Breakthrough SJC Strategic Plan

STRATEGIC PLAN

VISION

Breaking the cycle of poverty through the power of education.

MISSION

Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano is a community-based program that empowers motivated students with backgrounds underrepresented in higher education to achieve academic success from middle school through college graduation.

WHO WE ARE OUR PHILOSOPHY At Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano, we believe in the power of education to radically change the lives of young people and end the cycle of poverty in families. We believe that the middle and high school years are a critical crossroads where students make choices that dramatically affect their futures, while the college years are the time when students solidify their identity and prepare for the rest of their lives. We are passionate in our belief that every child deserves access to an excellent education, the encouragement to succeed, and an inclusive environment.

In return, we demand hard work, embrace new challenges, and celebrate excellence.

Our program cultivates leaders who will become advocates for educational equity. We strategically generate a volunteer base of summer teaching fellows, school-year tutors, mentors, advisors, and donors who firmly believe in our students’ potential. Teaching fellows and tutors are college and high school students who serve as role models for our Breakthrough students and will become advocates for equity in the future. Mentors, advisors, and donors are community supporters who generously commit resources to ensuring our students can realize their capacity to succeed in school and graduate from college.

We aim to develop cultural competency in our community. For our students, this means developing the mindset and tools to establish a positive self-identity, advocate for themselves, and succeed in new environments. For our greater community of volunteers and supporters, this means providing experiences and developing skills that equip them to effectively engage with our students across cultures, perspectives, and backgrounds.

OUR STUDENTS Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano students are academically motivated middle and high school students who are committed to success, on the path to a four-year college, and demonstrate need for the program. They make a six-year commitment to Breakthrough, with the end goal being college graduation.

Research indicates that students who identify with certain demographic characteristics are underrepresented in higher education and require additional support on the path to and through college. Breakthrough SJC students demonstrate need for the program in one or more ways.

95%

are the first in their families to attend college

99%

identify as a student of color

84%

come from low-income homes

76%

English is not the primary language at home

100%

OF 2023 HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES ARE ATTENDING COLLEGE

64%

ATTEND FOUR-YEAR COLLEGES OR UNIVERSITIES

3.6

AVERAGE GPA OF BREAKTHROUGH STUDENTS

“Breakthrough has provided me with many open doors to academic success through mentorship programs, free tutoring, and college summer programs.”

– BTSJC STUDENT Student data as of 2024

PRIORITY I DEFINE PROGRAM SCOPE

STRATEGIC PLAN OUR PRIORITIES AND GOALS FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS

To shape this strategic plan, we partnered with our Breakthrough SJC community to engage in a design thinking process.

We surveyed 177 Breakthrough students and family members, and we engaged in focus group conversations with 46 community members, including St. Margaret’s leaders, advisory board members, major donors, local organizations, Capistrano Unified School District leaders, and Breakthrough Collaborative leaders. After synthesizing the data, we have arrived at the following three priorities to drive the near-term future of Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano:

Why? Breakthrough SJC has grown significantly in the past decade, from serving 180 students 10 years ago to nearly 300 students today. When we expanded the program in 2017 to include college students, it stretched us in both rewarding and challenging ways.

Now that Breakthrough is fully functioning with a “7th grade through college graduation” model, the time is right to solidify the scope and sequence of the program. Our aim is to create clarity for students, families, staff, and community members.

GOALS

STRATEGIES

Infuse a new vision and updated mission into everyday decisionmaking.

•

Roll out the new vision and updated mission language to the Breakthrough SJC community.

•

Tie all program decisions to the vision and mission.

Launch the updated Breakthrough SJC Program Sequence

•

Launch an updated year-to-year program model that includes clear objectives, benchmarks, and measurables at each level. Below are the focus areas for each level: • Middle School: college access mindset, academic readiness and enrichment opportunities.

• High School: academic success, college applications and college commitment.

• College: college matriculation, persistence and graduation.

•

Apply a social-emotional lens to the program model, emphasizing health, well-being and community.

•

Communicate parameters for program services: do what we do excellently; do not go beyond this commitment, but ensure students have avenues for getting other needs fulfilled.

•

Differentiate support for college students based on individual needs, such as school (two-year vs. four-year), location (in-state vs. out-of-state), financial needs (level of aid).

•

Facilitate connection to college resources through office hours to support college graduation and sustain retention.

•

Fully incorporate the College Fund to support the college application process for 12th graders and provide gap funding for college students

1. Define program scope 2. Crystallize capacity 3. Solidify institutional sustainability

Clarify Breakthrough SJC’s college philosophy and approach.

PRIORITY III

PRIORITY II CRYSTALLIZE CAPACITY

SOLIDIFY INSTITUTIONAL SUSTAINABILITY

Why? In soliciting feedback from the various Breakthrough SJC constituencies, we heard a resounding sense of pride in community membership. We also heard a concern that the current model may create capacity issues. The message went something like this: “We are so proud of Breakthrough and all it is doing! We are also worried about how complex the program has become and what it will take to keep it going at this rate.” Therefore, this priority is focused on establishing clarity on capacity.

