The Social Justice Academy provides 10th to 12th grade students with a forum to become the catalysts of social, political, and environmental change. The mission of the Social Justice Academy is to empower students to make positive changes in their communities. We intend to improve San Leandro, and to develop civic-minded leaders and lifelong learners who can be drawn on as a valuable source of active citizenship to support growth in San Leandro.

In combination with English and History classes that will utilize service-learning strategies to connect project-based learning with standards-based instruction, a series of specially designed electives allow the students to form partnerships with over 15 local and national community organizations. Students conduct needs assessments, eventually planning and implementing events that create positive change in San Leandro. SJA emphasizes the need to examine our own and other economic, social and political systems, and to be a source of new social ideas, dictated by the students’ interest and needs, as well as by the demands of society.