95th Street Elementary

This Monday, we were able to provide 48 students transitioning into kindergarten with backpacks full of essential school supplies.

The bags were delivered by hand, and Lucy was given the opportunity to tour the campus + meet the Summer School students from Kindergarten through 2nd grade.

demographics

95th Street Preparatory School, a member of the Los Angeles Unified School District, teaches children from preschool through 5th grade, with nearly 900 students enrolled each year.

Over 98% of students enrolled at 95th Street are minorities- 71.9% of students are Hispanic/Latino, and 23.9% are African American. Additionally, 98% of students are economically disadvantaged.

(US News 2022).

Photos

“Parents often send their kids to school with a plastic grocery bag to hold their school supplies because they can’t afford to buy backpacks.”

-Elsa Munoz, Preschool & Transitional Kindergarten teacher at 95th Street Elementary.

behind the scenes

Click below to learn more about Lucy’s experience organizing, funding, and delivering the first shipment to 95th Street Elementary!

  • Welcome to my first post! Below, I left a quick rundown of the processes behind our first delivery to 95th Street Elementary.

    Organizing the Project

    Fortunately, I was able to come in contact with Elsa Munoz from 95th Street Elementary on May 6, 2023. After receiving Ms. Munoz’s donation request, Emma, Jasmine, and I immediately began our fundraising process.

    The cost totaled to about $360. In order to raise money, Emma and I organized garage sales on weekends. We sold pretty much everything- from clothes, to vacuums, to Christmas trees. You name it, we probably had it. After advertising by hanging up a couple posters around town and posting on social media, we were able to raise over half of the needed funds. Since all remaining costs are paid out-of-pocket, I worked a couple extra shifts tutoring young students to raise more money. The project was fully funded on June 5, 2023.

    The Execution

    After Ms. Munoz and I worked around our schedules, we eventually settled on a meeting date of Monday, July 17th, 2023. Since the school offers a Summer enrichment program for their students, I had the chance to meet students ranging from preschool to 2nd grade and gain a sense of the school’s environment.

    After I first dropped off the packages in Ms. Munoz’s classroom, she gave me a tour of campus. The most fascinating part of the tour was learning about their specialty classrooms. The school offers a variety of academic programs for their students, such as their Academic English Mastery Program, which is designed to help students who don’t speak English as their first language. Surprisingly to me, Ms. Munoz informed me that this makes up the majority of their student population! Other notable programs include the Black Student Achievement Plan.

    However, my favorite part of the visit was visiting the classrooms & meeting the summer students. They showed me their crafts, games, paintings, and more. The teachers also showed me the activities they used to teach the students, which allowed me to gain a further understanding of their learning environment. Getting to sit in during class and watch the students learn was one of the most gratifying experiences I’ve ever had, and by the end of the day, the kids wanted me to join in on their activities :)

    Overall, I feel really blessed to have been able to visit 95th Street Elementary. I’ve been keeping in contact with Ms. Munoz, and I hope for many more good things to come in the future!

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Help us ensure that we can continue our journey towards educational equity everywhere by donating or sharing our story.

Every $7.50 allows us to provide supplies for a new student. Click the image or button below to help!