Welcome to the eighth and last issue of the School-Force Education Foundation eNewsletter for this school year.  Please email mailto:communications@schoolforce.orgif you wish to add or update an email address. If you do not have an ongoing relationship with the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District, please feel free to unsubscribe below.

 

 

President's Message:

 

 

The end of a school year is a rite of passage.  For children, it is a celebration.  For adults, it's a time to marvel at how quickly a year has passed and how much we all have learned and grown.  We celebrate, too.  

But this year we also understand that this milestone marks the close of a year that posed ever greater challenges to financing our children’s education. Despite the best intentions of both sides, our teachers and the District remain in contract negotiation impasse.  The School-Force Board is still learning about the situation and plans to e-mail donors next week with more information.

This past year was a particularly difficult one for public education.   School districts across our state are in a dilemma similar to or worse than ours.  Education as we know it has changed.  Ultimately, the blame lies with California's broken educational-funding system and the current macroeconomic situation, neither of which we can immediately control.

In the meantime,  we can influence our local schools now and in coming years through communication, dedication, and collaboration.  Look at our accomplishment this past year:  We came together and closed half a huge budget gap. We had impact.

“Thank you” seems an insufficient expression of gratitude to all those volunteers, staff, and donors who rose to the many challenges facing our district.

It is now time to rest a little before we pull up our bootstraps and dive into next year.  Working together, we can keep our schools strong and our community solid. Public education remains the great builder of communities, including ours.

 I ask that we all take a moment and celebrate our families' rites of passage.  Savoring  these last days of the semester will help us prepare to tackle next year’s challenges with continued energy and commitment.  Together, we can enable all our children to succeed and celebrate many more rites of passage in the future.

 

President, School-Force Education Foundation, & Parent, Central Elementary School

 

 

 

The School-Force Board has adjusted the suggested per-child contribution, Scholar’s Circle levels, and fundraising calendar, and added new board-level positions.
 
Even during the final days of this past Spring's I’m in! campaign, the School-Force Board was already planning the fundraising strategy for 2010-2011 to benefit the 2011-2012 school year.   Volunteer Jennifer Parkhurst, a Central parent and Professional Strategic Planner, has worked with the board to develop the following guidelines for 2010-2011 fundraising:

This past year's $3 million budget gap likely is not a temporary problem.  School-Force raised $1.5 million to narrow the gap, but state education funding next year and for the following couple of years looks similarly dismal.  To maintain a high-quality education in the district, School-Force must double its achievement and raise much closer to $3 million each year.
 
Suggested Per-Child Contribution: 

Based upon anticipated budget numbers, volunteer levels, donation levels, and assumptions about family participation rates, the School-Force Board suggests donations of $1200 per child in 2010-2011.  To put this in perspective, other local education foundations, including the San Carlos Education Foundation, plan to increase its suggested contribution to at least $1200 next year. 

ALL contributions at any level are appreciated and make a REAL difference.  We recognized some families can give more, some can give less, and some are not able to give at this time.  School-Force adjusted the suggested per-child amount to realistically reflect what is needed to close the significant anticipated gap. 

School-Force has also adjusted Scholar’s Circle levels for 2010-2011.   The following are the suggested contribution amounts and Scholar’s Circle levels for next year:
 
Suggested Contribution:
•    $1200 for one child in the district
•    $2400 for two children in the district
•    $600 for each additional child
 
Scholar's Circle Levels:
•    Scholar’s Circle: $2500 per family
•    Premier Scholar’s Circle: $5000 per family
•    Platinum Scholar’s Circle:  $10,000 per family
 
Adjustments to Community and Fundraising Calendar for 2010-11:

To decrease the pain of the annual pink-slip/rescind pink slip cycle that often occurs with the state budgeting timeline, most fundraising needs to be completed by the end of February.   Our friends in similar communities have established similar event and donation timetables for their education foundations. 

