November 2025

Message from the President: Reimagining High School―A Bridge to College, Career, and Civic Life

Every single day you live you make a difference in the world. And you get to choose the difference that you make.

—Jane Goodall

Jane Goodall’s words have stayed with me because they capture something I witness constantly in California’s public schools: the quiet contributions of educators, community partners, and system leaders who show up every day for young people. Not through grand gestures, but through the long, steady work of helping students discover who they are, what they care about, and where they want to go. 

At the Stuart Foundation, we believe that high schools should be designed to guide students through that essential discovery process. They should be beloved communities where adolescents feel known, challenged, supported, and inspired. Places where learning feels alive and connected to purpose, and where young people are prepared for an uncertain future with the human competencies that matter most: critical thinking, collaboration, communication, problem-solving, agency, and the ability to navigate ambiguity and build relationships. To get there, we must move past the false dichotomies that undergird much of the public conversation about high school: rigor or relevance, college or careers, academics or civic engagement. Students deserve all of it, woven together, in ways that feel meaningful.  

This scale of necessary change also requires a profound shift in how we understand and approach the role and work of school and of the public education system more broadly. Public education is a promise we make to young people in a democracy ―perhaps the only promise we commit to on their behalf. It is a covenant: a shared commitment to fairness, to opportunity, and to the idea that every child deserves to belong and to thrive. 

And like any covenant, it must be renewed. 

Listening to Students—Really Listening  

Renewing that promise begins with recognizing a simple reality: public education cannot fulfill its mission if high schools remain anchored to outdated and inequitable designs and assumptions. Listening to young people―who have been telling us for years that the traditional high school model no longer serves them―should be the starting point for this renewal.  

Today’s adolescents are growing up in a world of rapid technological change, civic complexity, and shifting job and career opportunities. They want learning that feels alive and that matters beyond the classroom. They want opportunities to explore the world of work, to build life skills, and to contribute to their communities. They want adults who see their potential and help them reach for it. The message is remarkably consistent across California’s diverse communities: Make school matter. Make school meaningful. Make school connected to my life and to my community.  

This is the heart of high school redesign: not a technical project but a moral one, rooted in listening and in believing in young people’s capacity. 

Across California, that future is taking shape. We see it in career pathways that blend academics with real-world learning and dual enrollment; in community schools offering health clinics, mental health supports, advisories, and restorative practices; and in classrooms where relevance and relationships guide instruction. According to a recent report from the Public Policy Institute of California, about 532,200 students—more than a quarter of California’s high schoolers—are now in Golden State Pathways, a scale that would have seemed impossible just a few years ago. Students are earning college credits, completing paid internships and apprenticeships, and stepping into experiences that make their futures feel real. But this progress is not yet evenly available. Too many students still lack access to redesigned schools that open doors. Our challenge is to ensure that every young person, in every part of the state, can experience high school as a place of opportunity and belonging. 

What This Looks Like Up Close 

In the past few months, I’ve visited schools where the difficult and steady work of high school redesign is changing the lives and experiences of young people. At a visit to Fremont High School in Oakland sponsored by the Youth Thriving Through Learning Fund, students in the media and architecture academies shared projects that mattered to their community—from publishing a photo essay in the San Francisco Chronicle to building planter boxes and playground furniture for local partners. The reflection of one student spoke volumes: “Fremont’s Architecture Academy made me want to come to school every day.”  

That is what relevance does. It pulls students in. 

At the annual Linked Learning Alliance conference, I had the honor of moderating a panel of recent high school graduates where similar themes emerged. These young adults spoke with striking clarity about who they’re becoming and the role of their high school experiences in shaping their perspectives and trajectories. Malia, Kira, and Guillermo shared how their pathways in architecture, pharmacy, and engineering helped them build confidence, purpose, and a sense of belonging. Dual enrollment reshaped their academic identity. Internships opened new futures. Adults believed in them. That clarity, that sense of becoming, is what we want for every student. 

Schools as Laboratories of Democracy 

In today’s fraught national environment marked by polarization, misinformation, fear, and deep fractures across communities, the connection between high school redesign and the health of our democracy feels unmistakably urgent. One of the original purposes of public education has been to prepare young people for civic life. That purpose remains essential, but how we bring it to life is changing. 

