Inclusion Resources

SFUSD has a long history with Inclusive Schools Week. We’ve held poster contests, had rallies at City Hall and partnered with Special Olympics to hold unified sports tournaments and helped many many children feel seen and accepted at school.

On December 9, 2010 at San Francisco’s City Hall, “San Francisco Inclusive Schools Week” was established by Mayoral Proclamation, to happen each year during the first full week of December in alignment with National Inclusive Schools Week.

On April 9, 2013 the San Francisco Unified School Board adopted a resolution on the "Guiding Principles Regarding Inclusive Education Practices for the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD)".

Since 2010, SFUSD has held many many events and activities in support of Inclusive Schools Week. Looking for ideas on what to do at your school? Check out these highlights of activities that were held at school's across the district last year.

• Online Arts Showcase - The theme for this year is "Unity Within Our Community”. As part of our celebration of Inclusive Schools Week, we are hosting a district wide online arts showcase. This showcase is open to all students to share what inclusion means for them. It is related to their disability, gender, socio-economic status, cultural heritage, language preference or other unique trait that they want to to share. Students can share and submit their work using this submission form.

  A big THANK YOU to the students, families and teachers who submitted projects and creations last year! Please take a few moments to browse through the 2020 & 2021 Arts Showcase website and enjoy the amazing work of our students!

• Keynote Event, "Inclusion in San Francisco- From the Birthplace of the Disability Rights Movement to Today"
  • Date: Thursday, December 8th
  • Time: 6:00pm-8:00pm
  • Hosted by: SFUSD, Support for Families, Parents for Public Schools, Longmore Institute
  • Register Here

• Special Olympics Guest Speaker, Virtual Assembly
  • Date: Friday, December 9th
  • Time: 9:00am-10:00am
  • Hosted by: Thurgood Marshall featuring speaker Phillip Gonzales, who has been an athlete leader for Special Olympics Northern California and will be speaking about his journey growing up with an intellectual disability and the importance of inclusive and respectful attitudes.
  • Register Here

• Put up a bulletin board about inclusion in the school hallway. Hang up pictures of disability heroes or of student work on the topic of inclusion.
• Talk about Inclusion and Inclusive Schools Week during morning circle. Expand your morning circle activity to include various modes of communication. Use sign language, foreign languages, and augmentative communication supports (including photos, pictures, and assistive technology devices, etc.) to support those students whose communication systems might not include spoken English, along with exposing other students to the variety of ways that people can communicate.
• Read books that include and represent all marginalized students.
• Build a Peace Corner in your classroom or school yard. Create a quiet place for students to cool down and take a moment to regroup when they are feeling overwhelmed.
• Review this sample Inclusion Celebration Plan from Grattan Elementary Inclusion Committee and adapt it to your school community.
• Check out the Inclusive Schools Network Celebration Guide or 30th Anniversary of the ADA celebration guides for resources and ideas for your school community.
• Do some of the Champions of Inclusion Activities from the Inclusive Schools Network.
• Join the “Spread the Word to End the R-Word” Initiative
• Visit ADA30 in Color - a series of original essays on the past, present, and future of disability rights and justice by disabled BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) writers. Published and edited by Alice Wong, of the Disability Visibility Project. 
• Family Resources for Talking about Race & Social Justice in the U.S. - SFUSD staff have compiled a brief list of books, articles, videos, websites and other resources for families to explore race and social justice with children of different ages. 

• SFUSD Inclusive Schools Week Resource Guide

• SFUSD PE & Special Olympics Website

• Inclusive Schools Network Website

• Inclusive Schools Network Celebration Guide

• SFUSD Inclusive Schools Week Deck
• Tier 1 Strategies for School-Wide Attendance (with a focus on inclusive practices)

Sample Inclusion Celebration Plan from Grattan Elementary Inclusion Committee

Inclusive Schools Network: Inclusion Basics - inclusive education means that all students are full and accepted members of their school community, in which their educational setting is the same as their non-disabled peers, whenever appropriate.

Stetson & Associates - Step by Step Guide to Inclusion and Inclusion Resource Library - Our mission is to assist educators in serving and including children and youth in effective and meaningful ways. 

Supporting Inclusive Practices Our Vision - Intentionally designed, equitable and inclusive educational systems for all students. Innovate. Include. Impact.

Differentiation Resources - The Principals of Differentiation, Indicators of Differentiation and Comparing Classrooms

Inclusive Practices in Early Childhood Programs - Information on inclusive child-care and other related topics.

ABILITY Awareness - By creating highly visible opportunities for people with disabilities to showcase their skills and talents, ABILITY Awareness is committed to demonstrating their potential as volunteers, mentors and employees, while shattering age-old paradigms.

Including Samuel Award-winning documentary film, Including Samuel, chronicles a family’s efforts to include Samuel in every facet of their lives. The film honestly portrays his family’s hopes and struggles as well as the experiences of four other individuals with disabilities and their families.