The San Diego Foundation has awarded $2 million to 14 nonprofit partners with the intent of promoting post-pandemic academic and social recovery for students, officials said Thursday.
The grants will fund summer programming to achieve the education goals.
“Recent studies reflect greater learning loss than originally estimated for students compared to pre-pandemic levels, especially for those furthest from opportunity,” said Mark Stuart, president and CEO of the foundation. “These after-school and summer programs provide equitable access to expanded learning opportunities, so students thrive in school and life.”
Since it launched its Expanded Learning programs in 2021, the foundation has awarded more than $31 million in grants to 176 nonprofits, serving more than 50,000 students throughout San Diego County.
The grants ranged from $60,000 to $165,000. Recipients include:
- Boys and Girls Club of Oceanside – $155,000 to provide youth, ages 11-18, with full-day summer science, technology, reading, engineering, arts and math programming, alongside traditional enrichment activities;
- Center on Policy Initiatives: $150,000 for its Community Leadership for Community Schools project, which trains students and parents to advocate for themselves and their communities;
- Classroom of the Future Foundation: $150,000 to teach indigenous North Inland and low-income Southern San Diego County students about the use of robotics and adaptive technology, and to use artificial intelligence tutoring to address learning loss;
- Monarch School Project: $163,000 to serve 300 unhoused students over the summer, providing a safe place, an opportunity to engage in enrichment opportunities and continue academic progress;
- Olivewood Gardens & Learning Center: $165,000 to provide four weeks of educational programming for National City and South San Diego third through sixth graders focusing on environmental and climate science, garden and nutrition education, art and creative design;
- San Diego Community College District Auxiliary Organization: $150,000 in support of Tutor-to-Teacher, a program that offers high school students from underrepresented communities college-level instruction and supports the formation of professional self-identity as emerging teachers;
- Vista Community Clinic: $160,000 to teach Vista middle schoolers entrepreneurship basics during a 12-week summer program embedded within the clinic REACH program.
– City News Service