An excellent education is one of the keys to our children’s future success.

JANUARY 2015

As the new calendar year kicks off, I’d like to take a moment to thank all the parents, businesses, teachers, administrators, and community members who have already donated to WCEF this school year. Your donations exemplify your commitment to ensuring an exceptional education for our students. We are grateful for your continued support of all our K-12 students and schools.

If you have not yet donated to WCEF this year, please consider donating now. We have currently raised $615,000, and need to raise an additional $97,000 to reach our funded commitment goal of $712,000 for this school year. Your donation to WCEF will directly support excellence in your child’s education and help prepare your child for continued success.

It is with sadness that we report that our Executive Director, Liz Davis, will be leaving the organization. We owe her many thanks for her leadership over the last six years! We wish Liz well in her next endeavor; and, we look forward to welcoming a new Executive Director in the next few weeks.

~ Tim Schultz
President WCEF

In early November, WCEF ran its first ever #TurnUpTheHeat Participation Campaign for grades K-8. The goal of the campaign was to increase the number of families who contribute to WCEF and we reached that goal in addition to raising over $68,000 in just a few days! The total number of participating families went from 30% to 39% with over 1,000 red envelopes being turned in. Our WCEF community of staff, teachers and students wore bright red and worked hard to Turn Up the Heat and make this campaign a great success! Thank you for all the excellent work!

Stay tuned for the Las Lomas #TurnUpThe♥ event in February.

K-8: From Dr. Wool
On January 12, the Walnut Creek School District Governing Board approved the Collaborative Funding Model- Phase 1 for the 2015-16 school year. The Board, acting on the November 2014 report from the Collaborative Fundraising Committee, accepted the report and approved the model which will consist of the following steps for next year...

Excerpted from Dr. Wool's 1/16/15 Letter to the Community

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Las Lomas Champions for Education Update:
The Las Lomas PTSA and the Walnut Creek Education Foundation (WCEF) have always worked to champion education for students at Las Lomas. This year, we have been asked by the administration to increase our funding in a more significant way. With the state’s new Local Control Funding Formula impacting high school funding, it is critical that our contributions bridge the gap. We will only be successful if all families contribute something, in an amount that works best for their family. This year, the PTSA and WCEF are providing over $300,000 in programs and personnel for all our students 9-12. Your donation provides:

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Educating the Whole Child: Teacher/Coach Collaboration and How It Benefits Your Child.

Most parents know that their donations to WCEF provide weekly art, music, and PE instruction for their students. Students look forward to these 45-minute classes that occur during one afternoon of their school week. The specialists who teach these programs work hard to plan classes that are instructional, engaging, and fun – aligned to the California standards and frameworks.

What parents may not know is how important this time is for their children's teacher. While your children are enjoying these specialty classes, our teachers work in grade level teams with their coach to plan curriculum, to study student progress, and to learn new strategies and techniques to provide an even better education for our kids.

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Dayna Wagner: WCI Counselor
I have been a counselor at WCI for five years. Before becoming a counselor, I taught second and third grades at Walnut Heights for nine years. I loved working with all the kids but helping students with their individual needs was especially satisfying for me, so I decided to pursue a master’s degree in counseling. I was fortunate enough to be able to get my intern hours at WCI while teaching and moved over permanently as a counselor in the 2008-2009 school year.

I miss teaching but I love providing intervention for at-risk students here. Identifying kids who need an extra boost whether it be academic, social, or emotional and getting to know their personal stories is very important to me. I like that I can get to know them and be their advocate.

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The Rossmoor Friends of the Walnut Creek Education Foundation Club is organized to provide an opportunity for Rossmoor residents to keep abreast of current news and issues related to Rossmoor’s two school districts: the Walnut Creek School District (WCSD) K-8 and the Acalanes Union High School District (AUHSD). All Rossmoor residents are invited to attend club meetings that are held at the Creekside Clubhouse four times per year.

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We are so grateful to our families, businesses, and community members who share their time, talent, and donations to support all our students in kindergarten through the twelfth grade.

Please click here to read the 2013-2014 WCEF Annual Report.

This fall, along with the support of our Business Partners, WCEF participated in several community building events that raised funds for our students’ education. Your participation is the key and we thank you for coming out and supporting these great events and our local businesses.

• In August and December, Sports Basement hosted a Back to School and Holiday shopping day. Between both Sports Basement Shopping Days, a total of $2400 was raised.
• In September, The Walnut Creek Downtown Business Association’s Fall Wine Walk raised $580.
• In September and October, Extreme Pizza promotion of 10% off and 10% ack to School Nights K-5 to WCEF brought in $1176 to WCEF.
• In October, Whole Foods hosted a WCEF Shopping Day. Shopping bags and ice tea were given out and Whole Foods was extremely pleased with the volume of business this day. WCEF made $6378.
• New business partner, Talbot’s also had a shopping day for WCEF. Held in October, Talbots invited our teachers in for an afternoon of shopping and refreshments. They also offered discounts all day for our school families raising $756 for WCEF.
• On Thanksgiving Day, FORMA Gym hosted the 22nd Annual Walnut Creek Turkey Trot. Over 7,500 runners and 330 volunteers took part in this inspirational event to promote healthy lifestyles. WCEF will be receiving a check in late January. THANK YOU, FORMA Gym!
• Papa John’s Pizza continues their partnership with WCEF through the Business Partnership Program. WCEF received $1,000 between July and December 2014.
• In December, The Honey Bear Christmas Tree Lot partnered with WCEF offering discounts on tress and holiday greens. This program raised $766 for our students.
• Long time Business Partners Greg and Stephanie Ernst continued their support of WCEF and our students, producing all our print collateral at a reduced cost and giving $2,252 as an in-kind donation to the foundation.
• Please keep in mind that year round, when you shop at Sports Basement and dine at Extreme Pizza, mention WCEF at checkout to receive 10% off your purchase and send money back to WCEF for our students. A win-win!

The Walnut Creek Education Foundation is primarily a volunteer-run organization whose mission is to raise funds to preserve and enhance the education of each student in the Walnut Creek School District and Las Lomas High School through a broad-based community effort. We, at WCEF, want to thank you for the personal contribution of your time in volunteering for one or many of our activities and events throughout the first half the school year. You donated countless hours of your time to help with:

• Sports Basement Back to School Shopping Days
• Welcome Back Days/TRI-S
• Back to School Nights K-12
• Downtown Business Association Wine Walk
• Whole Foods Shopping Day
• Las Lomas Homecoming Tailgater
• Thank –A-Thon
• #TurnUpTheHeat
• Turkey Trot

Your continued commitment and enthusiasm is greatly appreciated and resonates throughout our entire community. Thank you!

~ Denise Stenberg, WCEF Volunteer Chair