About us.
Our volunteers are highly experienced and well-versed in a variety of educational areas. Trust in our passion to achieve the best outcome for our children.
vision
Our Values
Our work is rooted in values that support and enhance public education in the South San Francisco Unified School District.
Students First
We believe in prioritizing initiatives that benefit students. We invest our resources with the goal of advancing students’ engagement, well-being, love for learning, and long-term success.
Community
We believe in the power of a connected community. We build on local strengths, develop collaborative relationships, channel resources, and work together with our community toward a shared vision.
Equity
We believe all students deserve access to a quality education. We allocate resources with the goal of promoting equitable opportunities for every student to learn and thrive. We acknowledge and understand structural inequities in our public education system, and will center equity in all our work.
Integrity
We believe in the need for trust and transparency. We will be open and honest in our work, share information that we have, and adhere to the highest degree of ethical standards.
Funding Priorities
We involve the SSFUSD community in developing funding recommendations that prioritize:
01
Needs
Addressing critical student needs to ensure every student is able to achieve success.
02
Equity
Promoting equitable education and access across district schools.
03
Resources
Offering students and educators resources that are strongly linked to long term success, encourage student engagement, and promote a love for learning.
04
Collaboration
Aligning with the SSFUSD strategic plan and implementation feasibility at school sites.
05
Community
Working with parents, educators, students, and organizations that leaves no one behind.
06
Accountability
We are committed to transparency and accountability. Our first annual financial report will be published here after the conclusion of our fiscal year, which ends on June 30, 2023.
collaboration
SSFEF & PTA WORK TOGETHER
The South San Francisco Education Foundation and Parent Teacher Associations are both essential pieces in the South San Francisco Unified School District’s funding puzzle, and are necessary to ensure all students have the opportunity to learn and thrive from kindergarten through senior year. School PTA organizations enrich the quality of campus experiences at individual school sites. SSFEF further improves the quality of education programming with district-wide initiatives that impact all students. We encourage giving to both SSFEF and the PTA.
SSFEF
South San Francisco Education Foundation
- SSFEF directs funds toward district-wide initiatives impacting multiple schools, with the aim of distributing funds equitably.
- In addition to seeking funding from within the community, SSFEF aims to identify generous outside funding sources (e.g. grants from other organizations, corporations, individual donors, etc.)
- SSFEF aims to improve student outcomes by primarily funding programs and staff. SSFEF dollars can fund teacher salaries and increased staff hours.
- SSFEF builds community among people and organizations including families, businesses, and other nonprofit organizations throughout the entire SSFUSD community.
PTA
Parent Teacher Associations
- Each school’s PTA typically fundraises, and organizes volunteers, for their individual school sites.
- SSFUSD’s PTAs units raise money mainly from within the school community (e.g. appeals to families, restaurant nights, etc.)
- PTAs enrich campus life by primarily funding events, materials, and equipment for their school site.
- PTAs build community among students, families, teachers, and staff at individual school sites.
- To learn more about the PTA in SSFUSD please visit their page on the SSFUSD website.
our team
Honoring the Expertise of the SSFUSD Community
We believe people who are directly impacted by issues have the best expertise to lead change. We seek to be led by and for SSFUSD’s community members. Our start-up Board of Directors is made up of SSFUSD community members with backgrounds in nonprofit and equity work, and a strong desire to support education. Our intention is to significantly expand the Board of Directors to more fully represent the SSFUSD community, and ensure a broad diversity of decision maker voices and points of view.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President:
Kristy Camacho | kristy@ssfedfoundation.org
Vice President:
Barbie Levasseur | barbie@ssfedfoundation.org
Treasurer:
Lauren Kitchen | lauren@ssfedfoundation.org
Secretary:
Kayla Powers | kayla@ssfedfoundation.org
Community Engagement:
Juanita Flores | juanita@ssfedfoundation.org
At-large:
Alma Soto | alma@ssfedfoundation.org
At-large:
Natalie Wheatfall-Lum | natalie@ssfedfoundation.org
SCHOOL ADVOCATE NETWORK
We believe that leaders who arise from the communities and issues they serve have the experience, relationships, data, and knowledge that are essential for developing solutions that work. Our SSFUSD community is full of assets and expertise. To increase our impact, we want every SSFUSD school to be engaged in our mission and have a voice in our decision making.
We are developing a School Advocate Network comprised of students and family members from each school. Each School Advocate will actively listen to their school’s students, families, and educators, and share back what they learn to the Foundation to help meaningfully guide our work. If you are interested in learning more about becoming a School Advocate, please fill out this form and one of our Board Members will be in touch.
ADVISORY COUNCIL
We are currently building an advisory council of community members, education experts, and others to help guide our work. Please contact us by emailing contact@ssfedfoundation.org to learn more.