Building Consistency, Confidence, and Community: SEAL Partners with Feaster Elementary in Chula Vista

At Mae L. Feaster Charter School, part of the Chula Vista Elementary School District, educators are working to transform teaching and learning for their largely multilingual community. With nearly 87% of students identifying as Latino and a high percentage of multilingual learners, Feaster knew it needed more than strategies that come and go. They needed a long-term vision—one that would create consistency from transitional kindergarten through eighth grade.

Following an audit by the National Center for Urban School Transformation that focused on academic excellence and equity, Feaster partnered with SEAL. As Innovation Coordinator Heather Galyen explains, the goal was to align instructional practices from transitional kindergarten through eighth grade and build what school leaders call their “instructional DNA.” Together, SEAL and Feaster are strengthening academic language, fostering joyful classrooms, and ensuring multilingual learners thrive.

“What we really need support with is aligning all of those so that it’s consistent across our entire grade level,” explained Heather Galyen, Innovation Coordinator at Feaster Elementary. “We started last school year in April… and then did some research, reached out to SEAL and decided to bring you all in to really help us continue forward based on those audit results.”

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From Strategy to System

This partnership began with full-staff professional development in July, - where every teacher from TK through eighth grade, including specialty subjects like STEM, dance, and music - was trained in SEAL strategies. Teachers were initially cautious about committing so much time, but quickly saw the difference.

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“At first, teachers were kind of like, what is this? You know, this is a lot of PD days to be committing to one program or to one idea,” recalled Galyen. “But then, as they really started to see that it wasn’t just professional development, it was actually strategies that they can take into the classroom… they realized, oh gosh, this isn’t just one strategy. This is truly how you teach.”

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By creating consistency in instructional routines, Feaster is reducing reteaching, saving valuable time, and ensuring students carry learning practices with them from grade to grade.

‍Building Teacher Confidence

For SEAL, professional development is never one-size-fits-all. After the initial full-staff training, we began supporting Feaster with grade-level sessions that allow teachers to dive deeper into strategies most relevant to their classrooms.

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“It’s giving our staff more confidence, because everyone’s coming together, and they’re all following similar routines, and we’re just all on the same page,” said Galyen. “There’s a lot of pride in that, and the fact that there’s now support, not just for the whole staff, but also more individualized support within grade levels that SEAL is providing just brings about an extra layer of confidence.”

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This growing confidence is visible. Feaster now shares videos of teachers using SEAL strategies in their weekly bulletin, creating a bank of best practices and sparking peer-to-peer learning across the campus.

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Families at the Center

SEAL’s work at Feaster extends beyond classrooms to include families and the broader community. Already known for strong family engagement through programs like “Coffee and Community” and a parent-led campus lunch initiative, Feaster is now deepening these efforts with SEAL’s support.

“We definitely want to increase our home-to-school communication, so making sure that our parents also have those resources at home as well,” noted Galyen. “It’s not just these in-class resources. Now we’re sharing ideas and concepts with our families so that they can also embody these strategies.”

Parents are being equipped with tools to engage in collaborative conversations at home, ensuring SEAL’s impact extends well beyond the school day.

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Building a Roadmap for Sustainable Change

Though still early in our journey together, Feaster is already seeing transformation. From aligning instruction across grade levels to strengthening teacher confidence and family engagement, this partnership is laying the foundation for sustainable change.

“It’s creating best practices that are not just going to stop at the end of the school year, or that won’t just last one or two PLC [professional learning community] cycles,” emphasized Galyen. “Instead, it’s really your best practices, and then training that’s going to support those best practices and those skills within your staff.”

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Why Partnerships Like This Matter

Feaster Elementary’s story illustrates what’s possible when schools and SEAL work together: teachers feel supported, students thrive in joyful, language-rich classrooms, and families are empowered as partners in learning. For funders and partners, this collaboration is a reminder that investments in multilingual learner success yield lasting impact across entire school communities.

At SEAL, we are proud to stand alongside Feaster Elementary as they build consistency, confidence, and community—proving that systemic change is possible when we center equity, language, and joy in education.

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Mae L. Feaster Charter School, part of the Chula Vista Elementary School District, serves a vibrant TK–8 community committed to academic excellence, equity, and strong family engagement. Learn more about Feaster’s work by visiting https://feaster.cvesd.org/

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