The Stamford Public Education Foundation (SPEF) is working closely with Stamford Public Schools to ensure you have easy access to the resources and information your family needs to travel down the path to success.
We recognize that everyone’s needs are very different.
SPEF’s Here-to-Help network can connect you to the resources your child needs to receive the best learning experience possible.
SPEF’s Here-to-Help network can connect you with school- and community-based resources and information, such as:
… and more!
When COVID-19 hit the world in 2020, Stamford Public Schools had to shift its learning model to a combination of in-school and virtual instruction for nearly 17,000 students throughout its 21 schools. This new learning model created challenges for many students and their families. Access to technology and the ability to use it effectively was a major barrier to learning. Other issues causing educational hurdles during the pandemic included transportation, childcare, language barriers, and the ability to communicate with school officials effectively.
As a result, SPEF reimagined its programming to focus on the most urgent needs in our community. This began with engaging volunteers to distribute free meals to students throughout our district and quickly grew into something larger — Here-to-Help. With the launch of Here-to-Help, SPEF once again bridges the gap between the critical needs of disadvantaged families and our community’s resources.
SPEF staff is working alongside the Stamford Public Schools district to connect with students and their families to discover their needs — and link them with the best solution provider. We reach out to individual families using our dedicated phone and text hotline, staffed with multilingual personnel. In addition, we have created an information portal related to childcare and distance learning.
What resources and/or support services are needed to enable a student to be successful? By collaborating with a SPEF Program Coordinator, parents will share their issues, concerns, and needs for each of their students. SPEF will uncover and document these needs, such as technology assistance (Parent Portal/PowerSchool, Google Classroom), transportation, communication with your child’s school, childcare support, healthcare, tutoring, and much more.
SPEF will monitor the progress of each student and track their progress.
We know that if the students in Stamford’s public schools have the tools and support services they need, they will thrive despite the hardships and pronounced inequities that this pandemic has brought. At SPEF we’re working every day to educate and empower our next generation.