The Foundation operates two core programs--Classroom Grants to Teachers
and Berkeley School Volunteers along with special projects that provide
leadership and support for our schools.
Classroom Grants to Teachers
Classroom grants reward teachers who devise energetic, creative ways
to teach better. The Foundation's Grants Committee reviews applications
submitted by teachers every fall. Grants--this year, nearly $138,000--are
awarded to teachers at every school in every subject, often funding programs
that simply would not otherwise exist. On occasion the Foundation makes
other grants to improve our schools. Click here
for a complete list of the Foundation's most recent grants.
 "Foundation grants encourage my teaching to go deeper, individualizing things for each student," says one longtime grant recipient.
Berkeley School Volunteers
In 1991 the Foundation launched Berkeley School Volunteers, which this year recruited more than 50,000 hours of volunteer time and talent. Volunteers are recruited from local businesses, community members, and individuals. Activities range from regular classroom tutoring to one-time school gardening and clean-up days or the innovative read-aloud classroom event, "Drop Everything and Read Day." Click here for a complete list of current Berkeley School Volunteer opportunities.
Leadership and Support - Special Projects
Over the years, the Foundation has strengthened our schools by providing a wide range of leadership and support services. Here are some highlights.
Berkeley High School Health Center
Many students at Berkeley High School have no health coverage--and even those
who do often go without education and treatment when sensitive adolescent
health issues, such as family problems, drug education, or sexually transmitted
diseases, arise.
In 1991 concerned teachers and health care providers envisioned a clinic that would offer all students comprehensive and confidential health services. The School District was interested, but had few resources. Health Center supporters came to the Foundation, which provided fundraising advice and technical assistance to secure the first grants. Today the Health Center serves hundreds of students each year and is a statewide model for youth healthcare delivery. The Foundation continues as the non-profit fiscal agent.
Elementary School Music Program
In 1994, a budget crisis compelled the School Board to eliminate elementary school music instruction. Teachers and parents quickly rallied, but needed $256,000, fast, to save the program.
They approached the Foundation, which led the campaign that eventually raised more than $300,000 and featured a rare acoustic concert by The Grateful Dead. (The family of Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh had moved to Berkeley in the 1950s so Phil could participate in the city's renowned music curriculum.)
The Foundation went beyond raising money to overcome the crisis. Its role included working on a ballot measure that provided long-term funding for music through the Berkeley Schools Enrichment Project.
Today, music is thriving in Berkeley schools. Together, we brought it back.
Science Curriculum Enrichment Grades K-8
In 1993 the Bayer Corporation awarded the Foundation an unsolicited 30-year grant, of $10,000 per year, to strengthen the elementary school science curriculum. The grant has been used to bring back junior high school science fairs (which had been eliminated due to budget constraints) and launch special projects in local elementary schools.
Most recently, the Bayer grant has enabled the Foundation to provide
essential science textbooks to each elementary school. In the spring of
2004, fifth graders throughout the state were required to take the California
Standards Test in science, which will count this year for the first time.
Midyear cuts by the State in textbook allowance, from $62 to $22 per student,
meant that some Berkeley schools did not have the funds for the $41 textbook
upon which the science test is based. The Foundation awarded up to $10,000
to buy the books up on which students will be tested, and local schools
will be judged.
Rosa Parks (formerly Columbus) Elementary School
After the Loma Prieta earthquake damaged Columbus Elementary School, a replacement school was designed by a committee of parents, teachers, and neighbors. They envisioned a new kind of school that would educate children, strengthen families, and build community well beyond normal school hours.
When the School Board found it impossible to close the $1.3 million gap needed to build this new school, the committee approached the Foundation. By itself the Foundation was not capable of launching a capital campaign of this magnitude. Rather, we brought together other foundations, government agencies, and various private interests in a unique collaborative effort.
Over three years, the Foundation spearheaded a volunteer-led fundraising
drive that raised the money needed to make Rosa Parks "a school that's
more than a school." With a state-of-the-art science lab, a computer
lab accessible to the entire community, an expanded playing field and
indoor recreation facility, and a comprehensive family support center,
Rosa Parks is a national model for giving students and their families
all the tools they need to succeed.
Longfellow Arts & Technology Middle School
"Build a Theater, Build a Dream"
In 1999 the School District completed a $10.7 million project that has
transformed south Berkeley's Longfellow School, built as an elementary
school in 1923, into an award-winning middle school focused on arts and
technology.
The jewel in the crown of this beautiful facility is the "new" theater, the result of the "Build a Theater, Build a Dream" campaign led by the Foundation, which generated $430,000 in private and federal money to provide a state-of-the-art performance space replete with expanded stage, sound and light systems, and theater-style seating.
This campaign took advantage of a once-in-a-generation opportunity to turn a good school into a great community asset. Capitalizing on a relatively low bid for the theater by the contractor already on site for Measure A school bond construction, the School District was able, with the extra funds raised from this campaign, to provide not only a suitable space for Longfellow's innovative arts and technology curriculum, but to make available to one of Berkeley's most underserved communities a stunning new performance and meeting facility.
Early Literacy
In 1997 Berkeley launched one of California's first Early Literacy Programs, which is increasingly considered one of the state's best.
Aimed at enabling all students to read fluently by third grade, the Program
uses a range of techniques--individual coaching, small group discussions,
and books for different ability levels, different interests, different
cultural backgrounds.
In the Program's second year, standardized test scores rose a full 10%.
This year, 75% of Berkeley third-graders proved themselves able readers.
Donna Van Noord, the School District's Literacy Coordinator, credits our
entire community for these promising results. "I work with educators
throughout California," she says, "and they're dazzled by the
depth and breadth of this community's commitment to literacy."
The Berkeley Public Education Foundation this year continued its support
of Early Literacy with a $10,000 Districtwide grant to build libraries
of "Guided Reading" books that teachers use with small, ability-matched
groups of fourth- and fifth-grade students to teach how to learn
from reading.
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