At Their Best · A California Family and Student Listening Campaign
What We Heard
Sierra Mesa Unified School District · Families and students at their best
Prepared for the PTA units of Sierra Mesa Unified
Sierra Mesa High School PTSA92 families · Feb 3
Canyon View Middle School PTA68 families · Feb 5
Desert Willow Middle School PTSA52 families · Feb 11
Listening window Feb 3–11, 2027
Report delivered Feb 24, 2027
County Riverside
Share of Sierra Mesa family answers naming each State Board Portrait of a Learner competency. White tick marks the California campaign average.
212families answered, in their own words
341students described, TK–12; 118 spoke for themselves
41%answered in Spanish (state: 31%)
7 of 7Portrait competencies appeared
82%named a strength school doesn't see
3.6strengths named for every concern
Inside This Report
02Executive Summary2
03Who We Heard From3
04Your Portrait Profile4
05Where Strengths Grow5
06The Invisible Transcript6
07Parent and Student7
08What Works, and At 258
09In Their Own Words9
10Ready for Your LCAP10
11Action Plan and Calendar11
12Method, Privacy, Sources12
Statewide: 29,817 families1,186 chapters
This report belongs to the three PTA units above. It was built to be carried into Sierra Mesa Unified's Local Control and Accountability Plan process this spring: to the Parent Advisory Committee, the English Learner Parent Advisory Committee, written comments, and the public hearing. Nothing here names a child, and no group smaller than ten is reported.
“Traduce para toda la familia: el banco, la escuela de su hermano, la renta. Eso no sale en ninguna boleta.”
She translates for the whole family: the bank, her brother's school, the rent. That doesn't show up on any report card.
In May 2026 the State Board of Education adopted a Portrait of a Learner with seven competencies, “a north star” for California schools.
Every District Must Ask
Each LCAP must reflect parent input. The superintendent answers the Parent Advisory Committee in writing.
Your Families Answered
212 Sierra Mesa families put that portrait into their own words. This report carries them to the district.
02Executive Summary · For PTA Presidents
Five Things Sierra Mesa Families Told Us
In February, 212 families at three Sierra Mesa campuses answered five questions about their children at their best. Nearly all of them (93%) described a competency in the State Board's Portrait of a Learner without being shown it. Here is what stood out, and what to do about it.
58%
state 52%
Finding 1 · Page 4
Families lead with who their child is.
Person of Character was the competency Sierra Mesa families named most, six points above the state: calm under pressure, honest, the one who looks after everyone else.
76%
state 71%
Finding 2 · Page 5
Most “at their best” moments happened outside the classroom.
Home and family (31%) and work or the family business (14%) both ran well above the state. These students learn on the job, at the swap meet, in the kitchen and on the field.
82%
state 78%
Finding 3 · Page 6
Four in five named a strength the school doesn't see.
The most common: caring for family (41%), translating for family (29%) and working (24%). None of it shows up on a transcript; all of it is in the State Board's portrait.
36%
state 28%
Finding 4 · Page 5
Grandparents and relatives are the first helpers families name.
Ahead of coaches (27%) and faith and community leaders (21%). Sierra Mesa's learning community is bigger than its staff list.
29%
state 18%
Finding 5 · Page 4
Multilingual strength stood out more here than almost anywhere.
Eleven points above the state, the widest gap of any competency. Among Spanish-language answers it reached 48%.
What To Do With This Report
Three asks your families' answers support. Full plan on page 11.
1
Name What Families Already See
Ask Sierra Mesa Unified to adopt a local portrait aligned to the State Board's, and to track it with a family-voice metric.
FitsLCAP goal and metric table · page 10
2
Protect What's Working
Keep funding the teachers, after-school programs and pathway classes families named, and start pathway work in middle school.
FitsGoal actions and expenditures
3
Bring the Helpers In
Invite grandparents, coaches, faith leaders and employers in as partners, and count what students do at home and at work.
FitsState Priority 3 · Community Schools
Timing
Sierra Mesa's Parent Advisory Committee meets March 17. Written comments close April 30. The board adopts by July 1. This report arrives with time to use all three.
