The Perfect Site Visit to Fort Bragg Unified School District  

The site visit was March 6th, 2026, in Fort Bragg California.  It started in the Fort Bragg High School Library.  As participants walked in, they were greeted by the Wellness Center team, also known as the Café team.  This is a team that has been assembled by Martha Lopez (Community School Coordinator for Fort Bragg Unified).  The participants signed in and received their name badge and were pointed in the direction of the continental breakfast that was created by the Fort Bragg HS Culinary class.  Blueberry scones, apple muffins and homemade granola were created for the Yogurt parfait.  Juice and coffee were provided, and the day was ready to get started.

The day started with a brief introduction to the core elements of the California Community School Partnership program.   I discussed the Four Pillars along with the four cornerstone commitments.  I wanted to make sure that the educators that joined us from outside the world of CCSPP understood what makes a CCSPP school and school district different.  

What made this a unique site visit is that we had guests from schools all over Mendocino County, Lake County, Humbolt County and Shasta County.  I also had inhouse guests from Mendocino County Office of Education.  It was my intention to share resources.

My first guest was Eric Crawford.  Eric is the Director of Career and College Programs at MCOE also known as Career Technical Education (CTE).  He shared about the CTE and Adult programs that MCOE is offering along with other CTE programs at our local high school.

My next guest was Blythe Post.  Blythe is the MCOE Foster and Homeless Youth Coordinator.  Blythe shared about the programs for Foster and Homeless Youth along with other programs like the Xmas effort, the jacket drive and the snack packs that are delivered weekly to all schools and students in need in Mendocino County. The next section of the morning started with introductions of all 42 participants.  I asked each person to share their name, title and school site they represent.  This was done with the intention of having everyone comfortable networking throughout the day.  We were excited to have the MCOE Superintendent and 4 MCOE board members join us for the morning portion of the day.

After a short break we divided into three groups of 12 to take the Site tour.  My group started at Fort Bragg High School.  We started in an English class that was having a deep discussion about a book that they recently finished.  It was great to see the students engaged.  We walked over to the Career center and learned about the activities the students participate in throughout the year.  This includes visits to Community Colleges, State and UC colleges as well as trade schools. We continued to see the culinary class and its facilities.  Amy was back in the classroom sharing all the culinary activities the class participates in.  She showed off the Red, White and Blue ribbons that her students won at the county faire this year.   We continued to see the other CTE classes.   We checked out the Ag and Welding classes and facilities.  The teacher shared the student projects and talked about the internships available at the completion of the class.   Our last stop at the FBHS campus was the Wellness center (AKA “The Café”).  This is where students and families can come when they need any school supplies, hygiene supplies, bus passes and laundry vouchers.  This is also a place to get any therapeutic services that might be needed.  Bilingual services are available.

Our Site Visit continued with a short walk down the street to the Noyo education center.  This is a combination of continuation education, single classroom community school for middle school and an adult school classroom.  We were led by the principal Gary Lewis.  Gary has been the principal for the past two years.  He was a teacher for many years prior.  He brought the Big Picture Learning Program to Fort Bragg, and it has been a complete success.  This is a project-based education that requires hands-on training at local businesses and factories.  We completed our Noyo visit at the student center.  This is a room where the students can work, eat, be creative or just relax.  It feels very appreciated.

Our final school on the site tour was Dana Grey Elementary school.  We were welcomed into a couple of classes while the teacher was engaged with the students.  We toured the wellness center where they have a full-time counselor who engages with the students and gives them a place to gather their thoughts.   All three groups took the same tour but started on different sites.  After 30 minutes at each site, we gathered back at the FBHS library for lunch/networking for about an hour.

Our afternoon was as unique as our morning.  We started with a presentation from Martha Lopez (CCSC) and Joe Aldredge (FB Unified Superintendent), and her wellness team.  They shared discussions and videos about the programs on the different campuses at Fort Bragg Unified.  A student from FBHS that sits on the Student State Advisory board shared her experiences as a member on the board.  She also shared a video that she made asking students about their experiences as students.  It was a great and informative discussion.

We ended our day with fresh homemade chocolate chip cookies from the culinary class along with a discussion By Nicole Anderson LLC about Equity Walks.  Nicole has been working with the Fort Bragg Unified team for three years.  She shared her insight and how it relates to the expectations of the California Community School Partnership Program.

It was a pleasure hosting the Fort Bragg Unified School District Site Visit.  We shared a lot, we learned a lot and we made new connections.  

Sincerely,

Michael S. Nemeth  

California Community School Lead