San Diego Unified School District logo
Partnerships in Education Program
Partnerships in Education logo
Quick Facts
About 1,400 businesses and community organizations participate as partners.
Most partners have 30 employees or less.
Partners donated approximately $5.6 million in human, financial and in-kind goods and services through their partnerships.
Partners benefit by improving corporate morale and employee productivity.
To choose a role in the education of a child is the highest form of human endeavor....

The child who succeeds, in part by your effort, will grow as a testament to the people who cared.


Overview
Established in 1982, the district's Partnerships in Education Program (PIE) forms collaborative arrangements between schools and organizations including businesses, government agencies and military commands, as well as service, educational and cultural community organizations. Partnerships focus on human resources rather than the donation of funds.

Even with more than 1,400 partners, each partnership is unique and individually planned by the school and partner.

SDUSD Administrative Procedure 9610 outlines procedures governing participation in the district's Partnerships in Education Program.

The department has been recognized with several awards, including:

California Partners in Education
  • Outstanding K-5 Partnership 2002
  • Outstanding 6-12 Partnership 2002

CalSPRA - California School Public Relations Association
  • Communications Contest 2006
  • Award of Excellence: Annual Report

CalSPRA - California School Public Relations Association
  • Communications Contest 2002
  • 1st Place: Partner Recruitment Package
  • 2nd Place: Annual Report

CalSPRA - California School Public Relations Association
  • Communications Contest 2001
  • 1st Place: Special Purpose Publication - Toolkit
  • 2nd Place: Annual Report
  • 2nd Place: Video

California School Boards Association
  • 19th Annual Golden Bell Awards - 1998
  • For Outstanding Multi-Level/Disrictwide-Parental/Community Involvment Program

San Diego Press Club 1998 Journalism Awards
  • Award of Merit for outstanding achievement
  • Honarable Mention: Best external publication - Annual Report

National Community Education Association (NCEA) 1992
  • Outstanding Organization Award 1992

Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge
  • Honoring Partnerships in Education Program 1991

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Activities
The Partnerships in Education Program offers business and community organizations an opportunity to:

  • Take an active role in the business of educating our students.
  • Gain a working knowledge of public education today.
  • Ensure a brighter economic future for our students, the San Diego community, and the nation.

Building Reform-Level Partnerships Through Strategic Partnership Activities Adobe PDF is a guide that includes menus of suggested partnership activities that support teaching and learning in the classroom. Activities are developed from school and partner feedback and are approved by program directors or managers. Subject area activities also incorporate state academic standards. The guide includes menus of activities for:

Focus Areas
  • Curriculum Support
  • Tutor/Mentor Recruitment, Training & Retention
  • School-to-Career
  • Educational Technology


Subject Areas

  • Literacy
  • Math
  • Physical Education
  • Science
  • Social Studies
  • Visual & Performing Arts (VAPA)


Partner Activity Examples

  • Tutoring students in reading, writing, science and mathematics skills.
  • Mentoring students and focusing on self-esteem issues.
  • Supporting school-to-career efforts, including tours of business facilities, student internships, career fairs and guest speakers.
  • Serving on student portfolio/senior exhibition panels.
  • Facilitating a business/partnership advisory board to integrate community resources into classrooms.
  • Planning a job shadowing opportunity for staff and/or students.
  • Assisting the school in campus beautification projects.
  • Giving presentations to students regarding company standards for reading, writing, mathematics, science and computer skills, and assisting students in preparing résumés.
  • Providing opportunities where students can be exposed to positive role models, learn about various employment options, and understand expectations for hiring, employee ethics and workplace policies.
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Resources

Services

  • Build capacity for schools and their partners to achieve strategic partnerships and maximize the benefits from their community outreach efforts.
  • Provide community outreach training - includes communications and marketing strategies, mentor/tutor training, partnership liaison, volunteer coordinator and service learning training.
  • Provide schools and business/community partners with materials to support their community engagement efforts.
  • Facilite partnership agreements with a plan to focus on student learning.
  • Assist with issues and concerns related to existing partnerships.
  • Recruit new partners.
  • Recognize exemplary partners and partnership activities as well as 10, 20 and 25 year partners.
  • Evaluate partnerships.
  • Promote research-based practices that focus on student learning, i.e., tutoring/mentoring, internships, job shadowing, etc.


Materials

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Partnerships in Education Advisory Board

Mr. Frank Arrington
San Diego Funding

Ms. Neva Buckhanon
USA Federal Credit Union

Mr. John de Beck
Member - Board of Education

Ms. Janet D. Delaney
San Diego Unified School District

Ms. Kathy Gartland
San Diego Unified School District

Mr. Ivan Golakoff
San Diego County Water Authority

Ms. Jan Heying
Heying & Associates

Mr. Bob Jones
Time Warner Cable San Diego

Ms. Tricia Link
Mission Federal Credit Union

Ms. Tiffany Lynch (Alternate)
Time Warner Cable San Diego

Ms. Meredith Marquis
Kyocera America, Inc.

Ms. Wendy Martinez
Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems

   Ms. René McKee
California Coast Credit Union

Ms. Tara Michener
Junior Achievement

Mr. E. Tyler Miller, Jr.
Collins Development Company

Mr. Louis J. Poanessa
Executive Partners

Sharon Lee Rhodes, Ph.D.
San Diego Community College District

Ms. Ellen Tiffany
San Diego Unified School District

Ms. JoAnna Vasquez
Biogen Idec

Ms. Patricia Winter
General Atomics

Ms. Joy Wolf
SeaWorld San Diego

Chief Debbie Zapata CNRSW
U.S. Navy

Mr. Leo Zipp
WaMu

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Contact Information
Contact the Community Relations Department at (619) 725-5592 for more information or to:

  • Discuss your organization's special needs and get help selecting a potential school partner.
  • Plan a meeting involving the selected school.
  • Write an agreement outlining your partnership's specific activities.
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