03Who We Heard From
212 Families, 341 Students, Three Campuses
Families answered at their February PTA meetings or at home within the week, on their own phones, in the language they chose. Parents described every child in the house, including younger brothers and sisters in Sierra Mesa elementary schools. Students in grades 6–12 also answered for themselves, with a parent's consent.
PTA unit
Meeting
Families
Students described
Student voices
Answered in Spanish
Share of district total
Sierra Mesa High School PTSA
Tue, Feb 3
92
148
61
38%
43%
Canyon View Middle School PTA
Thu, Feb 5
68
109
31
44%
32%
Desert Willow Middle School PTSA
Wed, Feb 11
52
84
26
42%
25%
Sierra Mesa Unified, all three
Feb 3–11
212
341
118
41%
100%
Language Families Chose
Sierra Mesa
English 54%Spanish 41%
California
English 61%Spanish 31%8%
Other languages (5%, 11 families) included Tagalog, Vietnamese, Punjabi and Arabic. Each is under ten, so none is reported on its own.
How They Answered
Sierra Mesa
Voice 46%Text 36%Video 18%
California
Voice 34%Text 44%Video 22%
Spanish-language families chose voice 61% of the time. Median voice answer: 74 seconds. Median text answer: 58 words.
Students Described, by Grade Band
341 students across 212 families: 1.6 per family. Middle and high school students are 74% of the total because the three units serve grades 6–12; younger siblings came in through their families' answers.
Who Answered
Mothers and female guardians
68%
Fathers and male guardians
24%
Grandparents and other relatives
8%
Sierra Mesa in the Statewide Campaign
29,817
families statewide
48,412
students statewide
1,186
PTA chapters and parent groups
52 / 58
California counties
Sierra Mesa's families answered in Spanish at a higher rate than the state, and chose voice more often. Its comparisons in this report are against the full statewide pool.
The Rule of Ten
No number in this report describes fewer than ten people. Where a group is smaller, such as a single language other than English or Spanish, or one grade at one campus, it is folded into a larger group or left out. That keeps every family's answer private, even in a small community.
04Your Portrait Profile · Question 1
Your Families Described All Seven Portrait Competencies
We asked, “When have you seen your child at their best as a learner?” Machine-learning models then tagged each answer to the seven competencies in the State Board's Portrait of a Learner, adopted in May 2026. Families were never shown the list. Sierra Mesa ran above the state on four of seven, led by multilingual strength and character.
Sierra Mesa familiesCalifornia campaignScale 0–70% of family answers
Competency035%70%GapIn a Sierra Mesa family's words
93%
named at least one competency · state 91%
2.8
competencies per answer, on average · state 2.9
11%
mentioned a grade or test score · state 14%
48%
of Spanish-language answers named multilingual strength · English 15%
05Where Strengths Show Up and Who Helps Them Grow · Questions 1 and 3
Three in Four Moments Happened Outside the Classroom
Sierra Mesa families placed their children's best moments at home and at work more often than families statewide. And when we asked who outside school helped their child grow, they named family first. The people raising Sierra Mesa's students are a partner list the district already has.
Where the Moment Happened
Sierra MesaCaliforniaStrength named most there
76%
of moments happened outside the classroom (state 71%). Spanish-language families placed 39% at home and in family work, compared with 27% of English-language families.
Who Helps Them Grow
Sierra MesaCalifornia
Helper
Community Schools pillar it feeds
Grandparents and relatives
Family and community engagement
Coaches, youth programs
Extended learning time and opportunities
Faith and community leaders
Family and community engagement
Employers
Extended learning; work-based learning in Golden State Pathways
“Mi suegro le enseñó a manejar el tractor en el rancho en Hemet. Paciencia, eso le enseñó. No hay prisa con una máquina así.”
My father-in-law taught him to drive the tractor on the ranch in Hemet. Patience, that's what he taught him. You don't rush a machine like that.
Parent · Spanish · Q3 Person of Character
“Her cross country coach runs with them at 5:30 before it gets hot. She shows up because he shows up. That's the whole thing.”
Parent · English · Q3 Productive CollaboratorEmpowered Learner
“The manager at the grocery where she works part time. He trusts her to close. Sixteen and she has the keys.”