Why? For all intents and purposes, Breakthrough SJC is in a position of strength. The program is solid. Financially, the endowment has crested $1 million. Breakthrough SJC steadily maintains over two years in financial reserves. And most importantly, students and families are engaged and satisfied. But we also know that success is not guaranteed. We must keep an eye on sustainability, capitalizing on areas of strength and shoring up areas of growth.

GOALS

STRATEGIES

Align capacity decisions to vision, mission and program scope

•

As the program scope gains definition, run a parallel capacity analysis to ensure all program elements have the capacity to run effectively.

•

Allow for program adjustments that consider capacity restrictions.

Develop a capacity model that incorporates multiple sources

•

Find sources of increased efficiency

•

Explore all possible capacity sources to determine the best long-term plan for sustaining the program at excellence.

Examples: program staff, volunteers, AmeriCorps, UCI field study interns, university resources, etc.

Determine where constraints exist and focus on those areas to increase efficiency. Example: data management > Breakthrough Starter Pack (Salesforce).

GOALS

STRATEGIES

Maintain operating budget at 5% growth year-over-year.

•

The 2023-2024 operating budget will be $425,000.

•

Anticipate and plan for the operating budget to increase in relation to program scope and sequence and be consistent with the financial environment.

By 2028, grow the endowment to $2.5 million

•

Secure direct donations to the endowment.

•

Roll operating surplus in excess of 1.5 annual operating expenditures to the endowment.

•

Maintain natural growth from investments with the support of the Investment Committee managed by the SMES Board of Trustees.

Fundraise 1.5x operations on a yearly basis.

•

Adjust the yearly fundraising goal to be 1.5x operations.

•

At the end of the fiscal year, roll over funds beyond 1.5x operations into the Breakthrough endowment.

Launch differentiated plans for donors at different levels

•

Increase the number of mid-range donors (four-to low-fivefigures).

•

Establish a critical group of new high-range donors.

•

Launch the Breakthrough Celebration Society

Increase Breakthrough SJC’s community presence.

•

Develop a scope and sequence for community presence, along the lines of the program model.

•

Raise visibility with Capistrano Unified School District, the City of San Juan Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano Chamber of Commerce, and other partner organizations

Maintain and elevate the relationship with Breakthrough Collaborative.

•

As appropriate, align Breakthrough SJC’s approach with Breakthrough Collaborative’s new strategic plan.

•

Engage with Breakthrough Collaborative’s College Success Pilot project, funded by the ECMC Foundation (BTSJC receives $20,000 per year for two years).

OUR COMMUNITY OUR TEACHERS Breakthrough SJC utilizes a “students teaching students” model to improve academic outcomes. Our network of volunteer teachers ensures that the teacher-to-student ratio remains small and that our Breakthrough students get the very best academic support. Additionally, we believe that when college and high school students work with our Breakthrough students, they gain an experience that sticks with them for life. The experience of working with Breakthrough students will lead our teachers to become future advocates for educational equity.

OUR SUPPORTERS Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano is a community program. We aim to meet an important need in the community, and we work with others who are also passionate about our mission. Supporters include individual community members, community organizations, foundations, Capistrano Unified School District, and St. Margaret’s Episcopal School.

St. Margaret’s Episcopal School is the presenting sponsor of Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano. Since 2006, St. Margaret’s has hosted and supported Breakthrough as part of its commitment to learning, leadership and service.

388 INDIVIDUAL

DONORS SINCE 2006

165

CORPORATE OR FOUNDATION SPONSORSHIPS *

10,000 HOURS

OF SERVICE PROVIDED BY INTERNS AND VOLUNTEERS†

376 TEACHING

FELLOWS SINCE 2006 *Since 2006 †Since 2012

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: • Arts for Kids OC • Boys & Girls Clubs of Capistrano Valley • Breakthrough Collaborative • CHEC Family Resource Center • Dana Hills High School • Deloitte • Dreams for Schools • Futureology • Marco Forster Middle School • Ocean Institute • Saddleback Community College

• SJC Swallows Day Parade • San Juan Hills High School • Simon Scholars • Soka University of America • St Margaret’s Episcopal School • The Ecology Center • Thinque Prep • Unidos South OC • University of California, Irvine • Visions & Ventures • Wellness & Prevention Center

“Breakthrough was my support system every single step of the way. My most memorable years had to be the ones I attended Breakthrough summers, as a student, junior teacher and teaching fellow. I am a representation of what these students will be.”

– EDLIN G., STUDENT ALUMNA AND TEACHING FELLOW

31641 LA NOVIA, SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CALIFORNIA 92675 949-661-0108, EXT. 1342 WWW.BREAKTHROUGHSJC.ORG