San Lorenzo Community
The Community of San Lorenzo is situated in unincorporated Alameda County between the cities of San Leandro and Hayward. The 2010 United States Census reported that 23,452 people, 7,425 households, and 5,792 families reside in San Lorenzo. The population density is approximately 8,488 people per square mile (3,276.8/km²). The racial makeup is approximately 47.4% White (32.4% non-Hispanic), 4.8% African American (4.5% non-Hispanic), 1.0% Native American, 21.6% Asian, 0.8% Pacific Islander, 17.9% from other races, and 6.5% from two or more races. Roughly 37.7% of the population is Hispanic or Latino of any race. The school district boundaries include parts of the cities of San Leandro and Hayward.
San Lorenzo Students
The students of San Lorenzo represent the diversity of the town's past and present. Of the students attending TK-12 schools in San Lorenzo, 56% are Hispanic/Latino, 13% are Asian, 12% are Black/African American, nine percent are white, eight percent are Filipino and two percent are of other races. Forty two percent of the students in San Lorenzo speak Spanish as their first language, while 40% speak English as their first languages. Other languages represented include Cantonese/Mandarin (7% ), Tagalog (4% ), Vietnamese (3%) and Arabic (3%). Three percent of our students speak one of 37 other languages. Of the approximately 10,500 students, 69% are eligible for the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program. Seventy-two percent of the District's students are either socio-economically disadvantaged, English Learners or Foster Youth. Many of our students fall into more than one of these categories, but can only be counted once.
San Lorenzo School District
The district was established on November 8, 1859 and is one of the oldest continuously operating school systems in the State of California. From a humble beginning in 1850 with only six students and a tiny portable schoolhouse, the District reached its peak size in 1970 with 18,000 students enrolled in 28 schools. The current Superintendent of the district is Dr. Fred Brill who has served the community since 2014. The district collaborates with multiple city and county government departments to access and organize services for students and families. The school district partners with many local initiatives to create multiple opportunities for students and families. These partnerships include Alameda County Supervisors and Alameda County Office of Education to provide services to community members ages 11-24 at the REACH Ashland Youth Center.
Currently, San Lorenzo Unified School District consists of nine elementary schools, three middle schools, and four high school sites. The District Independent Contracted Education (DICE) program gives students the chance to receive several hours of instruction each week one on one with a highly qualified teacher, while taking on the obligation to complete an additional number of study hours at home. In 2004, the school district adopted wall to wall Small Learning Communities and offers eight different programs for all 3300 high school students.
District-wide all teachers have focused on implementation of Common Core State Standards to guide classroom instruction. Administrators and teachers use multiple measures of assessment, including NWEA and CAASPP to determine program needs. Teachers utilize formative and summative data across grade and subject areas to inform instruction. Weekly collaboration, planning and analysis of lesson objectives, student work samples, and performance on common assessments drive the delivery of curriculum and the instructional strategies utilized. Analysis of data determines intervention course offerings.
