Be Here! Student Attendance Campaign Launches with Citywide Support, and other Spark news

Campaign Launches to Boost Student Attendance & Belonging Across San Francisco

On August 12, 2025, Spark SF Public Schools and the San Francisco Unified School District launched Be Here!, a citywide campaign to boost student attendance and foster a culture of belonging in every SF public school. The campaign combines a robust social media push with celebrity PSAs, physical posters, bus ads, and community partnerships.

The campaign launch and press event brought together major city organizations such as the Warriors/Valkyries, Bay FC, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, city leaders including DCYF, Dept of Early Childhood, SF Public Libraries, Park and Rec, SFMTA, merchant associations, parent and teacher groups, educators, philanthropy and community partners with one united message:

Be Here! Because school is where students grow, connect, and thrive.

Why It Matters

Be Here! underscores that attending school daily matters for student learning, connection, and long-term success.

• Research shows that missing just 2 days a month can set students behind grade level.

• Last school year, due to all student absences from school, SFUSD students missed an estimated 4.4 million hours of learning and SFUSD lost over $60 million in state funding.

• Returning to pre-pandemic attendance levels would restore nearly 1.5 million hours of learning, and approximately $18 million annually for San Francisco’s public schools.

Check out speaker highlights from the campaign launch.

A Citywide Effort 

Chronic absenteeism—missing more than 18 days in a school year—often stems from larger systemic challenges, including mental health struggles, housing and economic instability, and limited access to health care. Addressing these challenges requires more than a school-based solution—it demands a citywide response.

When every sector across SF is engaged, we can ensure families get the support they need to overcome barriers and keep children learning and thriving.

Spark is also funding a full-time attendance and belonging lead at SFUSD to support school-site work and a real-time digital attendance dashboard so schools can identify and support students before challenges deepen.

How You Can Join In

• Join the social media campaign: runs through September 30.  Sign up today!

• Share the message: Follow and repost @sparksfpublicschools on LinkedIn, Instagram, or Facebook and use the hashtag #BeHereSF

• Access resources for families

Check out media coverage of the Be Here! Launch Day and share!

Black Star Rising: A Summer of STEM, Identity, and Impact

This summer, Black Star Rising brought SFUSD high school students together for six weeks of rigorous STEM learning, mentorship, and identity-affirming experiences. Created for students from historically underrepresented communities—particularly Black students—the program provides space to explore interests, strengthen skills, and see themselves reflected in both peers and educators, while fostering connections that last well beyond the classroom.

Black Star Rising is a core program of the African American Achievement and Leadership Initiative (AAALI). This summer, with the support of the Golden State Community Foundation and the Bayer Fund, Spark provided philanthropic funding to provide student stipends, staffing, academic materials, and enrichment activities that expanded access and deepened student engagement.

Read more here.

Expanding Language Immersion at SFUSD: Honoring Dr. Lois M. Meyer

Spark is proud to have partnered with the San Francisco Foundation, to support the expansion of language immersion at SFUSD. Funded by the Lois M. Meyer Fund, this expansion honors Dr. Meyer—an educator, researcher, and lifelong advocate for bilingualism—whose legacy gift sustains Spark’s mission to strengthen public education for all San Franciscans. Read the full story here.

If you’d like to explore making a legacy gift to Spark SF Public Schools, contact Colm Hegarty, Development Director, at hegartyc@sfusd.edu or (415) 377-0976.

Apply to Be San Francisco’s Youth Poet Laureate

Spark is excited to share that 826 Valencia, Youth Speaks, and the San Francisco Public Library, in partnership with the Mayor’s Office, are relaunching the San Francisco Youth Poet Laureate (SFYPL) program. This annual program nurtures the voices of young poets while fostering civic engagement and cultural leadership.

Learn more here.