“My HWC Community” puzzle, Park School (August 2024) We’re Back at School!!
Homework Central opened on the first day of school, August 15th, at Laurel Elementary, San Mateo Park Elementary, and Sunnybrae Elementary, and on September 4th at our Baywood site.
We’re thrilled to report that we have expanded our presence at Laurel Elementary and Sunnybrae Elementary! Read more about this below in our "progress report" about the last year and this.
Students are excited to be back! They have already started producing stellar art work like the ones you see above and below. It is wonderful to be back and to see the happy faces of our students! |
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Watercolors inspired by their read-aloud book (Laurel Literacy, second, third graders, Fall 2024) |
A Warm Welcome to Our New
Board Members
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Monroe is an advocate for young people in disadvantaged neighborhoods in San Mateo County. He mentors teen boys on probation through CASA and serves as a peer supervisor to other CASA advocates. He was the Chair of the county’s Juvenile Justice Commission in 2022 and 2023. He has also mentored young Peninsula Bridge students. Earlier in his career he was a customer operations and business leader at top tech companies, including Airbnb, Stripe, PayPal and eBay. He received a BA in Government from Harvard.
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Abhi is a Senior Software Engineer at MasterClass, where he supports the Growth and Marketing Technology teams. He first engaged with Homework Central through a project involving their data management systems, as part of Full Circle Fund, where he has volunteered since moving to the Bay Area. Abhi holds a master’s degree in Data Science from Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from New York University, Abu Dhabi. On what drew him to Homework Central, he says, “I resonate with Homework Central’s mission to bridge educational inequities and want to contribute to an organization that is committed to meaningful, community-oriented social change in the Bay Area.”
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Staffing News – And We’re Still Hiring!! |
Meet our Amazing Staff
We have a whole slew of staff members—most returning, and several new. Introducing our dedicated and talented site teams: - Susan Kling (Site Manager), Alexa Cardenas (Site Coordinator), and 6 Site Assistants at Park Elementary
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Skyler Green (Site Manager and Literacy Program lead), JJ Campbell (Site Coordinator) and 5 Site Assistants at Baywood Elementary
- David Light (Site Manager) and Suzanne Rogers (co-Site Coordinator), Elaine Kauffman (Site Assistant) and another Site Assistant at Sunnybrae Elementary
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Evelyn Donis (Senior Program Manager and Site Manager), Site Coordinators Nikki Medrano, Amanda Citrenbaum and Jessica Nimni (Literacy Program) and 7 Site Assistants at Laurel Elementary
Get to know more about our team on our website!
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Do you know any good Site Assistant candidates?
Or a substitute Site Coordinator?
We have two open positions for Site Assistants—if you, or anyone you know, is motivated, enjoys tutoring and working with kids, and is interested in a part time job (10–16 hours a week), please apply! It is a perfect position for aides in local schools, high school or community college students, at-home parents, or retirees.
With 9 classrooms in 4 schools, we have a need for a substitute Site Coordinator to step in as classroom leads when any of our Site Coordinators take time off. We are looking for people with experience in the classroom who are willing to work as substitutes 1–5 times a month (4-20 hours). We would welcome retired or "on hiatus" teachers who might not want regular work but want to stay engaged with youth and teaching. Or undergraduate or graduate students building a career in teaching or school counseling.
The job descriptions and other details are at our Careers page |
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“Tallest Tower” Science in the HWC Park Classroom (Fall 2024) The Year in Review and a Look Ahead
We are in three of the five schools designated as Title 1 schools in the San Mateo Foster City School District (SMFCSD) - where over 50% of students (and by extension, families) are low-income, many are English Learners, and where the students need additional support in closing academic achievement gaps.
The need for expanded learning opportunities in an after-school setting aligns directly with our mission and work, so our board envisions planned growth to serve as many students as we can, carefully, retaining our core value-add of academic support and enrichment, building good study skills and nurturing self confidence.
We began the last school year (2023-24) with 7 classrooms in 4 schools, adding a new school, Laurel Elementary.
And this school year (2024-25): - We added 40 more students at Laurel Elementary and 12–14 more at Sunnybrae - supporting 190-200 students in total.
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We increased hours of service at both these site to17 hours, 5 days a week. We use the extra time to provide an array of activities—culture and art, science, literacy enrichment like journaling and reading, and math enrichment.
Since family is a core part of the support system for a child, we continue to forge relationships with our families through quarterly Family Night events that include dinner for the whole family and themed activities (Literacy, Science, Art etc.) with book giveaways for all the children.
We look forward to another great year!
Our dedicated part-time staff now stands over 30 strong, ably supported by a pool of 60-100 volunteer tutors to work in small groups in classrooms. To manage this tremendous growth of students and hours of service, our budget has grown, as has our need for staff and volunteer tutors.
I invite you join us in this journey of helping students learn, grow and thrive. -
If you can spare a couple of hours every week, please consider becoming a volunteer tutor (email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
- And if you can give, please consider investing in our children’s future by donating.
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With the news of President Jimmy Carter turning 100 a few days ago, I read that in his inaugural address he said: "We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles", crediting the quote to his high school teacher, Miss Julia Coleman.
This brought multiple things to mind, related to our work at Homework Central.
First, how much of change and adjustment our students, school administrators, teachers, and indeed all of us, have experienced just in the last five years: moving to new models of remote learning/teaching, increased cell phone /social media / technology use, returning to school after remote learning, and managing the continuing long and short term impacts.
Second, how these rapidly changing times required our board and staff at Homework Central to adjust, pivot when needed, and also review our own unchanging principles, our mission of empowering students facing structural inequities. And make a decision to grow to tackle the large unmet need. We knew we would face major challenges, especially financial, on this path.
And mostly, I was thinking of the power of teachers like Miss Coleman, mentors and a community, in motivating and raising generations of exemplary adults.This is exactly what makes our work worthwhile. We could not have completed 26 years, and embarked on the next 25 without you. Thank you for your partnership and support as together we equip the children in our community with the skills and mindset to thrive in ever-changing times. Gratefully, Padma Gargeya Executive Director |
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| Our Contact Information
Homework Central 300 East Santa Inez Ave.
San Mateo CA 94401 (650) 343-3423 homework-central.org |
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