Durham Public Schools Foundation

Critical Response Programs: Accelerating Digital Equity - We awarded $310,000 to projects advancing true digital equity, bringing the total for Accelerating Digital Equity to more than $1.8 million. We worked with district, school and community partners to quickly deploy funds in support of digital equity in our public schools.We funded projects to advance true digital equity through digital literacy, access to technology, teacher training, and providing a safe, supportive learning environment for our most vulnerable students to engage with online learning.Through partnerships with Kates Korner, Student U, and the YMCA, ADE funds provided 300+ free spots in HOPE Learning Centers for students needing a safe, supportive learning environment during school closures. In FY21/22, we funded Conectate digital literacy workshops that helped 112 parents with little to no computer experience connect with their school and their children's education. Based out of five elementary schools, instructors taught classes in basic and advanced computer literacy, in either English or Spanish, with dinner and childcare provided. Participants who completed the training received a laptop to take home, thanks to our partners at Lenovo. COVID response - Our Outdoor Eating and Learning Fund supported 34 Durham Public Schools (DPS) locations in improving their outdoor learning spaces. We distributed a total of $127,300, which schools used to purchase items such as picnic tables, outdoor seating, walkie talkies, garden supplies, lap desks, permanent shade structures, and water filling stations. Funds from the community also provided 600 grocery store gift cards to 10 elementary schools to help DPS staff support families after the holiday season. WHOLE Schools Movement - In spring of 2022, we launched WHOLE Schools in partnership with Durham Public Schools and Duke Health to answer the big question: What does a model Durham Public School do to ensure all students and adults in the school community have the mental health resources they need to thrive? WHOLE (Wellness, Healing, Opportunity, Learning, and Equity) Schools is specifically working with two demonstration schools to create these models. We are also providing community engagement through the WHOLE Schools Grant Fund, peer education through the WHOLE Schools ambassadors program, a WHOLE-istic Wellness Fair, and a WHOLE-istic Healing Festival. In June, at the close of the school year and with another school shooting in the national news, over 300 community members gathered for the WHOLE-istic Healing Festival, a joyful day of healing for our school communities. Attendees enjoyed free food,participated in free wellness activities such as yoga, meditation, and zumba and games, and met with representatives from various health and wellness partner organizations.

Equity Through Innovation - Students, educators, families, and community leaders come together to create innovative, transformative learning environments that ensure all our students not only attend school together, but thrive together. We supported the pilots and scaling of promising new programs and strategies like outdoor education and learning in 34 schools,75 paid student internships within DPS' IT department, training 100 teachers in personalized project-based learning, and LEADurham - an online course training students and teachers in social justice and advocacy. In October, 140+ people came together on Zoom for a virtual conversation about Race, Class & Privilege in our Schools that DPSF and Student U co-hosted. Together, we learned about the history of past policies in order to thoughtfully engage in important decisions around new school boundaries and assignments (DPS Growing Together).Community Schools Incubator - We invested in the Community Schools model implemented at Lakewood Elementary and Club Blvd. Elementary that seek to transform schools through community-driven problem solving and wraparound services for students. Latinx Family Organizing - to strengthen Latinx family engagement by creating opportunities for parents to convene and develop a network of support groups to advocate for their children's education. We accomplish this by providing DPS Latinx parents safe spaces to come together and organize as we support the whole family: Projects include Homework w/ Amigos a program to support academic outcomes in collaboration with the Durham County Library and Duke Service Learning program; Alianza por la educacin, parent advocacy group, Latinx parent leaders working to support the transformation of our schools; and Sembrando Raices, a project in collaboration with the City of Durham and Durham County Cooperative Extension. Starting as a community garden for Latinx families located on the grounds of one of our Community Schools, Club Boulevard Elementary. Sembrando Raicess initial mission was to improve food security for working class Latinx families, a need that became increasingly important during the last few years.As the program has evolved, Sembrando Raices has become a safe, public space where 30+ Latinx working-class parents convene every Friday after work to tend to the garden, harvest and share the food and most importantly, discuss and organize around the issues that are affecting their lives. Education advocacy is now at the forefront of the work. Our goal is to continue to support the project to increase its impact in the community. Youth Advocacy Council - We supported our Youth Advisory Council in launching Durhams first annual Youth Equity Summit in October. 161 students registered for the summit, including over 100 youth of color. At the summit, the youth identified two key needs that the Foundation has begun planning to address: peer support and mental health support to process the past two years and the need for adequate language justice training for school staff so diverse language speakers feel welcomed and a sense of belonging within our schools.

Investing in Our People: Our students are empowered to drive meaningful changes that address challenges they identify in their schools. Great educators choose to work and stay in DPS because they feel valued as professionals and are provided meaningful support to grow and innovate.College Scholarship Program - We successfully completed our second scholarship cycle this year, awarding $59,500 in scholarships to 25 graduating DPS seniors. A major accomplishment was transitioning our application to an online scholarship platform, increasing equity and accessibility in the application and selection process. Scholarship applications received increased by 60% this year.Teacher Leadership Academy - The DPSF TLA creates a pipeline of teacher leaders in DPS who develop an understanding of the role of the teacher in driving change in their school and community grounded in the history and current context of inequity in Durham and public schools that guides their work in advancing more equitable schools. The current cohort consists of 8 DPS teachers who teach in our elementary, middle, and high schools. Their experience in the classroom ranges from 7 years to 25 years and they've worked over the past two years to use those experiences to better understand how social issues, public systems and goods, and students' backgrounds and customs all play a role in their education. These teacher leaders have completed over 50 hours of professional development on various topics, including engaging with Black parents as wisdom holders for their children, understanding policy changes and those directly impacting jobs, housing, and education, and implicit bias within their curriculum. These 8 teachers are taking what they've learned and are directly impacting over 300 of DPS's students. School-Level Grants - DPSF served as a fiscal sponsor for Lyons Farm Elementary, an organization facilitating donations and purchases for Lyons Farm Elementary School prior to the schools opening in Fall 2022.