Embedded Files
In working to make change for students, staff, and families, there is one group we have yet to discuss; and that is the surrounding community. The school district does not exist in a bubble, and there are many external forces that shape people’s experience of a place which can impact educational outcomes and their quality of life. When trying to set up students, staff, and families for success, support must come from all around. Working alongside local faith groups, parent groups, county service workers, shelters, elected representatives, grassroots coalitions, nonprofits, and other entities can help create a safe and welcoming environment for all people.
When it comes to advancing LGBTQ+ equity in our schools and communities, local Pride organizations are some of the most vital partners in the fight to protect public education against fascism and extremism. If a school district is fortunate enough to have a pride organization doing work in their community, it should not only include them, but actively listen, celebrate, collaborate, and share power with them. Pride organizations are not here to maintain the status quo. They exist to challenge it. Their role is to demand more: more inclusion, more support, more justice, more accountability—and to ensure our institutions never grow complacent. Pride is, and always should be, a riot.
Two people walk and talk while holding tablets, one person with dark hair that is half up and half down, and the other person has long ginger hair and a headband.
Castro Valley Pride, originally known as Rainbow Rally in the Valley, began as a student-led effort to bring LGBTQ+ visibility and advocacy to Castro Valley. The first Pride event was held near the Center for the Arts in 2010, and it has continued annually as a free, public celebration of identity, resistance, and joy. Today, Castro Valley Pride is the longest-running LGBTQ+ Pride organization in Alameda County—and one of its fiercest advocates.
CV Pride's work goes far beyond a once-a-year event. Castro Valley Pride has consistently shown up—organizing direct actions, mobilizing in response to anti-LGBTQ+ attacks, and building coalitions with community partners. During the pandemic, they held drive-through flag giveaways to ensure continued visibility and support. They have been on the front lines of school board meetings, defending students and staff against anti-LGBTQ+ extremists, and in 2024, provided immense support for the successful recall of two anti-LGBTQ+ trustees in Sunol Glen. They worked with youth to bring projects like the pride mural project to life, and for more than a decade, they have helped shape policy that affirms and protects LGBTQ+ students. Learn more about the pride mural project in the Giving Students the Stage section.
Pride organizations like Castro Valley Pride are not just community partners—they are movement builders. They remind us that inclusion is not enough. Our schools, institutions, and leaders must be bold, proactive, and accountable in creating truly affirming environments—and Pride organizations will always be there to demand it.
Another group that needs to be strongly considered by the school district when it comes to engaging the community is their previous students! Alumni make up a huge portion of the surrounding community, and often, people want to connect with their alma mater. Student leaders involved with the pride mural project shared that part of the problem with students constantly moving on is that lapses in historical knowledge are prone to happening. They expressed a need for a throughline when it comes to student initiatives so that systems remain intact when seniors graduate, and so that incoming students don’t have to start over from scratch every school year. Keeping relationships with students beyond graduation and inviting them to help build current student leadership is one way to keep traction going.
One of the largest untapped groups when it comes to support for LGBTQ+ students, staff, and families is our elders. They hold a vast wealth of knowledge and experience that can be vital for both steering the school district in the right direction and building relationships that span generations. However, they are a group that is often isolated in American society and left behind by the community. Those who are retired have extra time on their hands, and want to feel involved and connected with those around them. Recruiting them as volunteers for grassroots coalitions and including them in local community alliances can produce beneficial outcomes for all parties involved. Many anti-LGBTQ+ politicians propose policies that would legally sever LGBTQ+ youth from their history, and part of that entails cutting them off from LGBTQ+ elders and those that came before. In order to help bridge this gap, it’s worth reaching out to local LGBTQ+ senior groups (in the East Bay Area we have Lavender Seniors) and including them in projects and initiatives that support the local community.
The following case studies detail ways that Castro Valley Unified School District has connected with the community in order to address larger societal problems in the past and today.
