Before the first bell rang Monday morning, the campus of Bell Middle School in San Diego’s Paradise Hills neighborhood was already buzzing.
Welcoming nearly 95,000 back for the 2025-2026 school year, San Diego Unified School District began classes this week, including the 750 students who call Bell Middle School home.
Students, fresh in their back-to-school fits, chattered amongst each other, comparing schedules, taking selfies and reuniting with friends after the summer break.
At Bell Middle School, there is a lot for students, families and teachers to look forward to this year. In addition to new leadership, the school proudly boasts a thriving visual and performing arts program, an athletics department, a new wellness center and a recently earned title as one of America’s ‘healthiest schools’ by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation.
Principal Tamara Muhammad, who is a new leader to the school this year, said she wants “to see our community grow, both inside the school and outside.”
Muhammed will be filling the shoes of Precious Jackson-Hubbard, who spent a decade leading the school’s diverse student body.
Stepping into her new tenure, Muhammed previously served as principal at Franklin Elementary STEAM Magnet, bringing with her a focus on equity, innovation and student-centered learning.
“When I think of Bell, I think of possibilities. I see greatness in every scholar and can’t wait to get started,” said Muhammed.
For academics, the district reports gains in statewide assessments, with English Language Arts (ELA) scores inching up to 54.2% proficiency and math to 43.9%.
Performance gaps do remain however for students of color, both locally and nationwide.
The ELA literacy rates for African American students in the district, for instance, lags 30 percentage points behind in comparison to their white peers, according to the San Diego Council on Literacy.
For the newest District Superintendent, Fabiola Bagula, Ph.D, it’s “not only a problem, but it’s actually a very, very big concern.”
One of the ways the district is targeting the gap is by deploying over 27 literacy coaches in schools that have the highest population of students who need reading support.
In addition, improving student literacy rates is also factored into district leadership’s “Goals and Guardrails” strategy, which refers to a set of objectives adopted by the school board last year, along with the infrastructure created to monitor progress toward those goals from now to 2030.
The district has also created an “accountability” calendar, accessible to anyone interested in checking the progress on district iniatives.
Core components the district is focused on include literacy, mathematics, graduation rates and “more importantly, wellness,” said Bagula.
Bell Middle School, the site for the district’s back-to-school media day, has been a pillar of the Southeastern community for generations. According to Bagula, the school was chosen specifically for its excellence in wellness.
The title as one of ‘America’s healthiest schools’ comes from the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, an award program recognizing K-12 schools that excel in promoting student, staff and family well-being.
Best practices for addressing the social and emotional needs of students today can be found in room 208 on Bell’s campus, also known as the ‘Wellness Room’.
The room is one of 12 wellness centers located on campuses across San Diego Unified’s district where students can receive trauma-informed care, counseling and resource referrals for housing and food insecurity.
A sharp contrast to the noise outside, walking into the room to the wellness space felt like being transported to a gentle retreat, with words of affirmation taped to the wall — reminders to breathe—calming lights, books, and bean bags.
For Nereida Rivera, the wellness center coordinator, this was her intention for the room: to create an enjoyable and safe space.
“We want mental health to be fun… I think that’s part of destigmatizing it, especially within our communities,” said Rivera.
Bell Middle School is rich in diversity. Providing cultural competency in their therapeutic approach is a must, Rivera said.
“In everything that we do, we always have to look at [cultural competency], because that’s how we’re going to be able to be more impactful,” said Rivera.
The school’s wellness center also maintains a supportive website featuring resources ranging from hotlines and LGBTQ-affirming care to counseling, legal clinics, food assistance, transportation support, and more.
From closing literacy gaps to fostering safe spaces and celebrating cultural diversity, Bell Middle School has positioned itself not just as a place of learning but as a hub of opportunity and belonging for the Southeastern San Diego community.
