[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.bellusacademy.edu\/beauty-school-news\/2026-capps-excellence-in-community-service-award\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.bellusacademy.edu\/beauty-school-news\/2026-capps-excellence-in-community-service-award\/","headline":"2026 CAPPS Excellence in Community Service Award","name":"2026 CAPPS Excellence in Community Service Award","description":"Bellus Academy Earns Bronze at the 2026 CAPPS Excellence in Community Service Awards Giving back has always been part of Bellus Academy\u2019s identity. It\u2019s built into the training, ...","datePublished":"2026-05-07","dateModified":"2026-05-07","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.bellusacademy.edu\/author\/slawrence\/#Person","name":"Sheila Lawrence","url":"https:\/\/www.bellusacademy.edu\/author\/slawrence\/","identifier":17,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/08644beb1ef2e50a787266cfe8177f556e5d7683453550ded124d5d50781803f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/08644beb1ef2e50a787266cfe8177f556e5d7683453550ded124d5d50781803f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Bellus Academy","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Purple_Logo_Bellus_horizontal.png","url":"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Purple_Logo_Bellus_horizontal.png","width":600,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.bellusacademy.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Image-47-scaled-e1778177576837.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.bellusacademy.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Image-47-scaled-e1778177576837.jpg","height":1527,"width":2560},"url":"https:\/\/www.bellusacademy.edu\/beauty-school-news\/2026-capps-excellence-in-community-service-award\/","about":["Beauty School News"],"wordCount":1368,"articleBody":"Bellus Academy Earns Bronze at the 2026 CAPPS Excellence in Community Service AwardsGiving back has always been part of Bellus Academy\u2019s identity. It\u2019s built into the training, the culture, and the way students understand their craft. Now, that commitment has earned statewide recognition.Bellus Academy is proud to announce that our Chula Vista campus has been named the Bronze Award winner in the 2026 CAPPS Excellence in Community Service Awards, presented by the California Association of Private Postsecondary Schools (CAPPS). This award recognizes CAPPS member schools that have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to their local communities through service learning, civic engagement, and community impact.This recognition is a reflection of what happens every week at Bellus Academy. Students and educators show up, serve their neighbors, and discover that beauty and wellness training is about far more than technique.About the CAPPS Excellence in Community Service AwardThe CAPPS Excellence in Community Service Awards have recognized outstanding private postsecondary schools across California since 2016. Each year, CAPPS evaluates member schools on the scope of their service programs, the depth of their community impact, and how meaningfully those programs are integrated into student learning.The award is presented in two categories: Large Schools (four or more campuses) and Small Schools (one to three campuses). This structure ensures that schools of every size have the opportunity to compete and be recognized for the impact they create.Earning a place on this podium means more than a trophy. It means a school\u2019s commitment to its community has been evaluated, verified, and recognized alongside some of California\u2019s most dedicated educational institutions. Bellus Academy has now appeared on the CAPPS community service multiple times, earning Silver in 2024 and Bronze in 2026.A Year of Service: By the NumbersCommunity service at Bellus Academy isn’t occasional. It’s continuous. Over the past year, here’s what that looked like across San Diego County:Participated in 46 community service and fashion events across San Diego CountyEvents taking place two to four times per month, throughout the year836 student participations and 138 educator participations across all events1,657 professional beauty and wellness services delivered to more than 1,000 individualsAn estimated economic value of $27,560 to $46,640 in services providedThose services included haircuts, hairstyling, makeup applications, waxing, esthetic treatments, and manicures, delivered by students across cosmetology, barbering, esthetics, and spa nail programs. Behind every number is a person who received professional care they might not otherwise have been able to accessThe Partners Who Make It PossibleCommunity service at Bellus Academy is built on long-term partnerships with organizations throughout San Diego County. This past year, students and educators worked alongside Alpha Project, the San Diego Rescue Mission, Veterans Village of San Diego, Alpha Family Shelter, TEDxSanDiego, high school cadet programs, and a range of nonprofit organizations and community events.At the San Diego Rescue Mission\u2019s Christmas Outreach Meal, Floyd Carmona and the Bellus Academy team provided 75 haircuts alongside a holiday meal served to 936 neighbors, 41 showers, and the distribution of 580 resource bags. Peyton Abramson, Manager of Volunteer Programs at the San Diego Rescue Mission, shared:\u201cTheir dedication made a meaningful difference, providing haircuts that offered far more than a fresh look. It restored confidence, dignity, and a sense of being seen during a season that can feel especially difficult.