Letter from Executive Director

2011 was our best year yet. We touched the lives of 6,480 homeless students in
Southern California and raised a record $1,327,470. This could not have happened
without you. We are honored to have an amazing group of partners, friends and
supporters who care deeply about the education of homeless children. It is my great
pleasure to share with you some of the outstanding results we achieved last year and to
review our new strategic plan for the next three years.

For the past nineteen years, since Agnes Stevens founded it in 1993, School on Wheels
has worked tirelessly to reduce the gaps in the educational opportunities for homeless
children in Southern California from kindergarten through twelfth grade. Student by
student, child by child, we have succeeded in this goal with the help of thousands of
people like you – donors, volunteers, staff, supporters, friends and families. We are
proud of the work we’ve done and know we have made a difference. We also know that
we must do more.

Today, more and more children are falling through the cracks. Public education no
longer serves all children equally. The devastating effects of the economic downturn are
all around us - cuts in education budgets, teacher layoffs, increased levels of poverty,
hundreds of thousands of children with no home – and our federal and state system of
social services is increasingly unable to keep up with the need. The number of children
living in homeless situations throughout Southern California is astonishing and shocking.
If we are to help students achieve their true potential and close the achievement gap, we
must make a greater impact. And so, in the next three years, our plan is to double the
number of students we tutor, tutor them better and prepare them for a world where
technology is an inevitable part of the education process.

We look forward to your support and friendship on this journey. We will need it. As
always, I welcome any ideas and suggestions you may have that will assist our students
and our organization achieve our new strategy and our mission.

Catherine Meek, Executive Director

2011 Financial Results

With your amazing generosity, we increased our support by 25% in 2011, with a record increase of 30% in financial contributions and 11% in material donations. Our expenses increased by 15%, with almost all of that increase resulting from improvements to our program services.

In 2011, we received the generous support of foundations and longtime contributors like the Weingart Foundation and the S. Mark Taper Foundation; the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation helped us establish our new Learning Center in skid row; so too did the Mark Hughes Foundation (and has funded us so generously for the last seven years); the Discover a Star Foundation, the Green Foundation, the Joseph Drown Foundation, and the Amgen Foundation generously supported us with substantial funding and wonderful employee volunteers.

“The Amgen Foundation is proud to support School on Wheels which provides vital education and mentoring services to children in our communities. We are also grateful to our staff who generously donate their time and energy to this important initiative.” Jeanette Schulz , Senior Manager, Corporate Contributions, Amgen Foundation

“Universal Studios Hollywood is proud to support the critical work that School on Wheels provides
to our local community. School on Wheels is definitely a favorite among Universal employee volunteers as they appreciate the impact that this organization has on children by giving them the encouragement and support they
need to not only stay in school but to strive for higher education.” Dorothea Scattaglia, Executive Director,
Universal Studios Hollywood’s Discover A Star Foundation

We are honored to be supported by many family foundations and old friends like the Sawchuk Family Foundation, the Shrontz Family Foundation, Jasmine and Jackson George, Jack and Barbara Keogh, and the Looker Foundation, and new friends like the Riseman Foundation and the Louis and Harold Price Foundation. Steve Edwards of Good Day L.A. fame created a first by raising and matching funds for us using his Facebook page. Bob Morris and his amazing family and staff at the Paradise Cove Beach Café once again hosted the best holiday party for over 200 of our students, with the help of Steve Dahlberg and the California Highway Patrol. Third Street Elementary School, Hike It Up, Michael and Ellen Opell and Temple Judea provided brand new backpacks filled with great school supplies and Henry and Andrea Burroughs bought healthy snacks for our students in skid row every month. A special thank you to our wonderful friends at the Good News Foundation who continue to support us with their good news, great parties and cool computers.
A complete listing of our generous donors can be viewed on our web site at www.schoolonwheels.org/aboutus/friends .

2011 Program Results

In 2011, 1,500 volunteers tutored 1,538 children in over 150 locations. Every week, our dedicated tutors give of themselves and their time going to a shelter or a library or a book store to help their students learn to read, complete their homework, write essays, and provide friendship and encouragement to learn. They are truly making a difference with their efforts.

“When we heard about School on Wheels, Steve and I just knew we wanted to do this together -- to work with kids who needed that extra bit of stability and consistent support in their lives. We were matched with brothers Jaden and Mekhi and we’ve joyfully watched both boys mature as we meet with them each week. Our time given seems minimal, but the investment has proven worth so much more. I tell everyone about School on Wheels -- it’s so easy to give an hour a week and the time seems to multiply in intangible rewards. It’s just part of who we are now.” Laurie and Steve Hagberg, Tutors

• Other volunteers taught art and nutrition classes, conducted workshops for our tutors and for our students, fixed computers,hosted parties – in total, we had the privilege of 76,210 volunteer hours last year.
• In 2011, School on Wheels distributed 6,480 brand-new backpacks filled with school supplies -- important tools for kids who have nowhere to keep their “stuff”.
• Many children need school uniforms in order to be allowed into school or to stay out of detention or to have a clean change of clothes. In 2011, we funded 349 school uniforms. We also provided 7,400 bus tokens so that children can get to school and their parents can be with them on their first days.
• We facilitated 133 re-enrollments into public schools by helping parents gather needed records such as birth certificates and immunization records, and completed the paperwork needed to get their kids reenrolled in school in one day versus the two weeks it can take them on their own.
• We awarded four scholarships in 2011 – three to students to attend college and one to a younger student to attend leadership skills training.

“School on Wheels gave me hope when I had none. Whenever I was struggling in my classes, I always had
a School on Wheels tutor that I knew I could count on. This program has played a major role in my success
and for that, I am grateful.” Kaleef Starks, scholarship award recipient, now attending UCLA

• 2011 was also the year we designed and implemented two major online trainings for our volunteers,
  making it easier and more convenient for them and happily increasing the number of volunteer applications for us.

Strategic Plan

Our new strategic plan is built on our past experiences and successes. We understand the difficulties and complexities of reducing the educational gaps of homeless students. We want to use that knowledge to create a stronger and more hopeful future for our students. Specifically, by the end of 2014, we will:

• Increase the number of students we tutor to 3,500.
• Increase the number of volunteers to 3,700 and improve our volunteer retention rates by 50%.
• Enhance our core tutoring program to include blended learning – a combination of online/distance learning and one-on-one tutoring.
• Implement and monitor measurable outcomes that will allow us to better evaluate the impact of our program on students.
• Develop formal and informal partnerships with organizations who can enhance and improve School on Wheels.
• Grow the organization’s resources to achieve these goals in a creative and cost-effective fashion.

These are ambitious goals, as we believe they must be – we are the only organization in California that focuses on the education gaps of homeless students. We hope that you will be both motivated and inspired to support our efforts in helping our students achieve real success in school.

“The great thinkers, innovators, and leaders of the past and present have many discernible characteristics that set them apart from their peers. Besides possessing determination, diligence, and a thirst for knowledge, they had a natural tendency to think outside of the boundaries of what was then conceivable. It was a delightful surprise to have stumbled into such a person, and is an honor to tutor her. Ebony is a freshman in high school, but her ideas, confidence, and perspective surpass her age and environment. (Ebony lives in a homeless shelter in South
Los Angeles with her mom.)”  Samantha Castro, Tutor

Links:

• Read our full report here
• Watch an introduction to the report