarded $15.4 million in California Opportunity Youth Apprenticeship grants, aimed at serving youth who are often out of school or unemployed by connecting them to pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs that can lead to employment in high-demand fields. These programs help alleviate the financial pressures that force many young people to prioritize employment over education, particularly those from low-income backgrounds who must support themselves and their families. California is a national leader in apprenticeships, with more than 215,000 registered apprentices since 2019 and a goal of serving 500,000 by 2029.
Voting matters
High school students from California and around the country gathered for a Vote16USA National Convening earlier this month to share and develop strategies for extending voting rights to 16- and 17-year-olds on the local and state levels. Already, young people in three Bay Area cities—Oakland, Berkeley, and Albany—have secured voting rights, with peers in San Francisco, Culver City, Palo Alto, and the Inland Empire organizing for the right to have a say in their communities today and for the future.
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As always, we encourage you to share your stories. What’s giving you hope? Where are you seeing systems and practices shift to support thriving? Share your stories of change and challenge with stories@stuartfoundation.org.
In solidarity,
Sophie