Parent · English · Q3 Community ContributorProductive Collaborator
What This Means for Sierra Mesa
If a third of students' best moments happen at home and one in seven at work, the district's family engagement plan is also a learning plan. Grandparents, coaches and employers are already teaching patience, teamwork and responsibility. The LCAP can name them as educational partners, invite them to site councils, and count the learning they lead.
45%
of Spanish-language families named a grandparent or relative · English 30%
33%
of English-language families named a coach · Spanish 20%
19%
of high school families named an employer · middle school 8%
2.1
helpers named per family, on average · state 1.9
06The Invisible Transcript · Question 2
82% Named a Strength the School Doesn't See
We asked, “What can your child do that grades and transcripts don't capture?” Four in five Sierra Mesa families had an answer ready, above the state's 78%. What they described is real, weekly, adult-sized responsibility, and the State Board's portrait has a name for every piece of it.
What School Records
Student Record · Grade 10
Cumulative GPA3.12
Credits earned110 / 220
A–G on trackYes
Attendance94.1%
CAASPP ELAStandard Met
CAASPP MathNearly Met
ELPACReclassified
DisciplineNone
ActivitiesNone listed
Illustrative record. Every line is useful. None of them describes the strengths at right.
82%GAP
What Families Named
86%
of Spanish-language families named one
79%
of English-language families named one
“Traduce para toda la familia: el banco, la escuela de su hermano, la renta.”
She translates for the whole family: the bank, her brother's school, the rent.
“Saturdays he's at the swap meet with his dad by six. He does the count and makes change in his head. That's a whole job.”
Parent · English · Q2 Critical ThinkerCommunity Contributor
“She failed algebra once and signed herself up for summer school. Nobody made her. That's who she is.”
Parent · English · Q2 Empowered LearnerPerson of Character
What a Portrait Would Let Sierra Mesa See
A student who translates a lease is practicing what the State Board calls Effective Communicator and Multilingual, Multicultural Learner. A student who runs the count at a swap meet is a Critical Thinker and Problem Solver. A district portrait gives teachers and counselors the words to notice it, and gives students the words to put it on a college or job application.
Three Ways the District Could Start Seeing It
Add a “strengths at home and work” prompt to student-led conferences and the grade 8 and grade 11 four-year plans.
Recognize family translating and caregiving in the State Seal of Biliteracy pathway awards and in service-learning hours.
Ask students the same question every spring and report the answers back to families, by campus.
The gap by campus
Named a hidden strength
Caring for family
Translating
Working
Persistence
Leadership
Sierra Mesa High School PTSA · 92 families
84%
38%
27%
33%
21%
22%
Canyon View Middle School PTA · 68 families
81%
44%
32%
18%
22%
15%
Desert Willow Middle School PTSA · 52 families
79%
42%
29%
15%
25%
15%
07Parent and Student, Side by Side
Parents Saw Character. Students Saw How They Get Things Done.
In 64 Sierra Mesa families, a parent and their own child both answered. We compared what each named. They agreed on at least one strength 47% of the time, above the state's 43%. Where they differed, each saw something real that the other missed.
64
matched parent and child pairs
47%
named the same strength · state 43%
39%
parent named a strength the child didn't
34%
child named a strength the parent didn't
What parents namedWhat students named
Share of the 64 matched pairs. Bars are scaled to 70%.
How to Read the Mirror
Parents named Person of Character 22 points more often than their own children did. Students named Productive Collaborator 17 points more often than their parents.
Students also described themselves as problem solvers more than their parents did (44% vs 35%). They see the planning behind the responsibility; parents see the heart.
Neither view is complete. The third view, the school's, is the one this report asks the district to add.
Two Families, Two Views
Different strengths named
“Mi hija cuida a sus hermanitos cuando trabajo de noche. Les da de cenar, revisa la tarea, los acuesta.”
My daughter looks after her little brothers when I work nights. She feeds them dinner, checks homework, puts them to bed.
Parent · Spanish Person of CharacterCommunity Contributor
“I'm good at keeping things running. If the plan falls apart I already have the next one.”
