Philanthropy Now podcast: Meeting the stressful demands of distance learning and exploring hybrid education models for fall 2020 in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties

In this episode, you will learn about the impact of COVID-19 on the economically, ethnically and geographically diverse school districts in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. Director of Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s Center for Early Learning, Michelle Sioson Hyman, speaks with the county superintendents from these counties, Mary Ann Dewan and Nancy Magee, as well as the superintendent of Jefferson Elementary School District, Bernie Vidales. The conversation among these education leaders highlights the creativity inspired by teaching remotely, the challenges in distance learning and its impact on less affluent students, food insecurities of families relying on school meal services, plans for reopening schools in hybrid learning formats this autumn and more.

The SVCF Education Partnership is expanding the capacity of local school districts and the County Offices of Education to address immediate challenges and long-term recovery efforts related to COVID-19, including but not limited to:

• Social and emotional health and wellness support for students, families and staff
• Distance learning, including IT infrastructure and equipment, technical assistance and training for teachers and staff, support for students with special needs and dual language learners
• Emergency child care centers, including additional staffing needs, program materials, health care and cleaning supplies
• Continued and/or expanded access to nutrition services
• Family engagement strategies
• Other extraordinary measures required to address the COVID-19 crisis and shelter-in-place orders

In SVCF’s Philanthropy Now podcast series, we explore trends in the world of philanthropy, social impact initiatives in Silicon Valley and beyond, and we look at how SVCF promotes innovative philanthropic solutions to challenging problems.

Access the full show notes at siliconvalleycf.org