As recommended by the PTA Council’s Fundraising Advisory Committee and the School-Force Board, expect some changes to the community and fundraising events calendar in 2010-11... more details to come in fall:

 

Fall 2010         8th Annual "Save-The-Music, Save-Our-Schools" Festival - Sunday, October 3
                      Most PTA fundraising auctions
Winter 2011     Reading Power Read-a-thon
Spring 2011     Casino Royale fundraising auction

New School-Force Board Positions:
 
The I’m in! campaign engaged many new volunteers.  The board plans to use this momentum to keep these additional volunteers and make permanent some of the new roles created during the campaign. New School-Force Board level positions include Community Outreach Chair, Preschool/Pre-K Outreach Chair, Events Chair (Overseeing Casino Royale, Reading Power etc.), and Strategic Planning Chair.  Please see Volunteerism article below for a list of available volunteer opportunities.

 

 

 

 

 Powerful Reading!
 
Annual Reading Power Read-a-thon Raises over $205,000
 
Reading for hundreds of thousands of minutes from March 5 to March 14, elementary students throughout the district raised a record $205,683 for the School-Force Education Foundation.  Thanks to the sponsorship from extended family, friends, and neighbors, including supporters in Asia and Europe, each of the district's five elementary schools raised about twice the amount it raised in 2009.   One kindergarten Grandma offered a per-minute pledge and ended up donating over $1200!  Kicking off the April I’m In! campaign, the Read-a-thon helped save classroom teachers' jobs and other positions such as reading and science specialists and the upper-grade music instructors.

The kids  had a great time while raising money.  Hitting reading milestones earned a student a paper dolphin or dragon scale  to place on a display and to enter into random drawings for small but much sought-after prizes. At some schools,  students enjoyed pajama reading nights or small prizes awarded by secret spotters who saw kids reading.  Other top prizes awarded to individual readers and classrooms included Baskin-Robbins ice cream certificates, pizza parties, smoothie parties, Bounce U parties, certificates for Malibu mini-golf, Full Cast Audio audiobook sets, book store certificates and even an iPod nano!

 

 

Top individual readers at each school typically read thousands of minutes each and sometimes gave up activities, including watching TV, to reach their reading goals during the two-week event.  The top readers at each school were Gracie B (Central), Bakr Shehadeh (Cipriani), Mara Negrut (Fox), Celia Nishikawa (Nesbit), and Julia Q (Sandpiper).  Congratulations to these students and all the others who put in so much reading time!
 
Hundreds of children read their way into their school’s “Thousand Minute Club."   Membership in the Club was a great motivator, earning children a special certificate and an appearance in the annual club photo.  Some students discovered a love of reading that they didn’t know they had.  One Sandpiper fifth-grader was determined to raise money to save his pink-slipped teacher despite his own indifference toward reading.  Picking up a book that looked interesting, he discovered that he loved the series and realized something new about himself:  He loves to read.  And the teacher was rehired, too!
 
The Annual Reading Power Read-a-thon couldn’t happen without the many, many volunteers who helped organize, tally minutes, pass out prizes, plan parties, count donations and enter it all into spreadsheets and the database.  Huge thanks to the Reading Power Chairs at each school:  Carol Castro (Sandpiper); Nina Rezai (Fox); Angelka Tolu, Terri Marks, and Suzette Gulsen (Nesbit);  Maria Gallegos, Jennifer Taylor, Anne Rivello, and Wendy Garrish (Cipriani); and  Lisa Bernstein and Lisa Meltzer Penn (Central).  Tremendous thanks to Tracie Pon, the district-wide Reading Power chair this year. Much appreciation also goes to Wells Fargo Bank, which donated $6,000, covering the costs of the program.
 
Finally, many, many, thanks to all the grandparents, aunts, uncles, neighbors, friends and parents who sponsored a child for the Read-a-thon.  You not only helped saved jobs and quality education but encouraged a child to read.
 
Congratulations to EVERYONE for a job well done!

 

 

 

Belmont school district plans for two capital-improvement bonds
By Neil Gonzales, San Mateo County Times, Posted: 05/24/2010 11:10:54 PM PDT, Updated: 05/24/2010 11:10:54 PM PDT

BELMONT — The Belmont-Redwood Shores School District is considering two bond measures for the November election to upgrade campus buildings. Read more...

 

...While Las Lomitas took No. 1 for the state, Hillsborough placed No. 3 followed by Portola Valley at No. 9, Woodside at No. 19, Menlo Park at No. 21, Belmont-Redwood Shores and San Carlos tied at No. 59, and Burlingame at No. 68... Read more...