This is our first year partnering with Life Academy, which is a small school with grades 6-12. Their focus on health and science pathways helps to prepare students for the careers of the future. Life Academy shares a campus with United For Success Academy, one of our longest standing partners. When Life Academy reached out to ask if we could help expand their mental health services, we jumped at the opportunity! As an additional mental health provider, we are partnering and collaborating closely with the other mental health providers on campus to enhance and expand access to mental health services and supports for all students. We continue to look for creative ways to support the evolving needs of students and staff on campus.

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While Life Academy already partners with several service providers, it is deepening its commitment to healing and well-being by establishing a new mental health partnership with Seneca that integrates clinical support directly into its student-centered environment.  This aligns with the Oakland Unified School District’s broader strategic goal to provide wraparound supports for students, ensuring that mental health is a fundamental pillar of academic and professional success. By embedding these services within the school day, the partnership aims to remove traditional barriers to care, fostering a culture of empathy and belonging where every student has “at least one adult who knows them very well”.

New clinician, Steph Ahn, is leading the way in this new partnership! She collaborates with the school’s Community Schools Manager (CSM) and Coordination of Services Team (COST) to identify students in need of service. She then works closely with the student, school, and family to identify their goals and support them throughout the school year. By necessity, our school-based clinicians wear many hats. Therapist, mentor, coach, trusted adult, occasional cheerleader and steadfast supporter. Our clients come to trust that we will provide unconditional care to them throughout their time with us.

We could not be more excited for this new opportunity and look forward to partnering with Life Academy for many years to come!