Her daughter · Student, grade 10 Critical ThinkerEmpowered Learner
Same strength named
“He's a leader on the soccer team, and not because he's the best player. Because he's the one who talks to the new guys.”
Parent · English Productive CollaboratorPerson of Character
“I'm good at making the new players on the team feel like they belong. Somebody did that for me in sixth grade.”
His son · Student, grade 8 Productive CollaboratorPerson of Character
Agreement Within the 64 Pairs
52%
Spanish-language pairs · n=27
43%
English-language pairs · n=37
49%
High school pairs · n=33
45%
Middle school pairs · n=31
08What's Working at School · Question 4
Families Named People and Programs, Not Problems
We asked, “What's one thing at school that really works for your child, and what would make it even better?” Sierra Mesa families named 3.6 strengths for every concern (state 3.4). Half of them pointed to one specific teacher.
What Works
A specific teacher
51%48
After-school program
26%22
Pathway or CTE class
18%12
A counselor
11%14
Small number is the California campaign. Pathway classes named most: welding, medical assisting, culinary.
What Would Make It Better
More after-school seats
31%
Pathways before grade 9
22%
More counselor time
19%
Good news in our language
17%
Share of families who named an improvement. Families could name more than one.
Asset Ratio
3.6 : 1
Strengths named for every concern, across all five questions. State: 3.4.
“Su maestra de inglés me llama cuando algo va bien, no solo cuando algo va mal. Eso lo cambió todo para nosotros.”
Her English teacher calls me when something goes well, not only when something goes wrong. That changed everything for us.
Parent · Spanish · Q4 Empowered Learner
“The welding class. He comes home and tells me about it at dinner. He never told me one thing about school before that class.”
Parent · English · Q4 Critical ThinkerEmpowered Learner
08At 25 · Question 5
At 25, Families Want Durable Skills First, a Degree Fifth
Parents: “What Will Your Child Need to Thrive at 25?”
A durable skill
86%84
Stable work
64%62
Purpose or happiness
55%58
A degree
34%37
Giving back
33%31
“Que sea buena persona, que tenga un trabajo estable, y que no se olvide de dónde viene.”
To be a good person, have a stable job, and not forget where she comes from.
Parent · Spanish · Q5 Person of Character
Students: “What Do You Want Your Life to Look Like at 25?”
A job I like
63%66
Help my family
52%41
My own place
36%38
Students in grades 6–12, n=118. “Help my family” ran 11 points above the state.
“Helping my mom so she doesn't have to work two jobs anymore.”
Student, grade 9 · English · Q5 Community Contributor
“A job I actually like and my own place. Close enough to come home for Sunday dinner.”
Student, grade 11 · English · Q5 Empowered Learner
For the LCAP
Families ranked a durable skill (86%) far ahead of a degree (34%), and students most often want to help their families. Both point to the same actions: protect the teachers and programs named here, start career pathways sooner, and describe graduates in Portrait terms, not only in credits.
09In Their Own Words · Shared With Permission
Sierra Mesa, at Its Best
Ten answers, chosen because they are specific and because each family said yes to sharing them. Spanish answers appear as spoken, with an English translation. Tags show the Portrait competencies the models found and a reviewer confirmed.
57
Sierra Mesa families (27%) gave permission for their words to be shared beyond this report, and 19 students did the same with a parent's consent. PTA leaders can request the full set of shareable quotes, in English and Spanish, for newsletters, slides and public comment.
Sized by how often the word or phrase appeared across all 212 family answers, English and Spanish combined.
10Ready for Your LCAP · Drafted for Sierra Mesa Unified
Language the District Can Drop Into Its Plan
The California Department of Education's LCAP template asks every district to show who it heard from, how, and what changed because of it. Below, in the template's own format, is draft language Sierra Mesa Unified can adopt or adapt. Yellow cells are pre-filled from this report.
Engaging Educational Partners
Educational Partner(s)
Process for Engagement
Parents and families, through Sierra Mesa High School PTSA, Canyon View Middle School PTA and Desert Willow Middle School PTSA
From February 3 to 11, 2027, 212 families answered five open-ended questions by voice, video or text, in English, Spanish and other home languages, during PTA meetings and at home (At Their Best listening campaign). Answers were tagged to the State Board's Portrait of a Learner and summarized in a chapter report delivered February 24, 2027.
