Vallejo school district to launch new before-school program at two schools

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VALLEJO – The Vallejo City Unified School District plans to allow students to show up early at two additional schools as part of an expanded learning program that will launch in April.

Starting April 6, just after the district’s spring break, students attending Lincoln Elementary and Vallejo Charter School will be able to show up at 7 a.m. for before-school programming, an hour and a half before the traditional school day starts.

Slots are still available and families can sign up their children through an online application in English or Spanish. Parents and guardians at Lincoln can also request a paper application at the school.

Lincoln is slated to shutter at the end of this school year but a new before-school program will open at Patterson Elementary. District spokesperson Maral Papakhian told the Vallejo Sun that roughly a third of Lincoln’s students are slated to transfer to Patterson next school year.

Diane Flowers, who will head the program at Lincoln, said that it will be more than just childcare. She plans to do mindfulness and sound healing practices with students, along with relaxing stretches and affirmations. Students will also have space to play.

Flowers said she thinks mornings can be stressful for working families and children, and she hopes through these activities students can start their day in a calm manner that will help them be better able to learn.

“This will hopefully create a feeling of peace before they enter the classroom,” Flowers said. “That’s our goal.”

Jaynell Boykin will be heading the program at Vallejo Charter School. Vallejo Charter is a charter school run by the district, unlike other charter schools in Vallejo that operate independently. Boykin said she wants to have several different activities with an emphasis on arts and crafts. Like Flowers, she said she wants the programming to be calming for kids.

“I just want to get them relaxed before school starts,” Boykin said. 

District Director of Elementary Education Juli Robbins told the Vallejo Sun that currently, before-school care is already available at Wardlaw, Cave, and Glen Cove elementary schools. The Greater Vallejo Recreation District staffs those programs and the district pays for them. Robbins said that the district expanded before-school programming options to Lincoln due to its high-needs population, and expanded to Vallejo Charter because its location on Mare Island, where bridge construction has created traffic problems for families.

Unlike the programs at Wardlaw, Cave and Glen Cove, the new ones at Lincoln and Vallejo Charter will be operated by the district’s own staff who already have relationships with VCUSD students. Both Flowers and Boykin currently run the after-school programs at their respective schools and they’ll continue in those roles after the new before-school programming starts. 

Flowers has decades of experience in education and has worked for the district nine years. Boykin has worked at Vallejo Charter for seven years.

Flowers is set to retire at the end of this school year. She said that she’s happy to be a part of anything that helps bring peace to students at Lincoln, who she says suffer from a lack of resources and finances. 

“Anything to help make them whole is a blessing,” Flowers said. “I’m so excited to be a part of it, specifically with this being my last year.”

Robbins said the district’s goal is to expand its before-school programming to other district sites, and, once they’re launched, maintain them at Vallejo Charter and Patterson. The continuation and expansion of sites will be “based on the interests and needs of families,” Robbins said.