After-school program · Since 1988

Helping San Francisco's students get back on track.

Free tutoring, homework help, and mentoring for K–12 students in the Fillmore. Built on an interfaith partnership that has lasted more than thirty years.

Enroll a student See the program

Afternoon light through tall arched windows falling on an open book and a desk

Established: 1988
Grades: K–12
Tuition: Free
Where: Fillmore, SF

A partnership of Third Baptist Church Temple Emanu-El Tindley Academy of Music

Our story

A partnership built across two faiths.

In 1988, Third Baptist Church and Temple Emanu-El crossed every line that usually divides two congregations to build one thing together: a place where San Francisco's children could thrive in school.

A pulpit exchange grew into a partnership, and the partnership grew into a tutoring program. Today Back on Track has reached more than 2,000 young people from every background across the city, and the partnership endures.

What can be achieved when communities unite across cultural and religious divides, guided by shared values and a commitment to justice. The Back on Track partnership

The program

Support that meets each student where they are.

We work with the whole child after the school day ends, in a calm place with people who know them well.

One-on-one tutoring

Help matched to each student's own classes: remedial, grade level, or enrichment.

Homework help

A quiet place and a patient guide, so students finish the day's work with someone in their corner.

Mentoring

Mentors who show up week after week and build real trust over time.

Test preparation

Practice and strategy to raise scores on standardized tests.

Music & the arts

Through the Tindley Academy of Music, students grow as artists alongside their academics.

Character & community

More than grades. Students find a community that expects their best and helps them reach it.

By the numbers

Nearly forty years of tutoring.

2,000+young people served

1988founded, still running

K–12every grade supported

3partner institutions

Heritage

Rooted in the Fillmore since 1852.

Third Baptist Church of San Francisco, with its tall bell tower and cross

Back on Track grew out of Third Baptist Church, founded in 1852 and the oldest African American Baptist church west of the Mississippi. The church sits on the corner of McAllister and Pierce, in a neighborhood once called the "Harlem of the West."

Rev. Dr. Amos C. Brown started the program. He has pastored Third Baptist since 1976, and he built it on one belief: lift a child's learning and you lift a whole community.

1852

Third Baptist Church beginsIt has served the community for more than 170 years.

1976

Rev. Dr. Amos C. BrownPastor, Freedom Rider, and student of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

1988

Back on Track beginsAn interfaith effort to keep students learning after school.

Enroll

Ready to enroll a student?

Back on Track welcomes students from every background. All they need is the desire to learn. Reach out to the church office and we will walk you through enrollment.

Call the church office Visit the program page

Visit: 1399 McAllister Street
San Francisco, CA 94115
Call: (415) 928-1130
Email: info@thirdbaptist.org