Student Applications Now Open. Apply Today!

Breakthrough is an exciting and challenging journey that starts the summer before seventh grade and continues through high school and college. 

Each spring, students in 6th and 7th grade throughout the greater Sacramento, Rancho Cordova, and Elk Grove region, are invited to apply to join our 6-year program. As a Breakthrough student you will participate in:

• Three outrageously fun Academic Summer Programs - It’s like going to the gym for your brain to pump some neurons! Participate in the 6-week Breakthrough Summer Academy the summer before 7th, 8th, and 9th grade! You’ll be taught by high school and college students who make math, writing, literature, and crazy science classes extraordinary. You’ll learn new tools and skills through chats, cheers, and raps, and meet many new friends. And each week you will look forward to Fabulous Friday Field days where we have games, competitions, and field trips!

• Free school-year tutoring - Students have access to one-on-one or group tutoring, daily, weekly, or monthly, depending on your needs.

• Monthly Super Saturday Events - Students get the opportunity to go hiking, camping, take treks to the snow, and attend professional sporting events, theatre, and ballet, as well as attend college field trips. Many events also include free tickets for your family.

• High School Advising and College Prep Counseling - Breakthrough helps you set personal goals that set your path to achieving your academic potential, including annual goal setting, engaging school-year seminars, paid school-year internships and social justice projects, and lots of college preparation activities.

As a Breakthrough student, all of these support activities and the associated supplies are offered to you at NO COST!

Summer 2022, we are excited to welcome more than 100 new students to Breakthrough Sacramento!

Each year, Breakthrough admits a new class of students, rising 7th graders and 8th graders attending schools in the greater Sacramento region, attending school at Sac City, San Juan, Twin Rivers, Elk Grove, and Folsom Cordova Unified School Districts. Charter school and home-schooled youth are also eligible.

New students have their first Breakthrough experience at our cornerstone program, an academically rigorous Middle School Summer program held on the Sacramento Country Day School Campus in Sacramento. The Breakthrough Summer Academy helps combat summer learning loss, a leading contributor to the achievement gap. Teachers are well-trained, exceptional, and diverse high school and college students who serve as near-peer mentors. With a 1:8 teacher-student ratio, our 3-pillar model, consisting of extended learning, comprehensive advising, and leadership experiences, helps younger students experience breakthroughs in academics and confidence while the older students discover potential as educators and leaders.

The following characteristics typically describe our students:

• Will be first-generation college graduates

• Motivated to learn, work hard and achieve success in school

• Willing and able to make a long-term commitment to Breakthrough, while attending their neighborhood schools

Learn more about eligibility and the application process.

Apply before May 31, 2022!

“I watched my brother participate in Breakthrough for the past couple years and I couldn’t wait for my turn. This is my chance to learn more and advance in school and homework. I have big plans for my future as an architect.”

— Nico H., 7th Grade

Breakthrough Impact Report

Despite the pandemic, Breakthrough's students recovered from school-year learning loss and aspiring teachers added virtual teaching techniques to their list of mastered skills.

Scholars Today, Change-Makers Tomorrow

In 2020, we served more than 200 middle and high school students attending public schools in under-served neighborhoods. Those students were taught by 26 trained high school and college students and supported by more than 50 volunteers. The results of each student and teacher's commitment, paired with the support of their community and the national Breakthrough Collaborative, is a story worth celebrating in Sacramento.

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Breakthrough Impact Fund

TOGETHER, WE CAN REVERSE THIS EDUCATIONAL CRISIS

For more than four decades, Breakthrough Collaborative has been a national leader in education equity. 

But this summer the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to halt the momentum of our 10,000 students and permanently derail them from achieving their dreams in step with their peers.

Breakthrough’s students are dedicated learners who make a six-year commitment to working toward college success at our 24 local affiliates.  Right now, they face a new reality:  The gap between those with resources and those without is dramatically more pronounced than it was before this global health-turned-educational crisis.

Now is the time to step up for Breakthrough students.

The stakes are high: 

Researchers project that students could lose nearly half, or even ALL of the achievement growth expected in a normal academic year. Breakthrough students are in urgent need of our financial and moral support to succeed in this “new normal”. 

 We believe that access to educational opportunities, technology and college support should never be a matter of economic privilege, but one of educational promise. With your help, we can ensure that during this time of global challenge, our students continue their path to college success and our teaching fellows continue their path to the classroom.

Why Now: 

● The growing gap in resources: While many students transitioned easily to home-based online learning, the gap between those with access to technology and the internet has become even more pronounced as a result of the unprecedented and urgent mass transition to virtual learning by our schools.  

● A disruption in learning and progress: Summer has always been a crucial time for our students and with a large portion of 2020 already lost, we have to meet these students where they are, so they don’t fall further behind. This pivot requires additional resources of technology and staffing to ensure both students and teachers can maintain the momentum of learning over the summer months. 

● Inspiring teachers are more essential than ever: Because we focus on bringing diverse teachers into the classroom—teachers from the same under-resourced backgrounds as our students—we know that they are struggling amid the crisis too. That’s why we ask for your help ensuring they are able to overcome the barriers to their own distance learning, continue their studies and stay in the profession. 

● We need to support the foundation of their stability: Breakthrough recognizes how crucial it is to provide access to basic needs so our students can continue to focus on learning.

Call to Action:

 Any contribution to support our cause will have both an immediate and lasting impact on the diverse students and teachers we serve. The return on your investment will last far longer than this pandemic—it will last years, and even generations.

Are You Smarter Than a Breakthrough Student?

Enjoy a night of trivia while benefiting the academic aspirations of Sacramento youth!

This is a unique and exciting event benefiting Breakthrough Sacramento. Test your knowledge in rounds of trivia, enjoy great food, interact with our students, and experience the Breakthrough spirit for yourself. Come prepared to be challenged and see how much you remember from your middle and high school years. You’ll compete against other teams of adults, but fear not, a Breakthrough student will be nearby to serve as your lifeline. The final winning table will square up against a team of Breakthrough students to determine if You Are Smarter Than a Breakthrough Student!

You’re No Dunce! Take advantage of the Early Bird prices before April 30.

All tickets include dinner provided by Burgess Brother’s BBQ, dessert, drinks, and an evening of fun. Like a good game night? Purchase a table of eight and invite friends.

SCDS Octagon: The Summer Scoop

THE SUMMER SCOOP: Junior learns about different cultures, responsibilities of teaching as literature teacher at Breakthrough

This is the sixth installment of a series on internships, jobs and classes that students are doing this summer.
From June 25 to Aug. 3, junior Héloïse Schep taught two seventh-grade literature classes as a teaching fellow at Breakthrough Sacramento’s summer program.

SCDS Octagon: Get an inside peek at Breakthrough Sacramento

Get an inside peek at Breakthrough Sacramento straight from its executive director (video included)

Breakthrough Sacramento, a year-round, tuition-free college preparatory program for under-served yet highly motivated students, is near the conclusion of its 2017-18 summer program, which ends Aug. 3. Learn about Breakthrough’s mission and its students, teachers and volunteers from executive director Faith Galati, who has held the job for two years.