Students, grades 6–12
118 students answered parallel questions with parent consent. In 64 families, parent and student answers were compared.
Parent Advisory Committee (PAC)
The chapter report was presented by PTA representatives at the March 17, 2027 PAC meeting and submitted as written comment. The superintendent responded in writing.
English Learner Parent Advisory Committee (ELPAC)
The Spanish-language report and findings for Spanish-speaking families (41% of respondents) were presented at the March 24, 2027 ELPAC meeting, with discussion in Spanish.
A summary of the feedback provided by specific educational partners.
Parents and families described their children's strengths in terms that match the State Board's Portrait of a Learner (93%), led by Person of Character (58%) and Empowered Learner (55%). Spanish-language families named multilingual strengths at a high rate (48%). Families asked the district to protect named teachers, after-school programs and career pathway classes, to start pathways before grade 9, and to recognize learning that happens at home and at work. Students most often hope to hold a job they like (63%) and to help their families (52%).
A description of how the adopted LCAP was influenced by the feedback provided by educational partners.
Families told us, in 212 answers across three PTA units, that their children's strengths most often show up at home, at work and in the community, and that 82% of those strengths are not captured in school records. In response, Goal 2 adds a family-voice metric tracking the percent of families who describe their child's strengths in Portrait of a Learner terms. Action 2.3 continues funding for after-school programs and career pathway classes that families named as working, and Action 2.6 begins pathway exploration in grades 7 and 8. Action 3.2 invites grandparents, coaches, faith leaders and employers to site advisory councils as community partners.
Goal 2 · Measuring and Reporting Results
Metric #
Metric
Baseline
Year 1 Outcome
Year 2 Outcome
Target for Year 3 Outcome
Current Difference from Baseline
2.4
Percent of families describing their child's strengths in Portrait of a Learner terms (At Their Best survey)
93% (2026–27)
[2027–28]
[2028–29]
95%
[To be reported]
2.5
Percent of families naming a strength school records do not capture (At Their Best survey, lower is better)
82% (2026–27)
[2027–28]
[2028–29]
70%
[To be reported]
State Priorities addressed by this goal.
Priority 3Parental Involvement and Family Engagement. 3A: efforts to seek parent input in decisions for the district and each school site. 3B: parent participation in programs for low income, English learner and foster youth students.
Priority 6CSchool Climate. “Other local measures, including surveys of students, parents, and teachers on the sense of safety and school connectedness.”
Format follows the CDE LCAP template (Engaging Educational Partners; Goals and Actions; Measuring and Reporting Results). Goal, metric and action numbers, meeting dates and targets are placeholders for the district to set. PTA units advise; the governing board adopts.
11Your Action Plan and LCAP Calendar
From This Report to the Board Vote
California law gives families a door into every district plan: the superintendent must present the LCAP to the Parent Advisory Committee and answer its comments in writing, and the board must hold a public hearing before it adopts. Here is how Sierra Mesa's PTA units walk through it together.
1
Name What Families Already See
Ask: adopt a local portrait aligned to the State Board's, with metric 2.4 on page 10.
Evidence: 93% of families described a Portrait competency, unprompted.
Where it fitsNew or revised LCAP goal · Measuring and Reporting Results
2
Protect What's Working
Ask: keep after-school and pathway funding; start pathway exploration in grades 7 and 8.
Evidence: 51% named a teacher, 26% after-school, 18% a pathway class.
Where it fitsGoal actions and expenditures · Golden State Pathways
3
Bring the Helpers In
Ask: name relatives, coaches, faith leaders and employers as partners on site councils.
Evidence: 36% named grandparents and relatives, 8 points above the state.
Where it fitsPriority 3 · Engaging Educational Partners · Community Schools
The Sierra Mesa LCAP Calendar
Feb 24
Report in Hand
Delivered to all three units.
Share with unit boards
Translate the cover page summary for newsletters
Mar 17
PAC Meeting
Bring the report and the three asks.
Name a PTA speaker
Send report to PAC chair a week ahead
Mar 24
ELPAC Meeting
Present in Spanish.