Community Alliance Case Study
The Castro Valley Community Alliance was created in direct response to multiple instances of bigotry in which the high school was graffitied with racial slurs and swastikas back in 2017. The community knew that this was merely a sign of a larger problem brewing beneath the surface, and so Castro Valley Unified School District began to organize meetings to strategize and create a plan of action to address the hatred people saw percolating within their neighborhoods. The resulting coalition of representatives from the various sects of life within Castro Valley which included Castro Valley Pride, the District Student Leadership Alliance, The Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club, parent groups, the County Supervisor’s Office, the League of Women Voters, the Castro Valley Public Library, the Eden Interfaith Council, various nonprofits and other county services. Learn more about the District Student Leadership Alliance in the Giving Students the Stage section.
Upon its creation, the Castro Valley Community Alliance held a variety of programs and events to show resistance towards the conservative political moment and build understanding amongst neighbors. They participated in the Castro Valley Stands United Against Hate campaign through the Unity March; a large group of community members, families, teachers, staff, and students that walked down Castro Valley Boulevard holding various signs in order to show visible solidarity with those experiencing discrimination and bigotry. They also supported the District Student Leadership Alliance in their Unity Poetry & Art Slam, and held a Film and Panel Discussion Series addressing various social justice topics that took place at the Castro Valley Public Library and featured films such as Beyond the Wall, Unnatural Causes, Then They Came For Me…, The Resettled, Lives Worth Living, Equal Means Equal, One Survivor Remembers, Bullied, Viva La Causa, and A Time for Justice.
The Alliance also decided that it was important for students to hear directly from adults within the community. Members were split into groups and visited each classroom at the high school with the resounding message “We are here for you. We will protect you. Whether you are LGBTQ+, disabled, an immigrant, a student of color, or any other marginalized group. We will not let hatred into this community.”
More recently, the Castro Valley Community Alliance has worked towards addressing houselessness in the community. In an interview with Castro Valley Unified School District Superintendent Parvin Ahmadi, she explained that for every houseless child in the district, the school only gets around fifteen extra dollars to support them. To fill the gaps in need, the Bay Area-based nonprofit Moms Against Poverty gave the school a freezer, washer, dryer, and refrigerator. They also pay for the electricity the appliances use as well as food for students. She described how impressed the Federal Program Monitor—who comes to evaluate the programming the schools offers and how they support kids every four or so years—was when being shown the services CVUSD provides in their Resource Room at the District Office. “They said they have never seen anything like it,” Parvin expressed with great pride.
Outside of the school district, The League of Women Voters and the Castro Valley Women’s Club led a panel with two formerly houseless people, and the First Presbyterian Church of Hayward—which has done incredible work offering LGBTQ+ inclusive services and resources to people experiencing houselessness in the Castro Valley community—has held panels, events, and initiatives in collaboration with other organizations that center around public education.
Though the Castro Valley Community Alliance has changed over the years, they continue to work together to see to the needs of a diverse and intersectional community. As Parvin so beautifully put it, “The Community Alliance connected resources. It brought us all together in the same room, and that really makes a difference.”
LGBTQ+ Workgroup Case Study
The CVUSD LGBTQ+ Workgroup was formed in 2021 as a follow up to the ABAR lessons created during the 2020 school year. Comprised of a multi-disciplinary group of LGBTQ+ and allied educators, students, staff and community members, the Workgroup is led by queer district office staff, reports regularly to the school board and has met for the last 4 years to create curriculum, awareness campaigns, resource lists and a safe place to talk about the unique needs of the LGBTQ+ community in Castro Valley.
Among the first steps after its creation, the Curriculum Committee of the Workgroup surveyed teachers across the District to gather information on the inclusion of LGBTQ+ people, history, stories and contributions into their classroom curriculum (all subjects). Responses varied, including: zero inclusion; signage; occasional mentions; regular discussions of marginalized groups; personal visibility of teachers; and celebrations of LGBTQ+ historical & cultural contributions. Learn more about this survey under the Teacher & Staff Support section. Fast forward to today, this committee has created many lessons at all school levels to be included in the district-wide SEL/ABAR lessons delivered to all students.
Additional committee work includes the creation of a resource page for the District Website, partnerships with community agencies such as PFLAG of Danville San Ramon Valley for professional development opportunities, and fostering student leadership. The Student Leadership Committee aims to identify leadership at each site to help students start a Rainbow Club (elementary) or GSA/Pride Club at the middle and high school level. Each adult Club Advisor will be given a start-up kit, including queer-friendly books, outreach supplies, and resources for their appropriate grade level.
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