Great pathways, like those that Malia, Kira, and Guillermo experienced, blend government, history, and social science classes into hands-on, real-world inquiry. In health pathways, students examine public health policy and community well-being. In STEM or computer science pathways, they grapple with issues related to infrastructure, environmental justice, and the ethics of AI. Law and justice pathways engage students in action civics and local problem-solving.  

Many schools build on these experiences by creating environments in which students practice “little d” democracy every day―from participating in teacher hiring committees to being part of school governance councils. They engage in shared leadership opportunities and their contributions shape decision making. They experience a public system that is responsive to their needs and interests.  

At a time when we deeply need a sense of connection and shared purpose, these experiences are indispensable. They teach young people how to bridge differences and contribute to the common good. They renew democracy and reweave community through students’ lived experiences. 

The Path Ahead 

California’s recently adopted Secondary School Redesign Pilot Program is a hopeful sign of where we can go next. This $10 million effort might feel modest for a state as large as California, but the hunger for redesign is not. Districts and school communities across the state—urban, rural, and suburban—have stepped forward, with readiness and imagination. This could be an inflection point, moving us from promising pockets of innovation to a shared understanding of the high schools young people need and deserve and toward a coherent and equitable statewide system that prepares students for the uncertain world they will graduate into. 

The future is visible. We see it in classrooms, internships, and community partnerships. We see it in the growing confidence of young people who are experiencing high school as connected to their lives and their dreams. Our task is to make that future belong to everyone. Renewing the covenant of public education means ensuring that every student experiences school as a place of purpose, connection, and possibility. That means believing, fiercely, that public education remains one of the most powerful expressions of a functioning democracy. 

We are grateful for the diverse voices and steady and thoughtful work that keep moving California’s public education system forward. And we’re ready to lock arms in this next stage of our journey.  

In solidarity, 

Sophie 

Stories of Promise and Progress 

With each Update, we share examples of how policies, practices, and innovative community solutions and strategies are advancing equitable education opportunities for adolescents in California. Explore the resources below to learn more about how Californians are advancing thriving for the state’s nearly 5.25 million adolescents. 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. 

State investments expand opportunity, improve outcomes 

• New research from the Public Policy Institute of California found that the California College and Career Access Pathways program improved access to dual enrollment classes in English among Latino, Black, and first-generation students, and that students who participate in these courses have better college outcomes than students who do not participate in dual enrollment. The study also highlights promising case studies for dual enrollment classes in English as a Second Language, which are less common but are emerging as a strategy to help multilingual learners access dual enrollment opportunities. 

• California’s $4.1 billion investment in community schools through the California Community Schools Partnership Program (CCSPP) is leading to improved student outcomes and addressing critical education challenges. New research from the Learning Policy Institute reveals that in the first full year of implementation, CCSPP schools improved test scores in English language arts and math, decreased chronic absence by an average of 30%, and lowered suspensions by an average of 15%. These improvements benefited students from all backgrounds, with greatest impacts for Black students, English learners, and students from low-income backgrounds.  

Career pathways offer a “new world of engineering”

In Sacramento, John F. Kennedy High School’s Manufacturing and Design program, recently featured on Inside California Education, immerses students in the world of manufacturing, engineering, and design. Through specialized classes and clubs—including computer-aided design, 3D printing, and robotics—these learning experiences help prepare students for life after high school, whether that’s further education or a career. “It put me into a whole new world of engineering,” said Akith, an 11^th grade student at JFK. “I know I’m not just doing a bunch of random work, this work will definitely [apply] in the future.”  

Youth share perspectives on thriving 

Often missing from research focused on young people is an exploration of how young people themselves perceive their own well-being and the factors that contribute to it. The Bold Vision Youth Thriving Survey, led by Catalyst California, uplifts the voices of young people in Los Angeles County, offering invaluable insight into what thriving means to youth, what they need to thrive, and where change is most urgently needed. 

“To me, thriving is feeling comfortable in who I am and feeling supported by those around me, but also in my community and knowing that they have my back. So [having] different opportunities…and meeting other people who are interested in what you’re interested in…feeling comfortable and being who you are in your community is thriving.” —Alex Malleis Sternberg, Bold Vision Youth Council member. 

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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.