Bayview Science Institute

How can I teach science that matters to my students and their communities?

How can science inspire students to become more fluent readers, writers, and mathematicians?

How can I juggle the curriculum, the crunch for time, AND the needs of my students?

And how can I do all of this in the new environment of 2022-23?

Our growing community of educators working in the southeast corner of San Francisco are exploring these questions, and more.

We met both online and at the Academy for:

• Hands-on science
• Collaborative planning time
• Learning around building a community of learners through science
• Learning around the phases of environmental learning
• Follow-up coaching, planning, and more available in 2022-23

• $600 stipend for Summer Session 2022
• Eligible for 1 Continuing Education Unit (fee not included)
• Complimentary Academy membership
• Choose from a menu of school-year supports (with separate stipends), including coaching circles, planning groups, 1-on-1 coaching, and more

By focusing on teams of teachers and support staff from a few schools at a time, the Bayview Science Institute will encourage school-wide shifts, including:

• Deepening teachers' content knowledge & interest in science
• Preparing teachers to confidently facilitate the new, integrated Amplify science curriculum
• Promoting student agency and independent thinking
• Inspiring students to become caretakers of their environment

Once in BSI, always in BSI! All current and former BSI teachers are invited to join summer session and the full array of school year offerings, provided you still work at a BSI target school. Each year we build an even bigger web of peer-to-peer support.

Since 2017, the Academy's Bayview Science Institute has been building and strengthening a relationship of trust with the dedicated and resilient team of administrators and teachers who are working in San Francisco's southeast corner. We have taken our cues from them to find out the best ways we can work alongside them to counteract the systems of oppression which have historically and continuously undermined student learning. We see access to science learning as a social justice issue, and believe students in the Bayview deserve to become critical and creative thinkers. Based on what we’ve learned from the community, we are also supporting teachers to use science teaching as a means to several other ends that are important to them: Science instruction can support student reading by giving them a compelling reason to want to read. It can build community in the classroom because science learning often involves teamwork. Lastly, by actively engaging students with hands-on activities, science can reduce student-to-student and student-to-teacher conflicts.

Participating Schools

• Bret Harte Elementary School
• Cesar Chavez Elementary School
• Daniel Webster Elementary School
• Dr. Charles R. Drew College Preparatory Academy
• Dr. George Washington Carver Elementary School
• El Dorado Elementary School
• Malcolm X Academy Elementary School
• Monroe Elementary School
• Starr King Elementary School
• Visitacion Valley Elementary School
• James Denman Middle School
• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School
• San Francisco Community School
• Visitacion Valley Middle School
• Willie Brown Middle School