Small Learning Communities
Career Exploration Through Small Learning Communities
Incoming ninth-graders in the San Lorenzo Unified School District are invited to choose from among seven areas of career exploration, called Small Learning Communities (SLCs). The SLCs’ elective courses and activities such as field trips, clubs, and internships complement required general education and other electives, preparing students for success in college, career, and life.
Student Placement in SLCs
Students’ placement into an SLC determines which of the district’s high schools they attend. Six of the SLCs are offered at either Arroyo High School or San Lorenzo High School, and the seventh is offered through East Bay Arts High School, which itself makes up the remaining SLC. The district’s alternative high school program, at Royal Sunset High School, does not include an SLC.
As much as possible, students are assigned to an SLC based on their ranked preferences, within the enrollment capacity of each program. During ninth and 10th grade, students may request a transfer into a different SLC, but only one transfer is allowed.
Learn About the Seven SLCs in SLZUSD:
CLICK to expand information about all of the Small Learning Communities
(listed in alphabetical order)
Bay Area Digital Arts (BADA)
San Lorenzo High School
Bay Area Digital Arts, known as BADA (BAH-duh), offers professional training in multimedia production, including filmmaking, television, and website design. BADA students participate in twice-yearly video festivals, produce a weekly newscast for fellow San Lorenzo High School students on YouTube, and participate in a TV & Film Club.
BADA introduces students to a wide variety of career opportunities in film and television, as well as multimedia graphics, journalism, and theatre.
East Bay Arts (EBA)
East Bay Arts High School (co-located on the San Lorenzo High School campus)
East Bay Arts, commonly known as E-B-A, allows students to explore their creative abilities and gain confidence through professional instruction in music, drama, and visual arts. Professional instruction is offered in vocal, instrumental, and digital music, as well as acting, stagecraft, and all aspects of visual art, including animation and digital design.
EBA is relevant to such career fields as marketing and public relations, teaching, graphic and interior design, engineering, fashion, journalism, acting and music performance and direction.
Future Leaders for Social Change (FT)
Arroyo High School
Future Leaders for Social Change, commonly known as the Future Academy, provides a guided exploration of important issues and topics such as justice, equity, and social change, while giving students the opportunity to improve themselves and make a positive difference in the community and wider world.
This SLC is a pathway to explore careers in psychology, teaching, counseling, social work, and public health, among others.
Health & Medicine
Arroyo High School
Health & Medicine allows students to lay a foundation for work helping others in a variety of health and medical fields. Students receive a mix of academic and hands-on training, with guided opportunities to explore specific job categories while gaining a better understanding of health care in general.
Specifically, this SLC offers insights into careers as varied as medicine, nursing, dentistry, nutrition, health education, biochemistry, molecular biology, criminal science, and veterinary medicine.
LLC (Law, Language & Culture)
San Lorenzo High School
LLC is a place to dive into the diverse worlds of law, language, and culture, inviting students to discover their personal and career passions. The program emphasizes building self-confidence and developing individualized leadership skills through public service.
Relevant areas of career interest include law, the armed forces, international relations, law enforcement, corrections, journalism, and psychology, as well as many others.
Tech Links (Business)
Arroyo High School
Tech Links offers an engaging business and finance program that prepares students for related college programs, as well as jobs available directly out of high school. Many students in this SLC become active in the school’s DECA chapter, which allows them to further develop their knowledge, confidence, and abilities through competition with students from around the region, state, and nation.
Careers of interest for Tech-Links students include business, marketing, finance, entrepreneurship, hospitality, and all aspects of management.
TREND (Transportation and Engineering)
Arroyo High School
TREND provides students with a versatile foundation in transportation, engineering principles, and graphic design techniques while boosting their communication skills.
Careers that TREND students may wish to pursue include all aspects of engineering, manufacturing, design, and transportation. Specific jobs range from automotive design and aviation maintenance technology to robotics and 3D animation.
SLC Placement Process
For current eighth-grade students in SLZUSD middle schools:
SLC Request Google Form
English: http://bit.ly/48BlYRL
Spanish: https://bit.ly/48AP97y
Chinese: https://bit.ly/3YDPfGU
High School Enrollment Process
High school enrollment for the 2024-25 school year continues to be open. If you fill out an online enrollment form, it will be for this school year. The enrollment period for the 2025-26 school year does not start until Spring 2025. Once it is available, ensure you are enrolling for the correct school year.
- Gather documents as shown on https://www.slzusd.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=1221702&type=d&pREC_ID=2160201
- Complete online enrollment: https://slzusd.aeries.net/enrollment/
- If you have trouble setting up an account or uploading documents, you can email Senior Office Assistant Monica Flores at [email protected] or by calling (510) 317-4708.
