IDEA Areas of Need during COVID-19
Given the evolving number of COVID-19 cases across the country, IDEA Public Schools is focused on the safety of our students, staff and communities.
With your financial support, we can close the digital divide that separates many of our students from the hardware and connectivity they need to continue their learning in the weeks ahead and support families and alumni in need.
COVID-19 Alumni Emergency Relief Fund
Graduates of IDEA Public Schools need financial support for transportation to their homes or a permanent location as dorms around the country are closing. This fund would also help provide basic necessities such as rent and food when campus jobs are lost and school cafeterias closed. Your support would also offer support with technology assistance to participate in online learning. All donations raised through this fund will go directly to IDEA alumni.
COVID-19 Students and Families Emergency Relief Fund
Multiple IDEA families are losing their primary sources of income and are left without a way to pay for rent, electricity and other basic needs. At IDEA Public Schools, we are committed to the core value of team and family. All donations raised through this fund will go directly to IDEA families.
Closing the Digital Divide Fund
Our goal is for all IDEA students in grades 1-12 to have access to a laptop computer connected to the internet in their home by Wednesday, April 15th. IDEA’s operations team conducted an extensive text message survey of our families, garnering more than 21,000 responses. Through this outreach, IDEA discovered that 7,720 IDEA households do not have internet access separate from a smartphone and that most students did not have access to a laptop computer to complete assignments and connect with their teacher. After redistributing 17,000 laptops from IDEA schools there are still nearly 26,000 students without a computer.
We are seeking to provide each teacher with an improved computer camera to increase lesson detail for students and a speaker phone device to connect to laptops to improve teacher audio, current IDEA teacher laptops lack these high-level capabilities. All donations raised through this fund will support purchases of hardware and internet access for IDEA students and teachers. Note: IDEA is advocating for federal K-12 stimulus funding to support this effort, at this time these funds are not guaranteed and may take considerable time to be allocated to states and ultimately to students. Our students need our help now.
Technology Gap Across IDEA
- Mifi Units – For 7,720 Households | $243 per unit | Total Need: $1,875,960
- Teacher Kits with computer camera and speaker phone – For 2,357 Teachers | $350 per unit | Total Need: $824,950
- Chromebook laptops – For 25,634 Students | $325 per unit | Total Need: $8,331,050
Questions? Contact Advancement@ideapublicschools.org.
IDEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS IS A TUITION FREE, PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL – OPEN TO ALL STUDENTS. Yet, even though we are a public school, IDEA receives less funding overall from state and local sources in comparison to traditional public schools, and only a small amount of funding for facilities.
SINCE OUR FOUNDING IN 2000, a number of federal grants, foundation grants, corporate gifts, and individual contributions have helped IDEA close this funding gap. We have put this money to good use – closing the opportunity gap for our students and propelling them to new heights of achievement.
Your gift, of any amount, can help.
It will fund educational programs or bridge the college funding gap for our students. Your generosity can help our students matriculate to the college of their choice, not just the most affordable colleges, and go on to lead rewarding lives as productive members of their communities.
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