LOS ANGELES — Before stepping foot in class, students at Scholarship Prep South Bay in Wilmington start their day with several check-ins.

Staff members welcome students when they are dropped off and note the student’s emotional state. Then again, the breakfast staff greet students as they get their morning meal. The third check-in happens at the door as their teacher welcomes each student for the day. 

Once seated, the first 30 minutes of instruction are focused on the social emotional wellbeing of the student. Given that all staff are trauma-trained, they then communicate among each other when they notice a student might need additional help, such as speaking with a counselor. 

School officials said the SEL model is designed to foster a sense of belonging that keeps students like Mason Becerra wanting to come back. 

“I feel like I’m welcome, you know, like I feel like I deserve to be here,” said Becerra. 

Now as a seventh grader, he said he’s come to appreciate the check-ins. 

“It helps with like breathing and like people that have like anger issues or sad or they’re dealing with something at home. Like it helps them in, like they take like a breather with us and breathe in and out,” said Becerra. 

His father, Martin Becerra, said he has seen his son’s anxiety ease when he drops him off at school every morning. 

“He’s like, ‘Okay, dad, see you later.’ So that makes me feel good that they are able to talk and communicate. He’s even been up here when he was eight years old, said, ‘Hey, I want to go talk to Mr. Castillo’, which is one of the counselors, and just get some stuff off of him. So that lets me know that they communicate, they reach out to the student,” said Martin Becerra. 

(Spectrum News/Vania Patino)

For Principal Alisson Vann, it validates their school model. 

“Students across the country, they sit in classes and they’re dealing with things that nobody on the campus knows about, sometimes not even families at home. And so when we are able to work through these issues because our students feel open enough to talk to us, because they know that we care. I think what that does is you see kids back in classroom in their learning. You see their their grades move up. You see, the smiles on their faces. You see the high fives,” said Vann. 

The school saw a 20-point increase in its math scores last year, which she attributes to its model. She said they are also at a 1.4% chronic absenteeism rate compared to the state’s 19.4% during the 2024 and 2025 school year. The rate tracks how many students missed at least 10% of the school year. 

Studies show chronic absenteeism leads to academic underachievement, delayed socioemotional development and higher risks of dropping out. 

But Scholarship Prep South Bay didn’t get to a 1.4% rate by just identifying the issues students may have says Kristen Crowe, Chief Community Officer at the school. 

“Along with the food items that we provide to our families on a weekly basis. We also have some hygiene items: shampoo, conditioner, laundry detergent,” said Crowe. 

The items in their family resource center are available to their families experiencing homelessness, and their rainbow carts stocked with various hygiene items are in all classrooms for any students to take.

Students also have access to on-site health and wellness services, including vision screenings, eye exams and glasses, plus summer programs with meals. 

Crowe said it’s this effort to solve barriers that shows results. 

“Coming to school is more than just the academics, that our students can’t learn if they don’t have food in their stomach, that they can’t learn if they haven’t slept in days or they’ve been sleeping in cars that they can’t learn if they haven’t been able to wash their clothes, that does matter, that it makes a difference for our students and makes a difference for all students,” said Crowe. 

Along with the free breakfast, the school also offers before and after school care, technology and hotspot internet access, and school supplies. Students with transportation barriers have access to a GoPass tap card. 

Saying when students feel supported beyond the classroom, they’re more likely to want to be in it.