It Takes a Village: 361 Volunteers Help Teachers Prep for Day One

The start of every school year is always a whirlwind – and this year was no exception for San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD). Picture 2,500 teachers wrapping up a week of intense lesson planning and professional development, then having just one jam-packed day to prepare their classrooms. Add in new materials, shifting staff, and that mix of excitement and anticipation, and it’s easy to see how overwhelming it can be.

But here’s the twist: instead of going it alone, SFUSD’s teachers had a powerful boost of support from SF Ed Fund volunteers... and it was incredibly impactful. According to a recent SF Ed Fund survey, 100% of teachers said volunteer support was helpful for the first day of school and 100% said it saved them valuable classroom setup time.

On Friday, August 15, more than 361 community and corporate volunteers brought classrooms to life across 35 – or nearly 75% of – SF Ed Fund Priority Schools, contributing nearly 750 hours of hands-on help. From organizing textbooks and building bulletin boards to setting up furniture and painting, volunteers turned the annual back-to-school scramble into a collaborative celebration.

Educators told us how much it meant. “This was the most amazing and productive way to make Monday possible,” said Virginia Foxton, Community School Coordinator at Marina Middle School. At Marshall Elementary, Kindergarten Teacher Mariaesther Diaz shared, “The SF Ed Fund volunteers took initiative and helped with projects I didn’t realize could get done so quickly.” Their sentiments echoed what we heard across the district: 95% of teachers said they felt less stressed and more prepared, and 95% said their classrooms felt more welcoming for students on day one.

For Julia Gitis, a parent of two SFUSD students and founder of Support SF Schools, this was her fourth year volunteering. “It’s my favorite day of the year, and I think it’s a great opportunity to bring groups and friends together,” she told Patrick Hoge, reporter from the SF Examiner, in Volunteers help SF teachers get ready for back-to-school. 

This year’s turnout was especially exciting: volunteer participation grew by nearly 16% over last year, making Friday our largest back-to-school volunteer event since before the pandemic. And the impact extended beyond classrooms: 92% of staff said they felt supported by the broader community because of volunteer involvement. That’s the kind of connection that fuels stronger schools.

A big driver of this year’s success was the strong showing from corporate volunteers through Circle the Schools, the SF Ed Fund’s corporate partnership program. The SF Ed Fund engages local companies to partner with San Francisco public schools through this program, which offers three ways to contribute: volunteering at school events, sponsoring fundraising events, or providing operating, program, or school grants.

Corporate partner volunteers provide hands-on support for events like Back-to-School Setup, Computer Science Education Week in December, and many other initiatives throughout the year. These partnerships not only help schools meet immediate needs but also strengthen the connection between local companies and the broader community.

We’re especially grateful to the companies who rallied their teams this year – Amazon, Brisk Teaching, Cisco, Deloitte, Dropbox, Hanson Bridgett LLP, Hilton, IXL Learning, Lyft, NextRoll, Salesforce, Skydio, Snap Inc., Thumbtack, and Williams-Sonoma, Inc. – for making such a powerful impact on our schools.