FOR EDUCATORS

For Educators

Do you have a BIG idea for your students that needs funding or need a helping hand in your classroom? The SFEF provides support where you need it most.

A teacher poses with a student.
REQUEST A VOLUNTEER

Need a helping hand?

The San Francisco Education Fund recruits, trains and places volunteers to work in all grade levels, subjects and San Francisco public schools. Any SFUSD staff person (meaning you must have an SFUSD email address) is invited to request a volunteer*.

Request a Volunteer

Volunteers can tutor K-12 students one-on-one or in small groups to build math, reading, science or other academic skills. Volunteers can also lead Mindfulness lessons, become a student’s mentor, help with classroom organization and other projects, provide homework help during afterschool programs or work with students on extracurricular activities, such as music and art.

If you know someone who is interested in volunteering, the San Francisco Education Fund can help individuals fulfill the San Francisco Unified School District’s clearance requirements so they can start volunteering in your classroom.

*Note:
We receive a large number of volunteer requests and have a finite number of volunteers. We cannot guarantee that every teacher who requests a volunteer will receive one-but we’ll do our best!
Apply for an Educator Grant
Teachers have great ideas for how to improve their schools or classrooms, but they often have limited resources to bring those ideas to life.

The Ed Fund’s Educator Grants support teachers, principals, administrators and school staff at priority schools with funding for projects that enhance student learning.

With an emphasis on supporting students’ mental health, the Create Joy Grant from the San Francisco Education Fund provides SFUSD students with meaningful educational experiences, exposing them to new ideas, new communities and new ways of learning and thinking. The goal of Create Joy is to develop a space for educators to think outside the box; such as implementing field trips, arts enrichment, in class workshops and project-based learning. Educators can apply for up to $5,000 for an individual or one class project, and $10,000 for a school-wide project.

Thank you to our outside funders like CalRTA and Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation for supporting the Create Joy grant and ensuring more schools can receive funds. Please note, there is only ONE grant cycle this year. All applications must be submitted by October 11th.

In the 2023-24 school year, the Ed Fund proudly distributed nearly $200,000 in Create Joy grants to educators from eligible schools. Check out the Create Joy Impact Report and read the blog on the funded projects and their impact.

     

With an emphasis on enhancing teacher skills and learning, the Create Joy Grant will support opportunities that:

  • Promote a caring and inclusive classroom culture or
  • Enhance student well-being and mental health or
  • Invest in social and emotional learning or
  • Increase student and parent engagement all to “Create Joy” within the school

Educators will have full discretion over their project, including the planning and the implementation of how they will use their funds, and the Ed Fund is here to support educators with the logistics and planning of their project.

Find the 24-25 Create Joy Application here.
Applications due October 11, 2024.

Eligible Schools

Create Joy grant applications are open to any teacher or administrator from the following SFUSD schools:
  • Bret Harte Elementary
  • Brown Jr. (Willie L) Middle
  • Bryant Elementary
  • Buena Vista/ Horace Mann K-8
  • Burton (Phillip And Sala) Academic High
  • Carmichael (Bessie)/Fec
  • Carver (George Washington) Elementary
  • Chavez (Cesar) Elementary
  • Cleveland Elementary
  • Denman (James) Middle
  • Drew (Charles) College Preparatory Academy
  • El Dorado Elementary
  • Everett Middle
  • Flynn Elementary
  • Guadalupe Elementary
  • Hillcrest Elementary
  • Jordan (June) School For Equity
  • King Jr. (Martin Luther) Academic Middle
  • Longfellow Elementary
  • Malcolm X
  • Marshall (Thurgood) High
  • Marshall Elementary
  • Mission High
  • O’Connell (John) High
  • Revere (Paul) K-8
  • Sanchez Elementary
  • Serra (Junipero) Elementary
  • Sheridan Elementary
  • Taylor (Edward R.) Elementary
  • Tenderloin Community
  • Visitacion Valley Elementary
  • Visitacion Valley Middle
2023-24 Create Joy Impact Report

With an emphasis on supporting students’ mental health, the San Francisco Education Fund’s Create Joy Grant provides SFUSD students with meaningful educational experiences, exposing them to new ideas, new communities and new ways of learning and thinking. During the 2023-24 school year, educators could apply for up to $5,000 for individual projects or $10,000 for school-wide projects.

  • 37 Grants
  • 16 Schools
  • 8,991 Students and Families Impacted

$197, 551 total amount distributed

Educator Well-Being Stipends

The Ed Fund partners with Room to Breathe (R2B) to provide Educator Well-Being Stipends to educators from eligible SFUSD schools.  This stipend is designed to empower educators to attend to their own personal well-being so that they are best positioned to model well-being for young people and positively contribute to a culture of well-being within the school. In the 2023-24 school year, over 500 educators from eligible schools will receive the grant.

The educator well-being stipend provides every interested adult on campus (both certificated and classified staff) a stipend to use toward a well-being practice of their choice for the duration of one school year.

Note: The stipend is evenly split between two semesters with an opportunity to select a new well-being program/practice at the beginning of each semester.

For the 2023-24 school year, educators from the following 11 schools are eligible for the Educator Well-Being Stipend Initiative from R2B:

  • Dr. Charles R. Drew College Preparatory Academy
  • Cleveland Elementary School
  • E.R. Taylor Elementary School
  • James Denman Middle School
  • John Muir Elementary School
  • June Jordan School for Equity
  • Longfellow Elementary School
  • Malcolm X Academy Elementary School
  • Paul Revere (PreK-8) School
  • Sanchez Elementary School
  • Sheridan Elementary School
LEARN MORE ABOUT CORPORATE PARTNERSHIPS

The Circle the Schools Program creates partnerships between schools and local companies to help schools reach their unique goals.

Corporate partners can provide large groups of volunteers to help with read aloud activities, Hour of Code, mock interviews, company field trips, Back to School Setup, and other special events.

Check to see if your school is paired with a corporate partner.