San Francisco jail inmates earn high-school diplomas

SAN BRUNO, Calif. - June is graduation season and inside County Jail Three in San Bruno, a special group of scholars celebrated their accomplishments and showed off their newly-earned high school diplomas.

Inside County Jail Three in San Bruno 16 men marched to the front of the class, wearing black robes over their orange jail uniforms, doing something they never thought they'd do behind bars; earn their high school diploma. Their principal proud of her students accomplishments. "My heart is so, so full," said Terese Bravo, Five Keys Principal at SF County Jail. "It's been a challenging three years for us here and we've been there for these guys. But, they've been there for us as well."

The graduates each completed a full high school curriculum, not a GED program. Their education, like most students impacted by COVID, instead of the regular classroom experience many had to take packets of work back to their housing unit, and find the motivation to complete them on their own. In fact this is the first in-person, in custody, graduation since the pandemic.

Daniel Mojica-Franco was among those who spoke at this graduation ceremony, saying he and his fellow students learned about themselves and their capabilities. "We have some proof now that our hard work can pay off and that even through adverse circumstances we can challenge ourselves and come out on top," said Mojica-Franco.

Sheriff Paul Miyamoto said education was central to their mission when they built this jail in 2005. He said they literally built the school at the very center of the jail and worked their way outward.

The path that led these students to be incarcerated here can now lead them to new opportunities, opportunities they may have never imagined for themselves. "It is very challenging, working in this environment," said Sheriff Miyamoto. "Celebrating positive moments like this give us all energy to keep going."

Five Keys Charter School has administered high school classes for 20 years. Steve Good says while many students get their GED while in custody, fewer than 2,000 have received full high-school diplomas. He said he'd like to attend high school graduations like this in all of California's 58 counties. "It never ceases to amaze me the concept of; go to jail and get a high school diploma," said Good. "That should be the norm across the state."

Mojica-Franco said mental health issues and bad decisions led him here, but now he's ready for the future. "For me it's not just a diploma or not just a benchmark but has also been a positive outlet for my energy and my time, while I'm incarcerated," said Mojica-Franco. "So rather than just stewing on my failures, focus on my future and my success."

These grads were given two final homework assignments, first when they get back to their pods and explain to those around them who aren't currently enrolled in school how good and how proud they feel of their accomplishment. 

Their final high school assignment is to start work on their college applications.