Help Local Kids Excel in School

Helping Kids Excel in School

Through your donation to United Way California Capital Region, you are donating specifically to help grow, expand and even launch new programs designed to help local children excel in school.

Be it building an early love of learning and literacy for young children, helping children who fall behind to catch up and need extra tutoring or supporting current and former foster youth in and out of the classroom, these programs are crucial to helping kids excel in school.

Through your Big Day of Giving donation, you are supporting these four key programs:

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

Access to books is critical to ending illiteracy. Early access to books is an important first step to exceling in life. The most significant factors influencing a child’s early educational success is an introduction to books and being read to at home prior to beginning school. Dolly Parton's Imagination Library ensures children receive new books every month until they turn five-years-old.

KinderCamp

According to the US Department of Education, 6 out of 10 children are not prepared for kindergarten. KinderCamp, a school readiness program for incoming kindergartners, prepares children who didn’t have the opportunity to attend preschool. Run in classrooms on an elementary school site each summer, students participate in a variety of learning opportunities focused on increasing skills in math, literacy, social interactions, problem-solving and cause/effect. Every day a child attends, the child returns home with a brand-new book. Children also receive a healthy lunch, participate in a weekly Kids Farmer’s Market and receive hygiene education.

Literacy Tutoring

Pandemic-related learning disruptions have caused many students to fall further behind. Our Literacy Tutoring program (formerly known as “STARS”) pairs volunteers with students K-6 in multiple school districts and community sites to provide reading tutoring. Together, the tutor and student work through literacy curriculum and build vocabulary, fluency and comprehension skills through games, books and lessons. Reading is critical to success, and students receiving regular sustained support show increased academic achievement.

Foster Youth Support

To increase the likelihood of self-sufficiency after aging out of the foster care system, our Foster Youth Support program with San Juan Unified School District provides academic intervention and supportive services to local K-8 foster youth to assist in increasing self-sufficiency and preparing them for success later in life. United Way California Capital Region recently announced a new initiative, the Collegiate Guaranteed Income Program, that will provide $500 per month to 10 former foster youth who are attending college. See the amazing moment when those students were surprised to learn about their admission into this program!