Loud, but Clear? Exploring Core Values for Recently Arrived Immigrants

San Francisco International High School (SFIHS) promises to provide a safe, supportive environment that prepares immigrant youth for college and their careers. This community-engaged case study explored how the core values system SFIHS can support the integration of recently arrived immigrant youth. The four values – Act with Empathy, Learn Together, Challenge Yourself, and Create Change – are considered essential for the school to achieve its mission/vision, which is linked to the broad goals of integration: social acceptance and access to opportunity. Specifically, the study sought to answer the following questions:

1) How do members of the school community describe the school values system at SFIHS?
2) How is each of the four school values at SFIHS intended, implemented, and attained?
3) For each of the four values, how loosely or tightly coupled are the intended, implemented, and attained curricula?