Black Diamond High named model continuation school
(BCN) — Pittsburg’s Black Diamond High School this week was named a 2024 California Model Continuation High School, marking the third consecutive time the school has received this distinction.
Principal Phillip Lucido credits his innovative staff and teachers for providing holistic education and wraparound support to help at-risk students find success. Many, he said, are foster youth or facing homelessness or other life challenges that have significantly impacted their ability to achieve the credits needed to graduate.
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“There’s a lot — a lot — that they’re up against,” Lucido said. “Yet, they’re thriving here.”
Black Diamond High School’s student body population ranges from about 210 to 240 and is predominantly people of color (97%) with about 35% learning English as a second language. With 18 teachers, Lucido notes the small class sizes are an important component to creating a positive learning environment where educators are keenly aware of their students’ individual needs.
“We have students who couldn’t find themselves at a conventional high school — they didn’t want to go, they felt defeated or depressed,” Lucido said. “And all of a sudden, they come here, they find their identity, they have a purpose, their attendance is up. I think that’s the success story of Black Diamond: everybody knows you, everybody’s pushing you. We know what you need to succeed, and we’re going to motivate you to do it.”
In addition to small student-to-teacher ratios, the school has two counselors who meet with each student at least once a week to address barriers to graduation like trauma.
“We also have a ‘Care Team,’ which is our community of service supports,” Lucido continued, adding that the team is responsible for identifying the students who are in the most urgent need of support and coordinating services, even over the weekend.
In addition to various electives and student empowerment groups, the school has a full-time restorative justice facilitator and partners with Improve Your Tomorrow, a nonprofit that aims to break down the school-to-prison pipeline for young men of color. Improve Your Tomorrow provides mentoring for 50 of Black Diamond’s male students of color identified as being most at-risk.
While many students find themselves at Black Diamond for a want of credits, they later find the community there to be a better fit and decline to transfer out. Take, for example, Feliza Harrison, who described her journey of falling behind and transferring to the continuation school with plans to return to Pittsburg High School once back on track. She later decided she would remain enrolled through graduation.
“At BDHS, I can focus better, I feel comfortable asking the teachers for support, and I can tell they actually care for us,” she said. “Here, I have a counselor who always has an open door and knows everything about my credits by heart. I know she is on my side.”
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced this week that Black Diamond is among 31 schools throughout the state selected for the California Model Continuation High School award. The 31 schools selected retain their designation for three years and will be recognized at the California Continuation Education Association Plus 2024 State Conference.
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Black Diamond High School was selected as a Model Continuation School based on a comprehensive and competitive application process, incorporating assessments, data analysis, and an on-site evaluation conducted by a peer review panel.
According to Thurmond, schools receiving a Model Continuation School status by the California Department of Education are helping students thrive personally and academically and are model schools that give students a chance to not only succeed in high school, but in life.
Contra Costa County Superintendent of Schools Lynn Mackey called the recognition a tremendous honor.
“All students need a school community that supports, nurtures and helps teens see what is possible in the future,” Mackey said. “Students who haven’t found those things at traditional schools have found them at Black Diamond. I want to thank the school’s leadership, dedicated educators and support staff for setting a stellar example for continuation high schools across Contra Costa County.”
For Lucido, who has been an educator for 27 years — including 18 as a math teacher and seven as a vice principal at Pittsburg High School — the last two years of his career with Black Diamond have been the most rewarding.
“It’s an honor, you know,” he said. “You get to know every student, and you get to really dissect what they need so they can feel safe and good about coming to school.”
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