\u201dPeyton Abramson, Manager of Volunteer Programs, San Diego Rescue MissionAt TEDxSanDiego, Bellus Academy students and educators styled nine speakers and 55 performing artists for the event. Audrey Jacobs, TEDxSanDiego Chief Connector and Curator, described the Bellus Academy team as \u201ca true partner in excellence.\u201dA resident served through the Alpha Family Shelter captured the deeper meaning of these moments simply and directly:\u201cI am grateful for Bellus Academy because they not only provide haircuts and manicures, but they truly care about us.\u201dService Learning That Goes Beyond the ClassroomWhat sets Bellus Academy\u2019s community service apart isn\u2019t just the volume of events. It\u2019s how deeply those experiences are connected to student training. Community service isn\u2019t something that happens on the side; it\u2019s woven into the educational experience across all programs.Students apply the skills they\u2019re developing in cosmetology, barbering, esthetics, and spa nail programs in real-world environments including community centers, shelters, fashion events, and charitable programs. They work with real clients, real tools, and real outcomes. In those moments, they develop not only technical confidence but also the professional skills that matter most: communication, teamwork, preparation, and empathy.After many service events, students participate in structured reflection, discussing what they learned, how they connected with clients, and how their work contributed to someone\u2019s well-being. These conversations often become the moments when training transforms into purpose.These initiatives are coordinated by Floyd Carmona, Bellus Academy\u2019s Event and Community Outreach Coordinator and a veteran himself, who works closely with campus educators, nonprofit partners, and community organizations to create opportunities for students to serve while deepening their professional training.The Stories That Stay With YouThe impact of Bellus Academy\u2019s service programs isn\u2019t measured only in numbers. Some of the most powerful outcomes are the ones you can\u2019t quantify.Barbering student and Marine veteran Ivan Lopez volunteered at Veterans Village of San Diego, where he gave a haircut and straight razor shave to a homeless veteran preparing for a job interview. When Ivan returned to volunteer the next time, that veteran found him with news: he\u2019d landed the job. Today, that same veteran is no longer homeless, and he now comes to Bellus Academy regularly for his haircut. As Ivan put it, \u201cSometimes something as simple as a haircut can change the direction of someone\u2019s life.\u201dThe impact of Bellus Academy\u2019s service programs isn\u2019t measured only in numbers. Some of the most powerful outcomes are the ones you can\u2019t quantify.Barbering student and Marine veteran Ivan Lopez volunteered at Veterans Village of San Diego, where he gave a haircut and straight razor shave to a homeless veteran preparing for a job interview. When Ivan returned to volunteer the next time, that veteran found him with news: he\u2019d landed the job. Today, that same veteran is no longer homeless, and he now comes to Bellus Academy regularly for his haircut. As Ivan put it, \u201cSometimes something as simple as a haircut can change the direction of someone\u2019s life.\u201dFloyd Carmona describes meeting a woman at an Alpha Project outreach event in Barrio Logan who had been a cosmetologist in Afghanistan before arriving in the United States as a refugee. At the outreach event, she received a haircut and information about Bellus Academy. Months later, she walked through the doors of the Chula Vista campus as a new student. Her name is Somaya Jafari, and Floyd describes her as \u201cone of the most talented and driven students on our campus.\u201dThese stories aren\u2019t the exception. They are the pattern.What This Recognition Means for Bellus AcademyThe 2026 CAPPS Bronze Award is a meaningful recognition, and it also points forward. Bellus Academy\u2019s formal commitment to participating in scheduled service events with partners like Alpha Project and the San Diego Rescue Mission reflects a long-term dedication that doesn\u2019t end with an award cycle.For students, this recognition reinforces something they discover through experience: that the beauty and wellness profession is one of the few trades where showing up to serve someone, really serve them, can change the direction of a life. Sometimes that life belongs to the person in the chair. Sometimes it belongs to the student standing behind it.Giving back is part of who we are at Bellus Academy. This award is a reflection of that, and a reminder that our work in the community is just getting started.Learn More or Get InvolvedIf you\u2019re exploring a career in beauty and wellness, Bellus Academy offers programs in cosmetology, barbering, esthetics, and spa nail technology across campuses in Chula Vista, El Cajon, Poway, and Manhattan, Kansas. Training at Bellus Academy means hands-on education in the Bellus Academy Student Salon and Spa, and the chance to be part of a community that gives back.Request information at bellusacademy.edu or call 888-990-7094."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Beauty School News","item":"https:\/\/www.bellusacademy.edu\/beauty-school-news\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"2026 CAPPS Excellence in Community Service Award","item":"https:\/\/www.bellusacademy.edu\/beauty-school-news\/2026-capps-excellence-in-community-service-award\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]