Mayor Lee, San Francisco Unified School District and the Salesforce Foundation Announce Third Year of Partnership to Expand Computer Science Opportunities in San Francisco Schools

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The Salesforce Foundation, San Francisco Unified School District and Mayor Edwin M. Lee today announced the third year of a multi-year partnership to expand computer science opportunities in San Francisco schools. The Salesforce Foundation is investing $6 million to drastically increase the technology curriculum and resources for San Francisco students—bringing the total three-year investment to nearly $14 million. In addition, Salesforce employees plan to volunteer 10,000 hours during the 2015-2016 school year. Salesforce also announced it will adopt 20 schools in San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) as a part of San Francisco Education Fund and sf.citi's Circle the Schools Initiative.

Comments on the news:

• "We know the best investment we can make for our City's future is an investment in our young people, and that's why we are laser focused on making sure our public schools are the best in the nation," said San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee. "We can't do it alone, and the Salesforce Foundation's continued investment in our public schools through my STEM Leadership Initiative is helping our students gain the skills they need to succeed in the 21st Century economy. Not only is San Francisco-based Salesforce a great partner to our City, bringing thousands of jobs to San Francisco, but they are also giving back through innovative and thoughtful public-private partnerships that keep San Francisco an affordable place and a city where everyone can succeed."
• "With leaders like Mayor Lee and Mr. Benioff, San Francisco is the city that is changing the world, with amazing technologies, advances in civil rights and brand-new economies. The San Francisco public schools are bringing that same creativity and forward-thinking to reimagining education to prepare all our students to succeed at school and in life," said Superintendent Richard Carranza. "The 3 year Salesforce investment in our schools is a game changer for us. It is giving the resources we need to provide our students with the best hands-on STEM education in the nation, and to accelerate our ability to expose all students—pre-kindergarten through 12th grade—to rigorous computer science and coding curriculum."
• "San Francisco's students deserve access to the very best public education," said Suzanne DiBianca, president, Salesforce Foundation. "By increasing our financial commitment and doubling our employee volunteer hours, the Salesforce Foundation is dedicated to arming a generation of students with the skills to succeed in today's world."

Continued Commitment to San Francisco's Schools and Students
Building on the Salesforce Foundation's multi-year partnership with SFUSD and Mayor Lee, the Salesforce Foundation's $6 million grant to SFUSD will reach more than 12,500 SFUSD students by:

• Piloting computer science curriculum in SFUSD middle schools, giving students the opportunity to participate in daily computer science classes for the first time
• Continuing and expanding the Principal's Innovation Fund—granting $100,000 to middle grade principals at 21 SFUSD schools to invest directly into their schools
• Funding 14 full-time coaches and teachers to support math and technology instruction in middle schools and five full-time staff members to assist teachers and implement curriculum
• Partnering with Common Sense, a national nonprofit organization that provides resources and expertise to families and schools to harness media and technology for life and learning, including a research-based curriculum that's used by more than 260,000 educators nationwide to empower students and parents to be safe, smart, ethical and responsible in the digital world
• Partnering with Zynga.org to cohost Game Design Workshops and opportunities to provide students with hands-on technology and computer science education

Salesforce to Circle 20 Schools
As part of the San Francisco Education Fund and sf.citi's Circle the Schools initiative, Salesforce will adopt 20 SFUSD schools during the 2015-2016 school year:

• Alice Fong Yu Elementary School
• Bessie Carmichael Elementary School
• Claire Lilienthal Elementary School
• Francisco Middle School
• George Washington High School
• Harvey Milk Civil Rights Elementary School
• Herbert Hoover Middle School
• James Denman Middle School
• Lawton Elementary School
• Marina Middle School
• Paul Revere Elementary School
• Presidio Middle School
• Roosevelt Middle School
• Rosa Parks Elementary School
• Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts
• Sanchez Elementary School
• Visitacion Valley Elementary School
• Visitacion Valley Middle School
• William L. Cobb Elementary School
• Willie L. Brown Jr. Middle School

Circle the Schools partners local technology companies with San Francisco public schools using an adopt-a-school model. Each school will be adopted by a Salesforce executive and employees who will participate in volunteer activities throughout the year, helping to reach 10,000 volunteer hours during the 2015-2016 school year. As a part of the 1-1-1 model of integrated philanthropy, Salesforce employees are granted six paid days off per year to volunteer.

About Circle the Schools
Circle the Schools is an initiative started by sf.citi in partnership with SFUSD and the SF Ed Fund allowing for local companies to adopt schools while developing organic relationships with Principals. Employees engage in volunteer activities planned around literacy at the Elementary School level, STEM in Middle Schools, and college and career readiness for High School students.  Our goal is to have all 117 schools Circled and use this initiative to help the School District's Vision 2025 plan.

About the Mayor's Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) Leadership Initiative
In partnership with the Mayor's Office, SFUSD, and Salesforce Foundation, the Mayor's STEM Leadership Initiative continues to set the standard for a STEM focused partnership across tech, education and city government to prepare the next generation of local STEM leaders and innovators in San Francisco. The Salesforce Foundation investments in leadership, digital classrooms/ schools, innovation and teacher professional development are dramatically accelerating STEM at the middle grades. The partnership is making profound differences in 21 middle grade schools and for thousands of students every day. The initiative will continue to weave together three major strands of work that will dramatically improve outcomes for middle school students by creating a robust STEM-focused curriculum, instilling a college going/career-focused culture in our students and empowering our leadership to innovate.

About the San Francisco Unified School District
The San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) is one of California's largest and highest performing school districts. More than 56,000 preschool through twelfth grade students, speaking more than 44 languages, attend 131 public schools within the City and County of San Francisco. SFUSD aims to provide each student with an equal opportunity to succeed by promoting intellectual growth, creativity, self-discipline, cultural and linguistic sensitivity, democratic responsibility, economic competence, and physical and mental health so that each student can achieve his or her maximum potential.

About the Salesforce Foundation
The Salesforce Foundation is based on a simple idea: leverage 1% of Salesforce's product, equity and time to improve communities around the world. We call this integrated philanthropic approach the 1-1-1 model. Since the Foundation's inception in 1999, Salesforce technology has powered more 26,000 nonprofit and higher education institutions; we've provided more than $96 million in grants; and our employees have logged more than 1.1 million volunteer hours throughout the world. For more information on the Salesforce Foundation, please visit www.salesforcefoundation.org.

About Salesforce
Salesforce, the Customer Success Platform and world's #1 CRM company, empowers companies to connect with their customers in a whole new way. For more information about Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), visit: http://www.salesforce.com.

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