When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ - Mr. Rogers ​

Dear Ravenswood Community,

As we come to the end of our second week of school closures and sheltering in place, I am grateful to provide you with some updates from Ravenswood that will warm your heart and soothe your soul. 

How You Can Help

• Sign up to volunteer. All Students Matter and REF are partnering with the District to collect a bank of volunteers we can call on as opportunities arise. The District has identified significant volunteer needs related to technology distribution the week of April 6. We will be making every effort possible to maintain social distancing and adhere to health guidelines for folks who join in person. 
• Contribute to the REF Emergency Fund
• Donate and volunteer at Second Harvest Food Bank or Ecumenical Hunger Program
• If you are able, continue to pay folks who typically work in your home, or that you see in your daily lives. Many of the parents in Ravenswood work in service industries that pay hourly, so this time will be devastating economically. 
• Stay up to date by checking the District website.
• Please pass this email along to friends so they can join the REF email list.

REF Emergency Fund
Your generosity helped us achieve our matching grant and to date we have raised $383,776.85 for the REF Emergency Fund! In the last week alone, these funds have allowed the District to:

• Provide 234 gift cards to families to purchase essential groceries and household items
• Procure 300 masks for the child nutrition team to use to keep food distribution safe for families and staff
• Purchase 430 ipads for every TK, Kindergarten and first grade student to ensure that every child in the district has access to online learning (2nd-8th graders will receive chromebooks previously used in the classroom)
• Order 1650 hands-on at home learning STEM kits from KiwiCo to ensure that our students are able to engage in experiential learning regardless of what their family can provide

Community Champions 
Thank you to all the REF community members who are getting creative and using your expertise in all kinds of new ways to support the Ravenswood family through birthday fundraisers, live streaming yoga classes, sponsoring meals and more. Here are a few fun highlights from our community this week:

• Kelli Agnich is taking Porchraits in exchange for a contribution to the REF Emergency Fund.
• Thanasis Pashalidis and the Taverna team are providing hot meals to Ravenswood’s essential workers.

 
More to follow after the District reconvenes the week of April 6. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any questions or suggestions. I am so grateful to be part of this team of helpers with you - we truly are one community.

Warmly, 

Jenna Wachtel Pronovost
Executive Director

Dear Friends,
​                               
                  Clear eyes  *  Full hearts  *  Can't lose
  
This is the battle cry of Coach Taylor, on
Friday Night Lights, one of our family's favorite TV shows. As I transition from REF Executive Director to a board member role, these words are especially resonant and powerful.

Clear eyes
As you know, the challenges facing the Ravenswood community remain, and in many ways have grown worse despite the success of Silicon Valley. Today almost half of our students are in precarious housing situations such as sharing a small home with multiple families or living in a shelter. Also, the District grapples with serious budget challenges as it faces declining enrollment due to an increasing variety of educational options and families moving to less expensive areas. While I view this backdrop with clear eyes, I am more hopeful than ever about the future and want to tell you why.

Full hearts
As I reflect on where we've been and where we are going, I am both thankful and optimistic. I'm overwhelmed with gratitude to the generous, talented, and dedicated people I have come to know in Ravenswood - school principals, teachers, volunteers, donors, board members, administrators, and yard duty staff. Also, I believe we're at a point where we have the required ingredients for a true transformation of the educational experience of Ravenswood students.

REF's solid foundation of long-term stability, commitment to the District, and vision for the future:

• Because of supporters like you, we have grown into an organization with an annual budget of $5 million that directly and measurably improves the school day for every child in Ravenswood, through program investments in literacy, teacher support, the arts, mental health, STEM, high school transition, and summer school.
• We have over 600 community volunteers devoting precious time to adopt a teacher, keep libraries open, enhance science labs, and plant gardens.
• By partnering with the District over the past 12 years, we have developed a deep understanding of both the challenges and opportunities, and are poised to support transformational change.

