Marin learning hubs serve Tamalpais, Drake students
Program gives options from distance learning, tech help
Two free learning hubs have opened for Marin high school students who need a break from distance learning or help with technology.
In Marin City, Bridge the Gap College Prep, an afterschool nonprofit program, worked with Tamalpais High School to set up a drop-in center for students who are remotely attending the Mill Valley high school.
The hub, open8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays, offers support and guidance frompaid hub sitemanagers, some socially distanced camaraderie with other students, free breakfast and lunch, strong Wi-Fi — and regular inperson check-ins with Tam High teachers.
“This hub is part of a communitywide effort to meet the needs of students who need more support to be successfulwith remote learning and who can’t afford private tutors,” said Bonnie Kirkpatrick, a Bridge theGap staffer. “The pandemic has made it disproportionately challenging for our low-income students— but our priority is to ensure that they have the resources they need to survive and thrive in school.”
In San Anselmo, teachers and other staff at Sir Francis Drake High School divided the school’s spacious student center building into three “cohort pods” last week and opened what they are calling a “connection center,” said Chad Stuart, assistant principal.
“We just wanted to give students the option if they needed a good, safe space to work,” Stuart said. “The connection center is open if they don’t want to work at home, or if they could use some interaction with other students — or if they have poor internet service at home.”
The center, open Tuesday through Friday, has school staffers rotating in part-time to give support when stu
dents are needing a break from Zoom classes. One cohort pod is for freshmen and sophomores, while another is for English language learners and students in AVID, an academic enhancement and support program.
The third cohort pod is open to the whole 1,400-student body, Stuart said. He said an average of 15 to 20 students have been stopping by each day since the site opened.
“This also gives us a test run of our safety protocols with a small sample of students,” Stuart added. “It's nice to be able to practice the protocols so that we can see what high school students will do.”
The Tam and Drake high school hubs are part of about 30 such centers that have opened throughout the county in recent weeks in libraries, community centers and schools.
Last month, community partners in the Sausalito Marin City School District created a learning hub for all grades at theMarin City Community Services District building.
At SanRafaelCity Schools, the district worked with the Marin County Office of Education and other partners to open learning hubs at various sites last month, said Superintendent Jim Hogeboom.
“We are excited to have approximately 235 SRCS elementary school students participating in learning hubs across our district,” Hogeboom said in a letter last week to school families. “Learning hubs provide a space for a small group of students to conduct their learning with adults supervising and providing assistance as needed.”
Hogeboom said students who receive free or reducedcost lunch, are English learners or who could use additional academic support “were prioritized for participation” in the centers.
Over the summer, some Marin familieswho could afford it formed their own “micro-school pods” and hired private tutors to help their kids with distance learning.
But for students in lowincome families — or for those where both parents need to work and aren't available to help with homeschooling — the learning pods offer a place to help them stay on track.
“Our center in Marin City is an excellent learning environment, with solid WiFi, Chromebooks to borrow, tech support, earphones and a kitchen for serving a healthy breakfast and lunch,” Kirkpatrick said. “We have adapted our classrooms into socially distanced, sanitized workspaces, per the Marin County Office of Education health safety protocols.”
She sees the Bridge the Gap learning hub as a “vital, if temporary, spoke in the wheel of comprehensive services we provide to advance educational equity in our community.”
“We don't knowwhen TamalpaisHigh School will be able to safely open for fulltime, in-person learning,” she said. “But Bridge the Gap College Prep and Tamalpais High School will be here for our students and the broaderMarin City community for as long as needed.”