Discovery Team hits the ground running

Earlier in the year, SVP Partners selected “Children and Youth” as the new investment focus area. Now the Discovery Team is looking at this population through the lens of increasing the high school graduation rate in San Diego. At the first meeting, we heard from Emily Alpert, Education Reporter with Voice of San Diego and Lucia Washburn, Director of Student Support Services from Grossmont Union High School District. Here are the highlights:

• There must be a purpose behind learning for students to stay engaged in school
• Kids need a connection to a mentor, teacher, or an adult who cares whether they do well or not
• Attendance is big indicator of the dropout rate
• To move the needle in high school graduation rates, we must tackle the cycle of generational poverty where children do not have consistent nourishment, healthcare, structure and stimulation to prepare for excellence in school.

Discovery Team members have chosen two specific areas to explore further:

1) Attendance/Engagement - getting kids to feel connected enough to school to bother showing up
2) Community Approach - creating a supportive overall environment that addresses multiple needs and values learning

What’s next for Discovery Team? We’ll be educating ourselves in these targeted areas by interviewing experts in the field, developing a white paper to support the Investment Working Group, and creating the initial list of nonprofits to consider for investment.  

Hope you can join us for the next meeting! RSVP through Evite or email mandy@sdsvp.org.