 
Collaborative and visionary District leadership:

• We have a dynamic new Superintendent - Gina Sudaria. As a Stanford graduate and incredible teacher and leader in Ravenswood for two decades, Gina's roots in the community go deep. Just as importantly, she also brings to this new role a fresh energy, inspiring vision, clear wisdom, and an openness to strategically partnering with outside experts.   
• Already this year, under Gina's leadership, over two years of negotiations have culminated in a tentative new collective bargaining agreement. This new and improved relationship between District leadership and teachers will be necessary as we face difficult decisions such as the need to consolidate elementary schools. Gina is tackling the budget issues head-on, with a spirit of collaboration and transparency.
  

 
Dynamic new leadership for REF's next phase:

• I love REF and Ravenswood. You know that. When I first considered moving to a board role, there was one person I hoped would take REF into our next phase, and I couldn't be more thrilled that she was equally excited about the opportunities ahead. Jenna Wachtel Pronovost, REF's new Executive Director, has deep experience with Ravenswood and in the field of education. She's been a teacher in Ravenswood and Palo Alto, and a coach at the New Teacher Center. For her, coming to Ravenswood is like coming full circle, and her intelligence, warmth, and commitment will guide us well.
• We also have a dynamic and growing board, and donor and volunteer base that brings varied talents, experience, expertise and passion for REF and Ravenswood.
• As we set our sights higher, in the 2019-2020 school year, REF will maintain our initiatives that directly impact students, but we will expand our efforts to help transform the District, funding an analysis of teacher compensation augmentation, leadership support for principals and District leaders, and instructional coaching for teachers.
  
  

Can't lose
This is the point in Friday Night Lights when the team rallies together to go win the football game in dramatic fashion. Of course we all know that success in real life is never guaranteed. However, unlike a game of football, this effort we've embarked on together is about children's lives and futures.
 
Thank you for supporting REF. I hope you will join us with a renewed determination that together we WILL succeed in ensuring that every child in our community has the opportunity for an excellent education and the hope that brings.

Warmly,
  
Renu Nanda
Executive Director, REF
Rnanda@ravenswoodef.org

Dear Friends,

As important members of the REF community, I wanted to let you know that I intend to step down as Executive Director of the Ravenswood Education Foundation this summer. I will remain on the REF board and stay deeply involved in the community. I look forward to having a little more time to travel and visit family, improve my Spanish, and maybe perfect an omelet.

Being the ED of REF for the past eight years has been my dream job. REF has been an all-consuming passion and I've approached the role with the utmost sense of commitment and responsibility to the children, families, teachers and staff of the District. When I began, I was uncertain that I was up to the task. I had never run an organization, fundraised, managed a board, or worked in education. My overriding objective was to build a bridge in our community and create a shared sense of responsibility for educating all of our children. I am ever so grateful for volunteers, who lead with their hearts, donors, who open new opportunities for our students, Ravenswood educators, whose commitment and skill blow me away every day, and the families and students who deserve a quality education.

My transition is made easier by how much progress REF has made over the years and how much new hope and promise there is for the future in the District. Over the next few months, I hope to connect with you and thank you for your support of our community. I hope we can count on your continued commitment to REF, as your involvement has made a difference in the lives of thousands of children, and will continue to do so. Gina Sudaria, Interim Superintendent, is infusing everyone with her optimism and urgency to make improvements in our District. I am excited for the next chapter for Ravenswood.

The REF board has formed a Transition Committee to find a new Executive Director. As the board conducts its search in the coming months, it welcomes your input in identifying candidates. For more information please email here.

I know that together we will not only continue to do good work, but we can do transformative work. Please don't hesitate to reach out at any time.

Warmly,

Renu Nanda
650-380-0902
Rnanda@ravenswoodef.org
​

Homelessness is the brutal reality for many Ravenswood school district students in eastern Menlo Park and East Palo Alto. 

"Maddie told her friends what was happening when her family was staying in the garage and how it made her feel. Since many of them had been homeless themselves, they took it in stride. 'They told me it was fine,' she says. 'They said nobody has it easy.' In their world, homelessness is not a crisis. It’s part of life." -Mercury News Article

Read More...www.mercurynews.com​

Thank you to Oracle for inviting the Ravenswood Education Foundation to be a part of its Focus on Education showcase! Oracle employees were happy to learn about REF and our exciting volunteer opportunities. 

If you're interested in volunteering with REF, please check out upcoming volunteer opportunities at our Volunteer page.