June 1, 2023 – San Diego –  San Diego Foundation announced today that it has awarded $2 million in grants to 15 nonprofit partners providing summer programming that promotes post-pandemic academic and social recovery of K – 12 students in San Diego County.

“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 & CEO of San Diego Foundation. “These after-school and summer programs provide equitable access to expanded learning opportunities, so students thrive in school and life.”

Since launching its Expanded Learning programs in 2021, San Diego Foundation has awarded more than $31 million in grants to 176 nonprofit partners, serving more than 50,000 students throughout San Diego County.

Grant recipients providing 2023 and 2024 summer camp and leadership development experiences in North, East and South County include:

  • A Step Beyond – $100,000 to halt summer learning loss, build academic skills and confidence and support wellness and development of relationships with peers and staff in North Inland San Diego County.
  • Boys and Girls Club of Oceanside – $155,000 to provide Oceanside youth, ages 11-18, with full-day summertime science, technology, reading, engineering, arts and math (STREAM) programming, alongside traditional enrichment, recreational and career empowerment activities.
  • Center on Policy Initiatives – $150,000 for its Community Leadership for Community Schools project that trains and empowers 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 (AI) tutoring to address learning loss.
  • Fleet Science Center – $135,000 for its STEAM2You Summer Camp where campers from South San Diego County engage in project-based science investigations that foster creative thinking and problem-solving skills.
  • Girls Inc. of San Diego County – $125,000 for its Eureka! Program that is built around an intensive five-year college access and opportunity strategy for seventh to 12th graders from North Central and North Inland San Diego County.
  • Media Arts Center San Diego – $100,000 for a summer program where teaching artists use media arts and digital literacy tools to augment English Language Arts and math curriculum through visual storytelling for students from North Coastal and North Inland San Diego County.
  • Monarch School Project – $163,000 to serve 300 unhoused students over the summer, providing a safe place to be, an opportunity to engage in valuable enrichment opportunities and continue their critical academic progress.
  • Olivewood Gardens & Learning Center – $165,000 to provide four weeks of full-day 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 dual enrollment program that offers high school students from underrepresented communities college-level instruction and supports the formation of professional self-identity as emerging teachers.
  • San Diego Youth Symphony – $145,000 to provide Chula Vista Elementary School District students with three-week, multi-level comprehensive music camps.
  • SAY San Diego – $150,000 for leadership development and advocacy training for school and health equity with young people and their parents.
  • Vista Community Clinic – $160,000 to teach Vista middle schoolers about entrepreneurship basics during a 12-week summer program embedded within VCC REACH programs.
  • Young Echelon – $60,000 to introduce campers from North, East and South San Diego County to the world of robotics to help them better understand the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) concepts used in modern manufacturing.
  • Youth Empowerment – $125,000 for a leadership development program focused on bringing the voices of youth from communities most in need in San Diego into advocacy efforts that support effective expanded learning programming that benefits youth, families and the larger San Diego community.

About San Diego Foundation

San Diego Foundation inspires enduring philanthropy and enables community solutions to improve the quality of life in our region. Our strategic priorities include advancing racial and social justice, fostering equity of opportunity, building resilient communities, and delivering world-class philanthropy to realize our vision of just, equitable and resilient communities. The Education Initiatives support K-12 and higher education programs to extend opportunity to San Diego students as they prepare for success in life and work. For more than 47 years, SDF and its donors have granted more than $1.4 billion to support nonprofit organizations strengthening our community. Learn more at SDFoundation.org.

Contact

Lorena Nava Ruggero, lruggero@sdfoundation.org, 619-814-1365