Bill’s Word: Exciting New Programs at AEF!

Dear Friend,

I am very excited to share with you several new programs the Foundation is launching that will strengthen the impact we make on student success in Alameda!

Summer High School We are very pleased to announce that Summer School for high school students is coming to Alameda this summer! The Summer School program will be offered by Las Virgenes Educational Foundation (LVEF), a WASC accredited organization. The Foundation is partnering with LVEF to enable this to happen. A variety of classes will be available such as Chemistry, Economics, Geometry, Fine Arts and more. These will be “go ahead” classes that will provide more learning opportunities for our students and help them with their Fall – Spring schedules. The LVEF Program will use AUSD curriculum and materials. More information on courses and registration will be available on our website in March.

College Finances 101. We all know that college debt has skyrocketed, and we are trying to do something about that. This Spring we will hold two college finance presentations to help students and their parents understand what type of aid is available, the difference between various types of loans, the long range cost of various options, and how to reduce one’s college debt. These FREE sessions will be offered on Saturdays, March 15th in the Encinal High cafeteria and March 22 in the Alameda High Little Theatre. Both sessions are 10 to 11:30 AM. More information is available on our website.

Sophomore Counseling. Another new program launching this month is Sophomore Counseling. Students and their parents/guardians will meet with counselors during after-school hours (so working parents can attend) to discuss 11th and 12th grade course selection, appropriate college and career goals, standardized tests, and the college application process. The Sophomore Counseling program is a proven and successful model that we expect will increase graduation and college acceptance rates for our students. The program happens at Alameda High, Encinal High, and ASTI (Alameda Science and Technology Institute).  Thank you to VF Outdoor for underwriting this vital program.

Incoming Freshman Information Nights. For the second year, we are offering information nights for Alameda public school 8th graders and their parents to help them learn more about what to expect in high school. These sessions will be onMay 15th (at Kofman Auditorium) and May 22nd (At Encinal High cafeteria), from 6:30 – 7:30 PM. More details are here.

These programs are managed by our Enrichment Program, led by Sarah Olaes. To say that Sarah has been busy might be an understatement!

And if that were not enough, our existing programs continue to run gangbusters.

Adopt A Classroom (AAC). This year our goal was to adopt 150 classrooms and I’m happy to say that we will be exceeding that goal by the time the program ends for the school year in March. January was an especially busy month with AAC chair Kathie Woulfe and I setting speed records to make 23 presentations at 14 schools in one day!

We love it when Alameda businesses get into the action. In January, we were able to make adoptions to teachers in need thanks to many businesses who are part of the Park Street Business Association. Please learn more about these businesses here. Our friends at VF Outdoor contributed $15,000 this year to the Adopt A Classroom program. With this generous donation, we were able to adopt elementary PE and middle/high music teachers in January and will be adopting middle/high science/technology teachers in February.

Middle School Sports. Basketball is underway in both the girls and boys divisions. Our Middle School Sports program is open to all Alameda public middle schools. When we began the program in 2009, there were three middle schools. Now there are seven schools with six teams competing (ACLC and Nea are combined)! We are happy to be able to expand the reach of this program to so many more student-athletes by providing our program to all schools. Girls playoffs and championships are February 18th and February 25th and boys playoffs begin March 25th. A full schedule and results may be found here. Our Athletic Director, Marty Garchar, has done wonders trying to schedule 6 teams with only 3 school gyms to work with. Track & Field begins right after spring break on.  Online registration for Track & Field begins February 28th.

After School Enrichment and Summer Camps. Back to Sarah again – our Winter/Spring sessions of Enrichment classes are underway and registration for our Summer Enrichment Camps begins February 13th. We have increased the number of summer programs and are excited to be able to offer a wide variety of high quality camps in areas such as aviation, marine science, Mandarin, Spanish, drama, computer programming, movie making, music and much more! You can check out all the offerings here.

Salute to Education! Our annual event is on Friday, April 25th, 6 – 9 PM at Rhythmix Cultural Works. We are always excited to host this special evening that recognizes innovative programs in our schools; honors teachers, staff and volunteers; and thanks our business supporters. Our new venue this year will enable us to have a more sophisticated, urban environment as we network and socialize, but it is smaller so be sure to purchase your tickets soon! Advance tickets remain at the low price of $30 and include gourmet hors d’oeuvres and a glass of wine. We are thrilled to announce that Cafe Q will again be catering this event!

Last, but not least, on behalf our our board, I would like to announce that Vicki Sedlack, our prior Community Outreach Director, has been named AEF’s Executive Director. We are excited to have Vicki take on this needed role and to help the Foundation and community continue to support student success.

Sincerely,

Bill Sonneman, President

P.s. Please consider a gift today to the Alameda Education Foundation and help support student success for Alameda students!  Donate Now!