Spanish speaker confirmed
Bring printed copies
By Apr 30
Written Comments
Submit in writing so the superintendent must respond.
Comment submitted
Written response received
Jun 9
Public Hearing
Families speak on the draft plan.
Three speakers signed up
Check draft for metric 2.4
By Jul 1
Board Adoption
Adopted with the budget, at a later meeting than the hearing.
Attend and thank the board
Report back to members
Meeting dates are illustrative. Confirm Sierra Mesa Unified's 2027 calendar with the district LCAP office.
A Sentence You Can Use
“My name is first name, and I'm a parent at school. In February, 212 Sierra Mesa families described their children at their best. 93% described a strength in the State Board's Portrait of a Learner, and 82% named one the school doesn't see. We ask the district to adopt a portrait / protect what's working / bring the helpers in, and to track it with a family-voice metric in the LCAP.”
Works for public comment (usually 2 to 3 minutes), a PAC agenda item, or an email to your board member. A Spanish version is in the chapter kit.
Present It at Your Next PTA Meeting
2 MINOpen with one quote. Read a family's answer from page 9 aloud, in the language it was given.
3 MINShow the cover wheel. Seven competencies, and your families named every one.
4 MINWalk the five findings on page 2. Ask members which one surprised them.
3 MINChoose your ask. Vote on which of the three your unit will lead.
3 MINSign people up. One speaker for the PAC, one for the public hearing, one to write the comment.
What to Bring to Each Room
Meeting
Bring these pages
Lead with
Ask for
Parent Advisory Committee
2, 4, 10
93% described a Portrait competency
Metric 2.4 in the draft LCAP, and a written response
English Learner PAC
4, 6, 9, in Spanish
48% of Spanish-language answers named multilingual strength
Recognition of translating and caregiving as learning
Public hearing
9, and the sentence above
One family's words, read aloud
Keep after-school and pathway funding in the adopted plan
12Method, Privacy and Sources
How We Listened, and How We Protected Families
The Five Questions
#
Parent question
Student question (grades 6–12)
1
When have you seen your child at their best as a learner?
When do you feel like you're learning something that matters?
2
What can your child do that grades and transcripts don't capture?
What's something you're good at that school doesn't notice?
3
Who outside of school has helped your child grow?
Who outside of school has helped you grow?
4
What's one thing at school that really works for your child, and what would make it even better?
What do you wish school understood about you?
5
What will your child need to thrive at 25?
What do you want your life to look like at 25?
Questions owned by Scaling Student Success.
Consent
Two separate choices: take part, and, only if a family says yes, share words publicly. Students under 18 answered only with a parent's consent; under 13, a parent consented on a separate screen first.
De-identification
Names, schools, teachers and places that could identify a family are removed before analysis. Quotes use a first name, a role or a grade only.
No Group Under Ten
No figure in this report describes fewer than ten people. Smaller groups are combined or left out.
Machine-Learning Tagging
Answers are transcribed and translated, then tagged by machine-learning models for Portrait competencies, settings, helpers and visibility. Students are never scored; only themes are counted.
Human Review
Trained bilingual reviewers double-read a sample of every batch (15% for Sierra Mesa) and correct the tags. Reviewers and models agreed on 89% of competency tags in that sample.
Who Owns the Data
Scaling Student Success owns the questions, consent records and data. Impacter Pathway runs the platform as founding tech partner and does not sell or reuse family answers.
Scaling Student Success
Runs the campaign. Works to help “each and every California student” develop the skills and competencies for lifelong success.
California State PTA Chapters
Host the listening at their meetings and own their chapter's report, to bring to their district's LCAP.
Impacter Pathway
Founding tech partner. Runs capture, transcription, translation and machine-learning tagging.
Sources
State Board of Education, Portrait of a Learner (adopted May 2026): “a unifying framework intended to act as a north star.” https://www.cde.ca.gov/be/pl/
A campaign of Scaling Student Success with California State PTA chapters · Powered by Impacter Pathway, founding tech partner. Illustrative sample: this report shows what a chapter will receive. Sierra Mesa Unified is fictional and every number is illustrative; no responses have been collected yet.
