Supporting outdoor spaces for learning and eating
Dear friends and neighbors,
We share the concerns we're hearing from our students, families and educators about the need for greater infrastructure and support for schools to safely navigate opening schools during the worsening COVID-19 Delta variant. DPS Foundation has been working closely with DPS to find ways to support immediate needs including outdoor spaces for learning and eating.
We know some individual schools have been fundraising and putting in place solutions for these pressing needs. DPS Foundation is coordinating with the district to develop an approach that can meet district-wide needs. By centralizing support toward district-wide efforts we can:
Ensure that supplies being purchased are aligned with district and legal requirements and are compatible with other measures put in place by the district.
Take advantage of efficiencies with bulk orders, assembly and installation and having comparable equipment across sites for maintenance and replacement.
Equitably distribute resources across the district.
At last night's School Board meeting they approved the purchase of picnic tables but acknowledged that they won’t begin to arrive until October. We're working with the district to identify other supplies that can be purchased and distributed more immediately.
There are 3 ways you can help:
Tell us what your school needs - Schools can fill out this form to request funds from DPS Foundation for purchasing supplies for using outdoor space. We will coordinate these requests with DPS to do bulk orders of high-quality supplies. The form will stay open but we strongly encourage schools to submit requests by Wednesday, September 1st to have your request considered for the first round of purchases.
We are sending this form to all school principals. Anyone can fill out this form but we request that you coordinate with your schools' principal on what is requested. We will ask principals to approve all orders for their school.
Find out about potential volunteer needs - Sign-up here if you are interested in potentially volunteering to support this work as it evolves. We are asking schools if they have volunteer needs and working with the district to identify if there are ways to utilize volunteers that mitigate health risks with COVID-19.
Donate - click here to support this work by making a one-time contribution or becoming a monthly sustainer. Your support will help ensure DPS Foundation is ready to quickly respond to our schools' needs and equitably fund our schools.
You can also click here to learn about the $300,000 School Reopening Grant that DPS Foundation did in partnership with funds from Duke University last spring. Those grants included funding to 29 schools for outdoor spaces.
Thank you for continuing to rally around our public school communities.