Sam Brannan Middle School

5301 Elmer Way

School District

Sacramento City Unified
Grade

7-8
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:19
Type

public

School Map for Sacramento City Unified School District

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on March 01, 2024

My son started at this school this year and I can say that we are satisfied with the administration and the support they have given us during this time, the principal Zarate is very dedicated and cares about helping the children in their improvement, but above all I am grateful for making my son feel integrated, the effort to make this school a better place for our children is undoubtedly noticeable.
Submitted by principal on December 22, 2023

Dear Families,Thank you for taking the time to read my review. I am Principal Zarate, and I became Sam Brannan's principal in February 2023. I was previously the principal at Crocker/Riverside Elementary School in Land Park. During the last five months of the 2022-23 school year (February-June), I was on a listening and observation tour of staff, safety practices, and campus culture. Within the first week of my time on campus, I had to make several changes to increase student and staff safety. Yes, it was a very challenging experience. However, we were able to make the appropriate changes to have a quiet and successful end of school year.In my first full year as principal, the vision for Sam Brannan Middle School is academic improvement, positive campus culture, and shared decision-making. To support the vision, we focus on three key instructional practices. 1. What are teachers doing to motivate student learning 2. What are teachers doing to help students focus on what they are learning3. What are teachers doing to ensure ALL students are cognitively engagedThe implementation of the items above have had a positive result in student behavior in class, which addresses academic improvement and positive campus culture in Sam Brannan's vision. For instance, student in class referrals are down 58% in for first 60 days of the 23-24 school year from the previous year. Student suspensions are also down this current school year. Additional classroom focal points for each school day are:1. We ask teachers remain in their classrooms during passing periods, and the administration team keeps students moving in the hallways. The practice leads to teachers teaching bell to bell. Plus, we also gain two minutes of instruction per period.2. All teachers have a 2-4 minute walk-in activity that reviews or introduces the skill for the day.3. Teachers chunk their daily lessons into segments that ranges from 2-3 minutes. The format is as follows: - Students have 2 minutes to read an opening paragraph and annotate the key idea and supporting evidence - Students share their annotations with an elbow partner - Teacher randomly selects students to share either annotations. The approach to call on different students increases their level of concern.4. The chunking of assignments in ELA, math, science, and history are instrumental in keeping the attention of students and a high level of engagement. Sam Brannan Middle School is on the move! Principal Zarate
Submitted by other on July 09, 2023

I was a student for two years at Sam Brannan MS. Not only did I have a terrible experience there socially, but also academically. I'm just going to say that not all the teachers were willing to actually teach, and that they obviously had favorites. I'm not saying that it was all teachers but it was definitely most of them. I guess what I'm saying is that I just wish punishments were given equally to students and that there shouldn't be a stereotype, and that some of the teachers need to put a little more effort.
Submitted by parent on September 29, 2022

Scary. Disheartening. Violent. Just a horribly unsafe campus. The administration will do the bare minimum to protect children from violence, harassment and bullying. They are overwhelmed with these issues and have zero support from the school district.
Submitted by parent on September 19, 2021

This school practices “THE PIPELINE TO PRISON ” for a certain group of kids. Ask administration why are they trying so hard to keep a certain group of kids behind. The detention rate is high and they use detention to have reason to pull the kid out of the most important subjects, ie., Math. The kids at this school are left behind because the administration practice under a systemic divide their practice is to try and condition the children for prison. Teach your kids about the pipeline to prison because they are out to eliminate the work competition and force poverty, and oppression for ONLY A CERTAIN GROUP ONLY.